The team originally planned to build the sculpture with glass fiber composite, but fire codes would have required additional engineering studies to prove it was flame retardant. Additionally, the building was going to be largely enclosed by the time the sculpture was ready for installation, making it impossible to bring the sculpture, which is 14-ft wide and more than 16-ft high, into the building in one piece.

Argent had designed the sculpture as a form composed of hundreds of flat triangles. “The piece lent itself to aluminum as long as we could figure out how to fabricate the pieces,” said Bill Kreysler, who founded the fabrication company in 1982. Working with Argent’s digital renderings, Kreysler’s team translated the design into Rhino software, creating what he calls a semi-monocoque structure with a double-skin of thin aluminum on a thin-ribbed interior aluminum frame. The decorative surface is composed of 1,446 CNC-cut triangles with side dimensions ranging from one in. to three ft. Etched with a numbering system, the triangles were placed using laser-projected grid lines.

“I think that one of the things that is often overlooked in this digital fabrication world is that there’s a sense that because computers are controlling the process, the human element is reduced, but in many ways it’s increased,” said Kreysler, who limited the number of people working on the piece to ensure consistency.

The rabbit’s interior structure was assembled into 14 pieces of varying diameters in the shop, then transported to the airport for assembly. The exterior aluminum triangles are textured with crushed glass to create a velvet-matte surface and float 1½ in. above the interior shell with aluminum standoffs.

Even in the light-filled atrium space the sculpture’s suspension system appears minimal. The concentrated loads coming from seven custom wire rope suspension cables with swage fittings are received by the rabbit’s internal steel armature. Aluminum transverse members then distribute these loads from the steel armature to the monocoque aluminum shell.

Unveiled on October 6, 2011, the new $1.3 billion airport addition is the largest construction project in Sacramento’s history. The rabbit is the centerpiece of the 14 art installations—more than $6 million worth—commissioned by the city’s Metropolitan Arts Commission and planned for completion in the coming years.

Rhino

www.rhino3d.com

3D CAD Tips

The company’s product line includes escalators, moving sidewalks, passenger elevators, sightseeing elevators, and freight elevators. These are produced on some of the most advanced manufacturing equipment in China, including a Salvagnini fully automatic flexible sheet metal production line. Major projects in China include the National Centre for the Performing Arts, Capital Airport and the National Stadium (the Bird’s Nest).

Elevators are electromechanical systems that must fit perfectly into the customer’s building; they are shipped as bulk components and installed at the customer’s site. Thus, most projects are one-off. Management set a goal of standardizing portions of the design process as a way of boosting productivity.

Another factor that previously hampered productivity was the use of multiple CAD programs that could not communicate with each other. “Giant KONE boasts a large number of designers of different ages and different levels of expertise, and their design software varied widely,” says Li Yong of the company’s Information Management department. “Problems were often encountered in upstream and downstream communications and as drawings were modified.” The company also lacked a comprehensive digital solution for managing its operations and product data.

Giant KONE’s original CAD software was 2D, which was adequate when the company had fewer orders, but as the workload grew, the drawbacks became evident. “Sometimes, a design had to be started again from scratch, just to make a simple 5-millimeter change in the dimension of a part,” says Yong. When designing new parts, designers made physical models first, then made drawings based on the models, made a round of physical prototypes from the drawings, and then verified the prototypes.

The chance to make a significant change to the design process came during a project done in conjunction with the National High Technology Research and Development Program 863. Called “Study of the Configuration Management Technology of Large Batch Customized Products and Its Application in the Elevator Industry,” this project was Giant KONE’s impetus to upgrade the design process from 2D to 3D. After investigating and testing a number of 3D solutions, Giant KONE chose Solid Edge software with synchronous technology from Siemens PLM Software. It hired United Digital Systems, Co. (UDS), a Siemens PLM Software platinum partner, to handle the implementation.

