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SolidWorksPressFrameOptimizationExampleApressframeassemblyconsistsofatopplate,twosideplates,andabackplate. Youwouldliketoreduceitweight(and

thuscost)whileplacinglimitsonitsdeflectionandpeakstressvalue. Itsbottomfeetareweldedtoaverystiffmember,

andtheundersideofthetopplateissubjectedtoaloadof5,000pounds.Itismadeofalloysteel. Thebottomarch

width,topoverhangthickness,andthesideplatethicknessaretobevariedastheDesignVariables(DV). Thefirsttwo

DVparametricdimensionsareseeninthefiguresbelow. Often,theparametricdimensionsselectedasDesignVariables

arerenamedbytheusertomakethedocumentationeasiertofollow. Ifyoudonotseeanypartdimensionnames,use

OptionsSystemOptionsGeneralandturnonShowdimensionnames.

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Forexample,thesideplatepartcanbeopenedwithitsthicknessdimension(D11)displayed. Youcandoubleclickon

thePrimaryValuenameandchangeit,heretoThick.

ThenopentheassemblyanduseSimulationNewStudyStatictocreateastudythatwillserveasthebeginningoftheoptimizationstudy. Themeshanddeflectionresultsareshownbelow.

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Thefinaldeflectionsaretobelimitedto0.04inches. Likewise,thevonMiseseffectivestressvalueisrecovered,since

alloysteelisaductilematerial. Itwillbeconstrainednottoexceed15,000psi.

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Theinitialmasspropertiesofthisassemblyare:

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Afterthestaticstudyiscomplete,useSimulationNewStudyOptimize tocreateastudycalledopt_press.RightclickonObjectiveandchoosetominimizethemass(weight),basedonthepriorstaticstudy. Then,rightclickonDesign

VariablesandselectAdd.

ClickonthetoparmdepthasthefirstDesignVariable(DV1), anddefineitsupperandlowerregionalconstraintvalues.Repeattheprocessforthearchwidth(DV2),andthesideplatethickness(DV3):

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Nowyouarereadytoaddyourfunctionalconstraints. RightclickonConstraintsandpickAdd.

ImposealimitonthevonMisesstressandthedeflectionanywhereintheassembly:

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RightclickontheStudyNameandselectRun. Youwillseethedefaultnumberofparametricchangesexecuted. Eachwillrequireanewmeshgenerationforthecurrentparametricdimensions. Ifyousetconflictingsizes,thatcancausea

negativevolume,thenthemeshgenerationmayfailandaborttheoptimizationstudy. Theresultsshowtheoriginal

(static)modelandthefinaliterationresult. Here,thefinal(of15iterations)DesignVariablevaluesarecircledinred,

andtheassemblyisdisplayedwiththoseparametricdimensions. Inthiscase,thefinaliterationviolatedaconstraint,so

itdoesnotrepresentafeasibledesign.

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Youcanchecktheresultsforanydesigniteration. ForthelastiterationyouseethatthevonMiseseffectivestresshada

peakvalueof16,160psi,whichisgreaterthanthedesigngoalvalue. However,thedisplacementisabouthalfthe

maximumallowedvalue. Therefore,youcouldmanuallybeginwiththeseDesignVariablevaluesandmanuallychange

them,orthefilletradiuswherethepeakstressoccurs,togetanewdesignthatmeetsallthedesignrequirements.

YoucangraphthevalueofanyDesignVariableateachiteration.

Youcanalsoseehowtheobjective(mass)variedduringtheiterations:

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Youcanselectanyofthecreatedparametricdesignsetstostudythecorrespondingassemblyresults.