FEA on Assemblies??? 1

[ShaneO19]

Hi, I am relatively new to Pro/Mechanica. I'm trying to run an analysis on an assembly. My assembly is that of a type of swing set frame that has been assembled. I want to run an FEA analysis on the frame. Is it possible to do so, I've heard both sides you can and you can't. Can you please help on how to do this.
Thanks Shane

 

[Twoballcane]

What are you trying to analyze? And, what do you need help with?

Tobalcane
"If you avoid failure, you also avoid success."

 

[osty]

Mechanica works well on assemblies. Simplification usually requires significant reduction of components in addition to simplification of each component. Symmetrical divisions of model can be done with assembly cuts. I always remove fasteners and then rebuild the connection with something less complex.

You need to assign material properties to each part. If you forget one, Mechanica will usually flag an error but not always.

Connections between parts are critical. Mechanica hates interference fits. If the surfaces of 2 parts mate, mechanical will now automatically weld them together. If 2 parts don't touch they will move independently. This can make model indeterminate if a component is not properly restrained. Many other connections such and springs and bolts can be added to the connection set.

Mechanica does not look at case where deflection causes 2 parts that don’t touch to move into an interference condition. Assumption is that the 2 parts are free to deflect through each other unless you build a connection (usually will give usable results).

On a complex assembly I will usually start with just one or two components that I can restrain and analyze. Everything else is suppressed. Once I get the analysis to run without error I will incrementally add components. Makes errors that prevent the analysis from running easier to find, especially if you run out of memory.

 

[ninjaneer777]

Do you have a Mechanica License? If not you are probably using Mechanica Lite, which is limited to parts/assemblies with less than 200 surfaces.