“Since implementing Solid Edge, Giant KONE has witnessed remarkable improvements in efficiency,” says Yong. With more than 90% of all products and components now modeled in 3D, it is possible to simulate the assembly of an elevator in Solid Edge prior to manufacturing. Only 2 physical prototypes are now required, down from 5 or 6 in the past. Engineering drawings are more accurate, and they are quickly created from the solid geometry. The average research and development (R&D) cycle for a new product has dropped from a year to 9 to 11 months.

“In working with a variety of parts, components and assemblies during the R&D of a high-rise escalator, Solid Edge with synchronous technology enabled our designers to easily locate problem areas and quickly modify them.” says Yong. “Synchronous technology enables our designers to significantly increase their modeling efficiency.” He explains, “In the past, we got all parts and components ready before assembly. Now, using synchronous technology, we work in a top-down way – first concept design, then accurate design and finally standardization.”

According to Yong, Solid Edge saves the company significant money. Solid Edge Simulation enables the company to improve its design verification process. Yong explains, “We’ve essentially eliminated physical prototypes. We now use Solid Edge for virtual assembly, dimensional simulation and interference checking, thus minimizing material waste and substantially reducing costs. Ultimately, using Solid Edge, we’ve saved ¥3 million.”

Yong adds, “The integration of Giant KONE’s Solid Edge design system with other applications has allowed the company to optimize our product design and manufacturing processes. Barriers between departments have been eliminated; information is immediately shared; and what you see is what you get in a design.”

Siemens PLM

www.plm.automation.siemens.com

3D CAD Tips

Black Diamond’s goal was to combine the two sets of performance criteria in one great-looking boot. “The other free-ride boots out there are made by European competitors with 50+ years of boot-making experience,” explains David Narajowski, director of advanced projects at Black Diamond. “Our challenge was not just to catch up to where they were, but to go beyond and create something much better.”

Black Diamond is a long-time user of CAD and has used its original design software, I-deas, from Siemens PLM Software, to develop many of its successful products. At the time the boot project started, however, the company had decided to standardize on the NX digital product development system, also from Siemens, an advanced design solution that still allows the company to leverage its legacy I-deas data. “Black Diamond’s design engineering centers worldwide have moved from I-deas and other CAD systems to standardize on NX,” Narajowski says. He notes, “Between I-deas and NX, there was a period of time when we tried a mid-range CAD program. But there is no way we could have developed a free-ride boot in a mid-range system.”

One of NX’s main advantages, according to Narajowski, is that it provides both the freeform modeling capability needed to capture the company’s design expertise (through the NX Shape Studio application, offered as part of the NX Mach III industrial design solution) as well as the powerful product design tools needed to turn an idea into a manufacturable product. “This is a perfect combination for BD’s hands-on, chop-shop-inspired, fail-fast-to-succeed-sooner approach to design,” says Narajowski. “Working with NX Shape Studio, we can directly manipulate surface geometry to do things like capture anatomical nuances of the foot. And this functionality is integrated with NX product design tools such as WAVE that let us go from one original conceptual model to three different product families with 10 sizes each.”

Jake Hall, Black Diamond’s lead industrial designer on the project, explains the need for such tight integration this way: “One of the great challenges of designing ski boots is that there is very little separation between performance and aesthetics. Fit, performance and aesthetics are one and the same. This means that engineering, industrial design, and manufacturability must be tied together seamlessly in order to create a successful product. Any apparent seams between the two disciplines would result in poor design.

“Fully integrated engineering and industrial design means that we needed both surfaces and solids as native parametric features within a model,” Hall continues. “NX, and particularly the powerful surfacing features in Shape Studio, provided the hybrid capabilities of surfaces and solids that the project required.”

The tight integration between the NX conceptual design and product design environments was key to optimizing the performance of the boot, a task that involved a lot of actual skiing and hiking in prototypes. “If someone came back and complained of pressure here or a pinch there, we could grab those surface points in Shape Studio and easily make a change,” Narajowski notes. “But those changes are not made in a vacuum. It’s not like we throw the design over the wall from industrial design (ID) to engineering and hope the design intent isn’t lost. We’re also using NX tools and the same geometry we create in NX Shape Studio to analyze the boot’s performance and to design injection molded parts. That is the real strength of NX for us.”

