Fusion Ultimate - Non-linear

Fusion Ultimate - Non-linear

Anonymous
Not applicable
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Message 1 of 19

Fusion Ultimate - Non-linear

Anonymous
Not applicable

Signed up exactly 1 week ago.

I have modeled and managed to run some of the regular assemblies and a ROPS using Linear Static Simulation without any real problems.

But that is not why I purchased Fusion Ultimate.

 

I cannot say the same for Non-linear event simulation.

In one week of full time modelling and running simulations we have not managed to get single piece of useful output.

I just cannot find the instructions  on the precise ways that things are required to be done, and I am beginning to suspect this may be because there are no instructions or tutorials for this product??

One major issue, how do I apply a point load, this is a very common load to use in design, but don't appear to have a means to apply one or more to my model??

 

I am considering bailing out, Its as bad as Algor was 8 years ago.

 

Is there a person or a particular page where this type of 'opportunity for improvement' should be directed?

If there is it is not easy to find.

 

Don't mean to sound so negative, I just expected so much more from this.

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Replies (18)
Message 2 of 19

BrettWright
Community Manager
Community Manager

Hi Shane,

 

I'm really sorry that you're having a tough time here with Fusion.

 

What I'm going to do is move this post over into the Fusion Forum where all the team experts are that will help you.

 

Be sure to ask further any other questions as well if you need help, that is what this community forum is all about. 🙂

 

Stay tuned, they'll be getting back to you soon.

Thanks,
Brett Wright
Community Manager
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Message 3 of 19

PhilProcarioJr
Mentor
Mentor

@John_Holtz

Can you offer @Anonymous some help on this subject.



Phil Procario Jr.
Owner, Laser & CNC Creations

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Message 4 of 19

innovatenate
Autodesk Support
Autodesk Support

 

Also sorry to hear about the struggles with an Event Simulation in Fusion 360. Are you getting a particular error message or can you elaborate what you are having difficulties simulating?

 

If you can share a sample design with me, I'd be happy to take a look at it and make some recommendations. 

 

Potentially Interesting Content/Conversations about Fusion Simulation:

 

I believe you should be able to use the Transient Load to apply a point load to a vertex on the model geometry.

Transient Load.png

 

Are you having difficulty using this command or does this command not meet your requirements?

 

 

If there are any specific questions about the explicit solver (event simulation), I'm happy to do my best to answer. Please feel free to ask questions. I am happy to help.

 

 

 

 

 

 




Nathan Chandler
Principal Specialist
Message 5 of 19

MikeSmell_ADSK
Autodesk
Autodesk

Hi @Anonymous - 

 

In addition to the information @innovatenate already provided, I would like to point you to the formal Help documentation for Event Simulation, click here. Today, since Event Simulation is a Tech Preview in Fusion, the related documentation is in the Simulation section under the Tech Previews, not under the standard Simulation section. 

 

Further, I see you mentioned Algor. I came to Autodesk via the Algor acquisition and am now the Product Manager for the Simulation workspace in Fusion. I know the Algor, now Simulation Mechanical product, quite well, so I am guessing you are trying to do something you might have done in MES. If you can share the model you have been struggling with, our team will be glad to look at it and get you going in the right direction. 

 

I look forward to getting your model. 

 

Thanks, 

Mike Smell

Product Manager, Fusion 360

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Message 6 of 19

Anonymous
Not applicable


Capture.PNG

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Message 7 of 19

MikeSmell_ADSK
Autodesk
Autodesk

Hi @Anonymous and @Anonymous - 

 

Thanks for sending the models, I have downloaded and have started to review. Can you share a bit more detail about what you are trying to accomplish? I just want to have a basis to understand if the setups are correct based on your intentions. 

 

Out of the gate, I have a few questions.

1. When I look at the Degree of Freedom View in the Linear Static models, I see that some parts are not constrained. Is this intentional or accidental? For example, the cylinder on top. 

2. I also see that you have used a number of bolted connections, but then I notice that all of the contacts were bonded. Were you intending to use the bolts to hold parts together, rather than bonded contact?

3. In the Event Simulation model, I see that your contacts are all Separation, which is what we set by default. This is different than the static analysis types, as many models in Event Simulation typically have moving and interacting components. 

 

Please check your contact settings in all of the models to make sure they meet your simulation intent. I will see what results I get once these models finish running and will provide some additional updates later. 

 

 

 

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Message 8 of 19

Anonymous
Not applicable

My thanks to those who have responded with assistance.

I have a question about event simulation.

With Algor when simulating a Roll Over Protective Structure, I would ramp the load up for 8 seconds then unload over the final 2 seconds.

Fusion does not like the length of this event and advises the model is going to exceed 12 hrs to solve.

What sort of load duration should I be using?

How is this software going to cope with consecutive loads in all three directions as the event?

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Message 9 of 19

MikeSmell_ADSK
Autodesk
Autodesk

@Anonymous and @Anonymous - 

 

I have been doing some investigation on the setup of the ROPS and FOPS files that were sent. In this post, I will discuss my findings on the ROPs file and follow up with another post on the FOPs file. 

