All Blog Posts (29)

1. Background

             When designing a part, the process often starts by knowing why this part is needed and what it needs to accomplish. A designer uses these to create a part that will satisfy all these conditions. In a similar way to this, topology optimization software uses specified restraints, loads, and a goal to optimize the part by adding or removing material where it is necessary. This…

        Scan & Solve Pro provides the ability to do static stress simulations on designs for your product. This is beneficial for designing, as well as simply finding the maximum loads the structure can handle. You can test many different loading conditions, which can be beneficial to find the weakest area of the model for each condition. The results can be used to optimize the shape of your design and help with material selection. In this demonstration, a swim platform was analyzed to…

Introduction

Prosthetic feet give amputees the ability to walk, run, and participate in everyday activities again. Over the past decade, technology and research have expanded the functionality of prosthetic feet so that there are now a wide range of feet to choose from. The heavy wood and steel materials that were previously used have been replaced by lightweight plastics, metal alloys and carbon fiber…

Introduction

Football helmets are designed to protect the skull against bruising and fracture during linear impacts. The two key aspects that allow the helmet to do this is by slowing down acceleration and distributing the force over a larger area. The acceleration is reduced through deformation of the outer shell and liner of the helmet that spreads the force…

Introduction

Currently there are a variety of methods available for the treatment of oral cancer; however, surgery is the most well established mode of treatment for the majority of oral cancers [1]. Mandibulectomy is a surgery that includes removing all or part of the mandible (the jaw bone). If an x-ray of a jaw bone finds that the tumor has grown into the bone…

Intro

     To a skier standing at the top of a mountain, above a cliff, or in a steep chute, the load-bearing and deformation properties of an alpine ski are of extreme importance.  Given the high-stakes environment of downhill skiing, the skier must be confident that the ski will be able to withstand the stress associated with high speeds, large g-forces, and an array of different loading conditions.  This analysis aims to model multiple different ski designs and…

NOTE: This is an engineering exercise looking at the FIU Bridge as an interesting application of Scan&Solve ONLY.  We are not bridge designers.  Theories presented here must be tempered by the limitations inherent in the geometric detail, material assumptions, and mathematical models being used.

Introduction:

               On March 15, 2018, a bridge in Florida collapsed during construction killing 6 people with 9 people also…

With the advent of 3D printing technology, people have been redefining the way we make things. As small, plastic, oddly shaped objects, rock climbing holds are a seemingly perfect item to 3D print. Hobbyists and companies alike have been trying their hand at 3D printing climbing holds. 3D printing allows for a wide range of shapes and sizes to be made in a one-off fashion, rather than making a…

In Scan&Solve Pro, there are three primary types of materials to choose from: isotropic, wood, and orthotropic. Isotropic materials are things like metals that react the same when forces are applied from any direction. More details can be found here. Wood is a subset of orthotropic materials and has been covered…

Intro:

Cycling is a sport that requires minimum skill. Because of this, the most elite riders need to be able to separate themselves from the pack in some way. They do this with nearly inhuman levels of strength and endurance. However, looking in those elite groups, those levels of strength and endurance are laughably common. So the same question arises: how does one separate themselves from the group? In general, cyclists know that the less…

For generations before axe first struck timber to develop the current civilization of Manitowoc, Wisconsin, the land was inhibited by culturally rich indigenous people. To commemorate those who once inhabited the area and so graciously protected the land, the bronze monumental sculpture Spirit of the Rivers  is being built on the shores of Lake Michigan (read more about Spirit of the Rivers…

The date is November 26th, 2015.  The family is just finishing up their second helpings of turkey on what appeared to be another successful thanksgiving dinner at Aunt Ellen’s until… Crack! It seems Uncle Dave had one to many servings of stuffing this year, and the chair he was sitting on broke from under him.  While the initial reaction was to make sure there were no serious injuries (which there weren’t), Aunt Ellen was later quite upset about her piece of furniture.  It was a…

An important feature of the new Scan-and-Solve work in progress (WIP) software is the ability to simulate on wood, both straight and curved. This is a very useful addition for woodworkers, especially those working independently. Simulation and strain analysis is a very important preceding step to building to ensure both safety and longevity of a product. The SnS WIP wood feature allows for the accurate simulation of wood by accounting for the effect of grain direction and its role in…

 Introduction

Displaced intracapsular femoral neck fractures in the elderly have a high risk of failed fixation, non-union, and avascular necrosis. A common operation to account for this is a hemiarthroplasty (replacement of femoral head and neck), which is a far less complicated procedure than a total hip replacement, and in most cases returns equivalent results. There are two…

The object to be studied is a table saw with two wheels on one side of it.  To make it fully mobile, two additional caster mounted wheels will be added to the opposite side of the table saw…

This blog post will delve into another structural design problem that was solved with Scan&Solve.  A CNC plasma cutter was designed and a question arose regarding the end plates…

This story starts with an unexpected failure, as many engineering problems do.  My hope is to show the great utility of Scan&Solve at every stage of the design process.

Two tabs were being used as a bolt mount attached to steel tubing.  However, the steel tubing failed, causing the tab to break away. The tab appeared to have failed from the bottom first, then the tab separated after flexing away from the tubing. The top tab, now having to bear the entire load, then deformed as…

In this study, hold in University of Udine, we desired to investigate the contribution that laser scanning techniques and 3D modeling may provide for the analysis of the structural stability of modest size elements belonging to cultural heritage such as statues. The results of the research are going to be published in the ASITA Acts 2014 and they will be presented in…

Project background



We at Pivot produktdesign set out to create higher performing, more durable and highly ergonomic snowshoes, the result is Fimbulvetr. Many manufacturers have tried to solve the traversing aspect of snow-shoeing but the solutions we saw were not sufficient. It was quickly identified that to achieve higher durability and traversing improvements a one piece unibody that combined the hinge and deck was the way forward. This presented us with an extreme…

Dear all, 

I went to a conference last week about how simulation can help now to the designers. In this point, it was said a relatively new option: topological optimization of a part. Going from solid to an improved part with less material. 

I would like to know if there is any possibility to integrate any other software or develop something with GH or any other tool that can do this kind of optimization. Example of software: FEMAP

thanks for the answers. 

Kind…