Engineers at the Black Diamond headquarters in Utah worked with their colleagues at the Black Diamond office in China on the design of the boot. The ability to share the workload in an efficient and accurate manner is another important benefit of NX on a project such as the free-ride boot, according to Narajowski. “NX allowed us to break up the model and have more than one person working on it at a time,” he explains. “There would be an ID person working on outside surfaces, for example, while someone else was working on the foot shape or on the cutter for the buckles. People could work on their own parts, and then we could pull them in and automatically update the ‘super part.’

Nearly all of the free-ride boot project was done using Siemens software. The integrated nature of the NX solution made it possible for the design team to go through the many iterations they needed to catch up to and surpass the competition. “Without having all that existing experience, we had to try a lot of iterations. We wouldn’t have been able to go through the iterations fast enough without tools like NX,” Narajowski adds.

The boot has been previewed to the industry, to rave reviews, and sales will begin in time for the next ski season. “As the largest, most expensive, complex development project we’ve ever undertaken, it’s hard to contain my enthusiasm about these boots,” says Peter Metcalf, CEO of Black Diamond. “They represent the best of BD today, exemplifying our design philosophy in terms of innovative product. BD boots will fully meet the demands of today’s free-ride skier. We set out to build a better boot for the skier who wants one boot to rip all terrain and our design team has delivered.”

Siemens PLM

www.plm.automation.siemens.com

3D CAD Tips

Dassault Systèmes worked with Mougin and his team to simulate the iceberg’s trajectory and its evolution by taking into account data such as variations in ocean temperatures, wind force and direction, sea currents, and boat drag force. They inserted this data into a 3D model of the iceberg to simulate what would happen all along the voyage.

The critical challenge presented to Dassault Systèmes’ engineers was to demonstrate, using virtual technology, the technical feasibility of displacing the iceberg in a controlled manner while reducing its melting. The project, managed by Cédric Simard, Interactive Strategy & Marketing Project Director at Dassault Systèmes, involved a number of steps:

1. Model the iceberg with CATIA based on a cloud of points obtained by scanning a real iceberg with radar.
2. Calculate and simulate the way the iceberg would melt using CATIA Systems and SIMULIA.
3. Simulate the way the iceberg would melt if surrounded by a protective isothermal “skirt” imagined by Mougin to slow the melting process.
4. Calculate how much fuel the boats would consume depending on the winds and currents encountered along the way

Various scenarios were simulated, such as number of boats needed, different departure dates and climate conditions, and the behavior of the boats and iceberg in the event of a storm or turbulence. In addition to enabling the team to visualize these scenarios, the simulation also allowed the scientists to test how to deploy the isothermal skirt around the iceberg.

Dassault Systemes

www.3ds.com

3D CAD Tips

The SIERRA has completed missions over the Arctic, lingering for hours at a time in extreme sites to collect data on the polar ice cover. It’s also flown over volcanoes to peer into active craters. NASA’s goal is to increase SIERRA’s 9-10 hour trips to obtain even more valuable information per flight. To achieve their goal, NASA decided to redesign the engine cowling to reduce drag and improve fuel economy.

NASA approached MACH-T3 Engineering to help solve this challenge. MACH-T3 specializes in 3D solid modeling, finite element analysis (FEA), and mechanical design. To accelerate the design process, MACH-T3 engineers implemented reverse engineering technologies using Rapidform XOR software by INUS Technology. The software converts 3D scans into parametric CAD models.

To design a more aerodynamic cowling, an accurate 3D CAD model was needed consisting of all engine dimensions and cowling mounting specifications. Because SIERRA’s engine is an off-the-shelf aircraft engine, NASA did not own such a model.

Traditional measurement methods for building a 3D CAD model would have been too labor-intensive. NASA engineers estimated that the process would take at least 500 hours. This method involves disassembling the engine and manually measuring each part. These measurements are then used to manually reconstruct a CAD model. Typically, multiple iterations are required in the modeling process because there will be missing or inaccurate measurements from the original parts.