 

In ROPs - Study 10, I noticed the following issues with the setup that will definitely create some issues in getting the correct results. 

1. By default, Event Simulation uses separation contact. This is different than Linear Static or Nonlinear Static in Fusion, and this is partly because many of the use cases we were targeting involved moving contact where parts where coming together over time. In the case of an assembly, such as your design, an extra step is needed to ensure the parts are "bonded" together correctly. This is an area we can certainly look to improve in the future. In the meantime, you should always take advantage of the DOF view on the Display Panel. This will allow you to see the unconstrained parts in the design. In the following image, you will see that the majority of the cab is not connected to the rigid sub-structure. To ensure that proper bonding is created for an assembly such as this, when running the Global Contact tool, be sure to check the Proximity Bonded option. You also have the Proximity Distance option which will allow you to bond across small gaps if required. After running Global Contact with Proximity Bonded turned on, notice the DOF view now shows everything constrained. 

 

ROPS unconstrainted.pngROPS prox bonded.png

 

2. I do not believe that the loading has been applied properly. When I look at your load setup, I see a load magnitude of 2.254e5 N in the Transient Load Dialog. Next, when looking at the load curve, I see that you have defined a multiplier of the same value. This will give you a total load applied to the model of 2.254e5 N multiplied by 2.254e5 N at the time of 0.0008 seconds. My intuition tells me that this was not your intent and that the correct magnitude is what is defined in the Load dialog. In Event Simulation, the multiplier in the load curve is exactly that, as it will multiply against what is defined in the Load dialog at a given time. If your intended load is 2.254e5 N, then your Multiplier value should be 1. 

 

ROPs load multiplier issue.png

 

 

 

In ROPs - Study 13, similarly, I noticed a few issues that would likely prevent you from getting the proper results. 

1. My comments from above, both comments 1 and 2 are present in this setup. I would suggest using the suggestions above to correct the setup in Study 13. 

2. Next, I see that you have an X translation boundary condition applied to the same face in which it looks like you have applied point loads by cutting small holes in the geometry. This boundary condition is constraining the load direction, so the only deformation that will happen on this face is at the holes. I am not sure if this was your intent or not, but this will prevent the entire structure from deforming beyond on these point loads. 

ROPs - BC against load.png

3. It is important to note that there are TWO different behaviors that can be obtained when applying a force in Fusion. If you look at the Load Dialog, there is a checkbox for Force per Entity. In the model that you have setup, your magnitude of 45080 N is distributed equally across the 5 faces in which is it applied. If the Force per Entity box was CHECKED, then this full magnitude would be applied at each location. I point this out only because this could change your results. 

ROPs force per entity.png

 

I have attached an F3D that reflects all of these changes, see the 3rd and 4th studies in the browser. 

 

A few additional general comments. 

1. Are the 5 holes on the left side of the cab where the loads are applied being used to represent a point load? If so, there are some less expensive methods we can use to split the geometry. In the current form, mesh quality at those locations is pretty poor and the Event Simulation solver is not a fan very small and misshaped elements. Further, in reality, are these actually point loads, or is there some contact area from the mechanism applying the load? 

2. The displacements seem a bit small. I would check the load magnitudes with respect to the dimensions of the model and the material properties. 

3. I see you are defining the base of the cab to be rigid. If this is true, then you could consider suppressing those parts altogether and placing boundary conditions at the mating faces. This would help with your overall run times. 

 

 I hope this feedback moves you further along with this model. I will review the FOPs model and provide similar feedback. 

 

 

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Message 10 of 19

Anonymous
Not applicable

Hi Mike,

Your efforts and reply are greatly appreciated.

We have needed to complete this model for some time and i now have hope that this might run, as we need to include further vertical and longitudinal loads to the load case.

I recall Algor had a cad prep and global snap tool, which was used to connect all parts of a model

So just to get this clear, the model should be fully "bonded' and then any bolted connections edited manually to reflect being bolted and not bonded?

 

Loading, yes we find it confusing but you have explained it well hopefully we now know how to install loads.

 

I thought there was a constraint near the top of the model that was stopping the lateral movement, but we did know how to deal with this, hence requesting help.

 

We do understand what the multiplier does, this was just an error on our part, made for a massive load tho!

 

Regarding the 5 lateral loads, we were unable to install a load across the side of top rail so we installed a plate to use as a load distributor, would appreciate some guidance on applying points loads directly to the structure.

 

Again, your assistance is GREATLY appreciated.

Shane M Speight

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Message 11 of 19

MikeSmell_ADSK
Autodesk
Autodesk

@Anonymous Hi Shane, 

 

I am still summarizing my findings on the FOPs file, but I will answer your specific questions in your recent post. 

