Assembly FEA

general steps to get it to run:

Open

In the Model tab:

1. fully define all parts with mates

2. make sure all parts have materials assigned

3. using SOLIDWORKS Toolbox, insert all necessary nuts and bolts

4. go to Evaluate > Interference Detection > Calculate

   1. make sure there are no weird interferences

Open

In the Static tab:

1. if you don’t see the Static tab you need to create a New Study in the Simulation tab at the top

2. under Parts in the Feature Tree:

   1. right click and Exclude from Analysis for parts you don’t care about

   2. right click and Make Rigid for parts you don’t want to deform

   3. make sure all parts have a green check icon

3. under Connections:

   1. right click Connections and Convert Toolbox fasteners to bolt connectors

   2. delete any Global Interactions that automatically got created

   3. right click Connections and add a Component Interaction for each pair of parts that touch- choose Bonded for welds and press fits, choose Contact for parts that touch but are not fixed together

4. under Fixtures:

   1. right click Fixed Geometry and select whatever faces you want fixed

5. under External Loads:

   1. right click and add whatever load is necessary

6. double checks before meshing:

   1. right click Connections > Interaction Viewer > scroll to bottom Show All Interactions > Calculate: make sure all connections are showing up and labeled the correct type (Bonded vs Contact)

   2. right click Connections > Under Constrained Bodies > Calculate: make sure it says model is fully constrained. if not take note of what parts are failing and double check the connections related to that part

7. create mesh

8. run study