Understand the Value of Stress Analysis

Performing an analysis of a mechanical part or assembly in the design phase can help you bring a better product to market in less time. Autodesk Inventor Simulation Stress Analysis helps you:

Stress analysis, for this discussion, is a tool to understand how a design performs under certain conditions. A highly trained specialist can take a great deal of time with a detailed analysis to obtain an exact answer about reality. You can often predict and improve a design with the trending and behavioral information you obtain from a basic or fundamental analysis. If you perform this basic analysis early in the design phase, you can substantially improve the overall engineering process.

Here is an example of stress analysis use: When designing bracketry or single piece weldments, the deformation of your part can greatly affect the alignment of critical components causing forces that induce accelerated wear. When evaluating vibration effects, geometry plays a critical role in the natural frequency of a part or assembly. Avoiding, or in some cases targeting critical frequencies, can be the difference between failure and expected performance.

For any analysis, detailed or fundamental, it is vital to keep in mind the nature of approximations, study the results, and test the final design. Proper use of stress analysis greatly reduces the number of physical tests required. You can experiment on a wider variety of design options and improve the end product.

To learn more about the capabilities of Autodesk Inventor Simulation Stress Analysis, view the online demonstrations and tutorials.