MAE 456 FINITE ELEMENT ANALYSIS Beam Stress Analysis – LAB INSTRUCTIONS LAB ASSIGNMENT 2 Lab Objectives • Perform an FEA stress analysis of a beam in bending. • Verify the bending stress analysis with hand calculations. • Write-up the finite element stress analyses in an Engineering Report. Lab Tasks 1. Complete the online tutorial Help  SolidWorks Tutorials  Advanced Simulation  Beam Diagrams. 2. Design a simple cantilever beam that is 1.5 m long to carry the loads from Lab Assignment 1. Make the beam as light as possible, but it must be made of aluminum and have a Safety Factor of at least four. 3. Perform hand calculations to determine what levels of stress to expect for the beam. If a complicated cross-section is being used, perform the hand calculations with a simplified cross-section that has a similar cross-section moment of inertia and maximum distance from the neutral axis. 4. Create a CAD model of the beam. The CAD model can be created using Structural Members or an extruded solid, but needs to be created in two sections (1 m and 0.5 m long) so that a joint will be created at the intermediate load position. If the CAD model does not use Structural Members, they will need to be created later to prepare the model for simulation. 5. Perform a stress analysis of the beam. Use a Fixed Geometry constraint (Fixture) on the joint at the left, wall end of the beam and appropriate point loads on the other two joints. 6. Examine the results and obtain screen captures. a) Examine the displacements to ensure that the structure is moving in the direction expected and is not moving at support (Fixture) locations. b) Examine the beam internal forces (using shear and moment diagrams). c) Examine the axial stresses (“Upper bound axial and bending”). d) Examine the Factor of Safety plot and identify the point(s) of greatest concern. e) Verify the accuracy of the FEA by comparing the lateral moments and axial stresses from the FEA with those from the hand calculations.7. Complete a report on the cantilever beam stress analysis. • The report should include the following sections: 1) Summary (What is this report about? What structure did you analyze? What kind of failure did you study? What were the conclusions?) 2) Introduction (What were the requirements on the design? What kind of failures did you need to account for?) 3) Description of design (including geometric and material information, and mass) 4) Description of failure scenario and the FE model  Describe the actual physical boundary conditions (loads and supports) and anticipated results.  Show the mesh and types of elements used  Show how the supports and loading conditions were applied. Which degrees-of-freedom were restrained at each support? 5) Discussion of results of FE analysis  What levels of stress are predicted? Show where they are the highest.  Did the stresses exceed the allowable stress? What is the safety factor for the given loads? Where is the safety factor the lowest? 6) Description of verification of FE analysis  Did the structure deflect in the expected way? Are the support conditions maintained as intended? Is it evident that rotation was restrained or allowed as intended?  Perform check calculations for simplified structure. Are the results of the FEA close to the check results? Are they in the same ball park?  Are the reaction forces as expected? 7) Conclusions (Will the structure fail? What is the safety factor? How heavy is the structure?) • Be sure there is no confusion about units. • The report should be 3-4 pages long, having mostly figures and calculations. A template is provided on the course web page. Submit the assignment electronically as a single document by emailing to [email protected]. Due date/time: Feb.