HDPE Access Cover FEA

[Hartley Kingon]

Hello, I am a civil engineer, not a structural engineer; however, I need a custom access cover as part of a project.

It must withstand 10kN to pass and is made of HDPE. I did a basic simulation, and it resulted in a maximum deformation of 5.63mm. I have no idea how to tell if this will be an issue or if it will only be elastic deformation.

I have attached a drawing of the cover and screenshots of the test results.

The load is measured on the cover's centre and its restraint on the bottom side around the outside edge.

Please assist me as to if this is a concern!

https://files.engineering.com/getfi...c2c-4912-b452-b735045f5fa7&file=Drawing_1.pdf

 

[SWComposites]

You need to look at stresses, not just deflections.
Is the 10kN load a factored ultimate load? (if so, what factor?) or the typical in-service (limit) load? A momentary load or a sustained load? What is max temperature under load?
HDPE probably has a non-linear stress-strain response; what did you use for material properties?
With HDPE you also need to be concerned with long term material creep.

What FEA code was this analyzed with? what is your experience with FEA?

 

[Hartley Kingon]

Thanks SWComposites,

The business wanted to do this at as low a cost as possible hence me trying to work this out.

It sounds like it is beyond me, though. I'm going to tell them to contact someone who specialises in this before I waste too much of everyone's time!

Thanks again SWComposites!

 

[DoubleStud]

There should be a way to turn on stress in x and y direction