Load Path Visualization in Engine Structures
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Publicerad
Typ
Examensarbete för masterexamen
Master's Thesis
Master's Thesis
Modellbyggare
Tidskriftstitel
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Sammanfattning
From an engineering perspective, it is crucial to employ lightweight and cost-effective
components in structures for optimal design, sustainability, and structural efficiency. The
pursuit of such design has always been a challenge for mechanical engineers, and this is
especially true in the case of the aerospace industry, where safety and function cannot
be compromised. Though there are many ways to achieve this goal, the potential to use
structural analysis and load path visualization for the same purpose is explored in the
current work. The possibility of using the insights gained from the load path analysis
to bring about changes in the structure for achieving desirable mechanical properties
forms the objective of the current work. A relatively new concept of U∗ index is used,
which eliminates the complications involved in the conventional stress-based approach to
predict the trajectory of load transfer through the structure. The thesis aims to improve
previous research in the field by introducing distributed loading boundary conditions
and principal load path extraction. The finite element calculations required for the
U∗ index are performed in ANSYS MAPDL using a script formulated specifically for
the purpose. The post-processing to visualize the load paths through the structure is
done in ParaView. Several case studies are done to visualize the load paths through 2D
and 3D structures. Two design criteria, namely the uniformity and continuity curves,
are studied for the principal load paths in each of these cases. The work also aims to
investigate the effectiveness of the U∗ index method in predicting the transfer of loads
through structures when boundary conditions of the domain are altered. The challenges
and restrictions that come with using the U∗ index approach are also discussed in detail,
thus paving the way for future study and research in the field.
Beskrivning
Ämne/nyckelord
U∗ index, Load path visualization, Principal load path, ANSYS, ParaView