MACH-T3 took a different approach. “Using a 3D laser scanner and software, we can reverse engineer equipment in a fraction of the time it takes to manually accomplish this task,” explained Bobby Machinski, owner of MACH-T3 Engineering. “Today’s 3D technology allows us to easily obtain all of the proper contours and quickly produce a CAD model for any part.”

In 2010, MACH-T3 bought Rapidform XOR software because it was one of the only products that can make parametric CAD models from 3D scan data. The software combines CAD functions with reverse engineering and scanned data handling capabilities. Because Rapidform incorporates both applications, users move from unprocessed 3D scans to complete, feature-based solid models. The software creates a model from incomplete 3D scan data. Typically, optical 3D scanners cannot pick up all data points and render a complete scan due to differences of surface texture, color, and obstructed lines of sight.

Deviation analysis is another key feature of the software that saves time. It allows the user to quickly see deviations between the raw scan and the idealized CAD model. “This feature allows us to set tolerances as needed. We can step it up or down to find out how close we are to the ideal model versus the physical model,” Machinski continued. “The software allows us to quickly address deviations that matter to the design, ignore the ones that don’t, and produce a solid model quickly.”

Rapidform XOR software helped MACH-T3 capture the data they needed and quickly develop a CAD model. “The entire project took us 50 hours instead of 500, allowing us to achieve success in only 10% of the time it would have taken us compared to using conventional means,” concluded Machinski. “The engine model was complete, accurate, and allowed NASA to make an improved cowling design that perfectly fit around all the SIERRA engine components.”

NASA is now one step closer in their redesign of SIERRA’s cowling. Utilizing the detailed and accurate 3D CAD engine geometry to create the new aerodynamic cowling design, SIERRA will soon be conducting longer atmospheric sampling missions over volcanoes and ice reconnaissance in the Arctic.

MACH-T3

www.mach-t3.com

3D CAD Tips

ShipConstructor 2012 enables users to work in the most advanced CAD environment by adding AutoCAD 2012 compatibility. AutoCAD 2010 and 2011 are still supported but the latest version of ShipConstructor empowers users to take advantage of several new tools and improvements such as enhanced surface modeling, enhanced point cloud support for laser scanning, direct access to AutoCAD WS, and in-application access to AutoDesk Exchange.

The speed of ShipConstructor has been increased yet again. The load times for distributed system model drawings have been reduced by up to 10% and the load time for viewing distributed system part property data has been cut in half. Several new features and tweaks to the interface also enable increased productivity.

“No other shipbuilding CAD/CAM application is enhanced as frequently as ShipConstructor,” said SSI CEO Darren Larkins. “No other shipbuilding software is as easy to learn and use.”

ShipConstructor 2012 New Features:

• AutoCAD 2012 Support – Support for the latest version of AutoCAD tools for enhanced 3D design, model documentation and collaboration.
• Enhanced Offset Construction Lines – Addition of geometrical constraints to individual offset construction lines without losing parametric associatively with source geometry.
• Enhanced Endcuts – Reduced number of endcut definitions required to populate a catalog with industry standard endcuts.
• One-Step Package and Deploy Project – Quickly create isolated versions of the entire ShipConstructor project for archiving or transferring.
• Side-by-side Installation – Now supported with ShipConstructor 2008, 2009, and 2011.
• Increased Speed - Load times of distributed system drawings have been significantly reduced.

www.shipconstructor.com

3D CAD Tips

Click here to download this free white paper.

3D CAD Tips

Here is an aseptic package from Tetra Pak.

By all outward appearances, these packages appear simple, but the process for making them are complex and sometimes they run into trouble with forming and folding. First, a continuous reel of carton-based packing material – a paper composite strengthened with ultra-thin layers of plastic and aluminum – is fed into a filling machine and sterilized. The material is formed and sealed into a tube and filled, causing it to expand. It is then formed into shape and sealed to keep it sterile. Last, it is cut into individual packages.

Illustration of deformation of the packaging tube as the packaging seals.

But the next step can present some problems: Gravity drives the liquid down, however, the folding step and the resulting tube deformation force the liquid backward. A pressure flange reduces the amount of backflow but the tube can still deform. It needs to retain its structural integrity without breaking or crimping.

