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DYNAMIC DESIGNER : UNLIMITED, INC. Unlimited, Inc. used Dynamic Designer software to determine loading conditions of a large glass-pressing machine. The software helped engineers determine critical factors such as normal and maximum loading conditions. Robin Oury, principal of Unlimited Inc., has been involved in engineering projects as diverse as automotive suspension systems to food processing equipment. His engineering consulting firm (Simpsonville, SC) uses SolidWorks for CAD and Dynamic Designer from Mechanical Dynamics, Inc. (Ann Arbor, MI) to digitally simulate product performance prior to committing to costly prototypes and testing protocols. Dynamic Designer Motion is seamlessly integrated within the CAD product so that Oury and his team can deploy fully functional 3D dynamic simulation directly on CAD models. He says that he is particularly impressed using Dynamic Designer for complex motion, motion/interference analysis, simulating loading during normal operation, crash testing, and analyzing forces that result from part and assembly movement. "The technology allows us to quickly learn where analysis is needed without investing heavily in research and training. Using the software, we obtain useful results very quickly and that impresses our customers a great deal. It also helps us stay competitive. "The technology allows us to quickly learn where analysis is needed without investing heavily in research and training. Using the software, we obtain useful results very quickly and that impresses our customers a great deal. It also helps us stay competitive. Dynamic Designer is also an excellent tool for communicating simulation analysis results to non-engineering customers," notes Oury. Crashworthiness project Recently, E-Tech Systems contracted Oury to determine normal operating and crash torque caused by a damping cylinder failure and the vertical force caused normal operation as well as by a crash to a Lynch glass pressing machine. Lynch is the largest designer and builder of glass pressing equipment in the world. The company is the premier manufacturer of press machines and industrial controls for the world's consumer and electronic glass industries including high definition television picture tubes. With just a two-week window to run the analysis and an additional week to deliver results, Oury and his team first modeled machine using SolidWorks 2000. "We used Dynamic Designer for all motion analyses on this project," says Oury. The adjustable base was fixed in space on the axis of table rotation and forces and moments were taken. Assemblies were created for each moving body and parts were reorganized such that they were in appropriate assemblies for motion analysis. The ram and plunger densities were adjusted to meet the specified weights of 1,600 pounds for the mold and 1,320 lbs. for the plunger. Total weight of the system is approximately 175,000 pounds. Having set these parameters, Oury then defined the normal operation for table rotation at specific speeds. Then, damping was removed and a crash was allowed to occur. The process was driven by a constant drive ram force to simulate the hydraulic cylinder and damped by constant cushion drive forces sufficient to rotate the table in the specified time. As a result of simulating the crash test, Oury was able to determine the optimum normal operation and worst case mounting pad loading factors so the civil engineers could design the concrete base. "Traditionally, in order to obtain these types of variables, companies spend considerable amounts of time and money building and crashing equipment," adds Oury. "Without the technology, users we would have had to rely on complex manual calculations and set ups. Using Dynamic Designer helps eliminate those steps and speeds time to market. Lynch was so impressed with the product that they recently purchased the software." Seamless Integration On the last day of the project, Lynch required a considerable amount of additional information related to the work Oury completed. "I was able to easily accommodate this need as a result of using Dynamic Designer. I simply refined the model in the CAD system and the changes were reflected in Dynamic Designer. The seamless integration between the two packages make this an invaluable tool for solving challenging projects," reports Oury. Click here for a JPG view. (117k). Author: Laura Carrabine |
