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Work with Parametric Studies

Configure and run parametric studies, and promote final results back to the model.

To examine the effects of geometric variable on your designs, perform a parametric dimension study on the model. You can adjust values in the parametric table to change the results that display. When you modify parameters, the geometry updates for all corresponding features to retain design intent.

A Parametric Table lists both parametric dimensions and design constraints. Design Constraints are the specific result components that you are interested in seeing for those parameters. There are options for each constraint based on your selection.

Note: You can resize the Parametric Table and adjust the size of the Design Constraints and Parameters sections. You can also undock the Parametric Table from the application window.

Run a parametric study

  1. On the ribbon, click Stress Analysis tab Manage panel Parametric Table .
  2. In the Parametric Table, set Design Objective to Parametric Dimensions.
  3. Nominate the parameters for the simulation, identify parameter ranges, and specify design criteria.
  4. Generate various configurations, and evaluate and further refine the parameters or design constraints until the results are satisfactory.

    in the Parameters Table, Parameters Section, right-click and then click an option:

    • Remove Parameter Removes parameter from the Parametric table, and updates the geometry with the parameter base value.
    • Generate Single ConfigurationCreates a configuration with the current parameter values.
    • Generate All Configurations Creates all configurations for all of the design parameters in the table .
    • Show Base Configuration Displays the base configuration of the model in the graphics area.
  5. When results are satisfactory, promote the configuration back to the model as a CAD edit.

Nominate parameters for simulation

Evaluate only a few of the parameters that describe a part feature so that the result of the simulation remains geometrically predictable.

Example: To evaluate the effect of various material thicknesses, create a parameter called matl_thickness. Later, identify that parameter in a simulation, and explore the effect of thickness changes. Parameter names cannot have spaces.

  1. In the browser, expand the model nodes to reveal the features in a part.
  2. Right-click a feature node to evaluate parametrically, and click Show Parameters.
    • Assembly node Exposes only assembly parameters at the node level. For a subassembly, exposes only parameters for that assembly, and not its child parts.
    • Part node Displays parameters for all features that make up the part. All part occurrences experience changes to part parameters.
    • Feature node Displays all parameters that make up the part feature.
  3. In the Select Parameters dialog box, left column, select each parameter to include in the simulation.
  4. When parameter selection is completed, click OK. The parameter is listed in the Parametric table, in the Parameters section.
  5. In an assembly, repeat steps 1-4 on each part that you want to analyze in the simulation.

Specify parameter ranges

Choose parameter ranges that result in configurations with compatible feature structures and topology when compared to the base model.

  1. On the ribbon, click Stress Analysis tab Manage panel Parametric Table .

    The lower section of the table displays the parameters that you nominated previously.

  2. In the Values cell for a given parameter, enter a range in ascending order;
    • For a range, separate the minimum and maximum values by a dash (2 - 4).
    • For a range with a defined number of points in the range, add a colon and the number after the range (2 - 4 : 8). In this example, the points occur every .25 starting with 2 and ending with 4.
    • For a range with incremental values, add a slash and the increment (2 - 4 / .25)
    • For discrete values, separate each by a comma (2, 3, 3.5, 4).
  3. When finished, click Enter.
  4. Repeat the steps for each parameter that requires a range.
  5. To create the geometry, right-click the slider next to the values, and click Generate Range Configurations.
  6. Use the slider to update the display for each range point.

    To see the results update immediately using a uniform scale, on the ribbonStress Analysis tab Display panel, turn on Same Scale . . The color bar scales to the largest and smallest values within the parameter result sets.

Add design constraints to the Parametric Table

  1. On the ribbon, click Stress Analysis tab Manage panel Parametric Table .
  2. In the Design Constraints section, right-click a row, and click Add Design Constraint.
  3. In the Design Constraint dialog box, select the Results Component to use as a design constraint.
  4. Specify the value behavior - maximum, minimum, or range of values.
  5. Specify whether to include or exclude geometry, and select the entities.

    To exclude the list of geometric entities, select Exclude. Otherwise, geometric entities listed are included.

  6. Click OK.
    Note: You can further refine constraints individually.

Use Safety Factor as a design constraint

The following calculations apply.

Example: Choose a range of Amin - Amax, or in the case of a single value, Amin=Amax. The results values adjust to account for the safety factor:
  • Bmax = maximum of Amax / Safety Factor or Amax * Safety Factor
  • Bmin = minimum of Amin / Safety Factor or Amin * Safety Factor
Then, the appropriate constraint conditions are checked:
  • If you select Upper limit, Bmax < Limit satisfies the constraint
  • If you select Lower limit, Bmin > Limit satisfies the constraint
  • If you select Fit in range, Bmax < Upper Limit AND Bmin > Lower Limit satisfies the constraint
  • If you select Avoid range, Bmin > Upper Limit OR Bmax < Lower Limit satisfies the constraint

Example: Select Fit in range 100 - 25000 with a Safety Factor = 10. The software checks against the range 1000 - 2500. That is, the lower limit is multiplied by the safety factor while the upper limit is divided by the safety factor.

Promote configuration to model

When results are satisfactory, promote the configuration back to the model as a CAD edit.
  1. On the ribbon, click Stress Analysis tab Manage panel Parametric Table .
  2. Right-click in the Parametric Table, and click Promote Configuration To Model.

    The dialog box displays a list of affected components. By default, all parameters are selected for promotion to the model as part of the edit. Both the Base Value and New Value display.

  3. Clear the checkbox for each parameter that you do not want to promote to the model.
  4. Click OK.

    For each component, the parameters are modified and the model updates in a serial manner. Once completed, the Base configuration of the model updates to the new Base parameters.

Parent topic: About Stress Analysis

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