According to Dr. Mattias Olsson, Tetra Pak manager of virtual engineering, “When designing new packaging or when modifying the filling machine, folding and forming are critical maneuvers. In the past, they have been difficult to predict.”

Olsson added, “We needed a realistic, reliable simulation method that took into account the liquid, packaging material, and all the major forces acting and interacting on them.”

The company implemented Abaqus FEA software from Dassault Systemes’ Simulia subsidiary. For their initial trial analysis, the engineers selected the Tetra Fino Aseptic 500 ml milk package. The material was very thin and flexible which made for large deformation under pressure changes. The cross-section of the tube rapidly changed from a circular cross-section to fully closed when folded. Also, there was a strong fluid-structure interaction to be modeled that had to take into account the changing pressure waves in the fluid and their effects on the packaging material.

The model for analysis included the following:

• The composite packaging
• The packaged fluid including its flow and pressure properties
• The flotation device that rests on top of the fluid surface
• The system that folds the packaging material
• The pressure flange that controls pressure waves inside the tube

Structural items were modeled in a “Lagrangian” framework. The flexible packaging material was modeled with shell elements calibrated to represent the laminated material as though it were homogenous which reduced the computation time for the analysis. The fluid was modeled using an “Eulerian” approach that accurately captured the characteristics of non-viscous fluid flow.

Schematic of a filling and packaging system for an aseptic liquid container.

The combination of methods helped the engineers model the interaction of the packaging tube and the fluid in a single analysis. Because the packaging process is axially symmetric, the engineers modeled one-half of the system to substantially reduce processing time. The model involved approximately 220,000 elements with about 700,000 variables.

Abaqus FEA simulation of fluid inside the tube at three time-steps (from left to right). Initial after forming the first seal and after forming the second sea

Engineers were able to model and define a variety of design parameters including:

• Sequencing the folding system action, including the deformation of the material
• Determining the choice and suitability of the packaging material
• Establishing the correlation between fluid injection rate and formed packaging volume
• Defining the tensile load applied to the material so as to prevent breakage or crimping

Dassault Systemes
www.3ds.com

Tetra Pak
www.tetrapak.com

::Design World::

3D CAD Tips

As product development becomes more global and decentralized, design teams from numerous countries are called upon to collaborate. But language and some knowledge barriers often get in the way of keeping costs and production time under control. Fortunately, one product called 3DVIA Composer technical communication software helps these three companies overcome these issues.

Design That Matters, a non-profit product design group, used the software to develop high-quality visuals of a phototherapy device to treat jaundiced infants in developing countries. The images enabled the design team to quickly gather feedback from and gain acceptance by physicians in Vietnam where it would initially be produced and used in hospitals that may not be able to afford traditional western machines.

According to Will Harris, Design That Matters product designer, “The only way to overcome communication barriers is visually. A photorealistic rendering is the next best thing to putting the device in their hands.”

The 3DVIA software transforms 3D CAD data into high quality images or animations. New features let designers create lifelike images with precise detailing.

Four to five finished RVs roll off the production line every day.

Other benefits include:

•Lifelike detail through new features such as alpha channel support, ambient occlusion, per-pixel lighting, and depth of field functions
•Faster turnaround time by creating images in parallel with product design
•Higher productivity and efficiency from streamlined document production processes

On the other side of the world, Sweden-based SoliferPolar AB develops and manufactures one of the most popular brands of recreational vehicles in Europe. Almost all of its vehicles are hand-built to order. One of its most critical tools for helping produce such vehicles is SolidEdge software.

“Customizing interiors puts tough demands of our designers and the tools we use. Using SolidEdge, we can work quickly and effectively while staying in control of our development work and production,” said SoliferPolar’s chief designer Gunnar Nilsson. The main part of the company’s product development and production activities are performed in its own factory. All of the design work is done in 3D. These files can be quickly converted into 2D drawings or into the file formats preferred by its subcontractors.

The design department is linked with the production facilities so the functions of the milling tools and other manufacturing machines can be readily adapted to any design changes.

Companies are also finding ways to use 3D CAD to address “green” engineering projects. For instance, a major challenge for the wind power industry is what to do when the wind is too weak to “churn” the generators. To address this issue, General Compression developed technology specifically designed to deliver renewable resource-based electricity to customers when they want it and just when the wind blows. The special tool that General Compression successfully uses for this technology is Digital Prototyping software from Autodesk. It helps them design and develop facilities that let wind generators store and later dispatch electricity to customers on demand.

The General Compression Advanced Energy Storage (GCAES) system takes intermittent electricity from conventional wind farms and stores that energy in the form of high-pressure air in underground geologic formations such as salt caverns. Electricity is generated on demand when air is released from storage. It powers the system in reverse and sends electricity back to the grid—on schedule. This method of generating what is called “dispatchable” wind power helps increase its value, and makes wind energy a more viable, cost effective, and friendly option to customers on the grid.

To help with the GCAES, Autodesk Clean Tech Partner Program supplied General Compression with licenses of Digital Prototyping software. Autodesk Gold Partner M2 Technologies provided General Compression with comprehensive training.

Styling trends and custom interiors distinguish SoliferPolar campers from others.

General Compression’s engineers used Inventor software to go from simple sketches to complex assemblies while developing a working prototype of the GCAES. Rapid iteration was possible through updated 3D models, enabling the company to stick to a tight development timeline.

Once the prototype was complete, General Compression used Maya software to create near realistic 3D animations of how the machine would work and to more accurately explain the complex concept of “dispatchable wind power.” By sharing its vision with investors, partners, and funding agencies through visual storytelling, General Compression secured more than $38 million in investments and government grants. In addition to Maya and Inventor, the General Compression team uses AutoCAD P&ID software for piping and instrumentation diagrams, as well as AutoCAD Plant 3D software to determine placement for pipes and hydraulic lines around the GCAES machine.

The company rallied significant support for its vision of dispatchable wind power and is scheduled to deploy a GCAES prototype in the field in late 2011 as part of a demonstration project with ConocoPhillips.

Siemens
www.siemens.com

Dassault Systemes
www.3ds.com

Autodesk, Inc.
www.autodesk.com

::Design World::

Source: :: Design World ::

3D CAD Tips

This is the regional airliner Jetstream 32 of British Aerospace.

The ability to accurately predict interacting material behavior is critical when designing a propeller made of composite materials. For this, MT-Propeller relies on Femap software for FEA and the Nastran software solver. Femap, a CAD and solver-independent pre- and post-processor, helps MT-Propeller identify and eliminate blade weaknesses at an early stage. You perform static, dynamic, linear, and non-linear calculations. Femap simulates all the different materials as well as the different transitions.

Martin Albrecht’s Extra 330SC was the winning aircraft at the German championship in aerobatics in 2010.

The company operates its simulation and validation process with an error probability of less than one percent. For simulation, the designers convert the 3D CAD models into a finite element model version and transfer them into Femap. This is where all the materials and complex boundary conditions are defined. The NX Nastran solver calculates the results in four to five hours.

Shown here are high-tech propellers in composite construction.

Femap demonstrated its usefulness when bonding steel and the composite materials on a newly launched propeller blade model came undone. While the cause was first investigated as a possible manufacturing fault, the FEA verification showed that the adhesive could not withstand the high shear stresses. Thanks to the software, it was possible to determine another composite fiber layup as a solution. “Based on the FEA results, we were able to reduce stress by one-third,” said Martin Albrecht, MT-Propeller CEO.

Using FEA software, Mt-Propeller increases product quality.

This is a structural analysis of a propeller hub.

Using the software products today, MT-Propeller makes just one prototype for each propeller blade – reducing its product development cycle time. The company is 99% confident that the computer-generated model will be feasible. For instance, in only six months, propellers were produced for the BAE Systems Jetstream 41, a 32-seat twin engine turboprop aircraft. It generates 3.2 tons of thrust during take-off at 1,680 HP.

Siemens PLM Software
www.siemens.com

::Design World::

Source: :: Design World ::

3D CAD Tips