Regarding CAD prep and global snap in Algor (SIM MECH), these items are handled a bit differently in Fusion. 
1. For CAD prep, you are probably referring to the SimStudio Tools functionality that was included with SIM MECH. That technology is available in the Fusion Modeling workspace, however, some of the automations around geometry clean up are not there just yet, but stay tuned, this functionality is own our roadmap and will be coming soon. 

2. For the global snap functionality, this is something that is not need in Fusion, as it is a geometry based tool, rather than a mesh based tool. Even as Algor matured into SIM MECH, this was something that was needed less and less with improved meshing technology. In any case, this is not something you should need in Fusion. 

3. Regarding contact, your statement is correct. In all of the study types other than Event Simulation, the default contact type will be bonded for all parts that are touching. In that scenario, you will first generate bonded contacts and then will modify pairs that are only held together by connectors. In Event Simulation, as point out in my previous post, all parts are believed to be in Separation contact. For anything that is touching, it will still be in Separation contact, so if a bonded behavior is desired, the proximity bonded option should be used, or those pairs should be modified individually. Body 107 in this model does have gaps to nearby parts. This part specifically needs the contact tolerances increased to be held to the other parts. Take a closer look at this part and see if it is as you intended. 

4. For the load application, I would consider using surface splits rather than holes. To do this, just as you sketched the profiles for the holes, rather than doing an extrude, you could have used the Split Face command. This would have projected circles onto the face and each circular face could have had a load applied to it directly. Another alternative would have been to sketch a "grid" of sorts to get the vertices in the center of the circles. 

 

I hope this helps. 

 

Thanks, 

Mike Smell

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Message 12 of 19

MikeSmell_ADSK
Autodesk
Autodesk

@Anonymous and @Anonymous

 

Now on to the FOPs file, I will go through this study by study. 

Study 1 :

1. Similar to the ROPS file, I would always pay attention to the DOF view to ensure that the contacts created accurately reflect the intent of the design. In the image below, you can see that even with bonded contact, parts are still red, meaning contacts were not established correctly. The plates on the rear of the cab are not touching the surrounding parts within the default tolerance. The plates on the top of the model do seem like contact should be created, so I will log this with our development team. By increasing the tolerance to 0.2 mm the parts will be bonded and would be ready to run. Again, pay attention to Body 107, as it may have gaps that you did not intend.

2. Considering there is no load applied to the cylinder on the top of the cab, this part should probably be suppressed. 

3. I see that you have a number of connectors defined in this model. I will point out that without modifying the contacts from Bonded to Separation, these bolts will not contribute to the design, as the Bonded contact has all of the parts connected. Without changing all of the contact pairs, this model will solve with these minimal changes. See the following image. 

 FOPS forum DOF.pngfops s1.png

 

 

Study 2:

1. The only difference I see between Study 1 and Study 2 is the lack of connectors. If you follow the steps used to resolve issues in Study 1, then this model solves and should results. 

fops s2.png

 

 

Study 4: 

1. The comments for Study 1 regarding the cylinder on the top of the cab and the contact settings hold true. 

2. Similarly, the default contact being bonded will negate the impact of the bolted connections. 

fops s4.png

 

Study 5: 

1. This model was running as you sent it, however, if you look closely at the results and remember what I said about contact in Event SIM, there is no bonded contact throughout the assembly. This model should follow the practices outlined in a previous post to make sure that contact is correct for Event Simulation. Note: your connectors are suppressed in this study. This model is still running on the cloud, so no result images yet, but I expect the results will look fairly similar to what it looked like when the parts were in Separation contact, however, I expect the stress to be carried in a wider area once bonded. 

 

I have attached an F3D for you to run with all of these changes. 

 

Please let me know if you have any further questions. 

 

Thanks, 

Mike

 

 

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Message 13 of 19

MikeSmell_ADSK
Autodesk
Autodesk

@Anonymous and @Anonymous

 

Now on to the FOPs file, I will go through this study by study. 

Study 1 :

1. Similar to the ROPS file, I would always pay attention to the DOF view to ensure that the contacts created accurately reflect the intent of the design. In the image below, you can see that even with bonded contact, parts are still red, meaning contacts were not established correctly. The plates on the rear of the cab are not touching the surrounding parts within the default tolerance. The plates on the top of the model do seem like contact should be created, so I will log this with our development team. By increasing the tolerance to 0.2 mm the parts will be bonded and would be ready to run. Again, pay attention to Body 107, as it may have gaps that you did not intend.

2. Considering there is no load applied to the cylinder on the top of the cab, this part should probably be suppressed. 

3. I see that you have a number of connectors defined in this model. I will point out that without modifying the contacts from Bonded to Separation, these bolts will not contribute to the design, as the Bonded contact has all of the parts connected. Without changing all of the contact pairs, this model will solve with these minimal changes. See the following image. 

 FOPS forum DOF.pngfops s1.png

 

 

Study 2:

1. The only difference I see between Study 1 and Study 2 is the lack of connectors. If you follow the steps used to resolve issues in Study 1, then this model solves and should results. 

fops s2.png

 

 

Study 4: 

1. The comments for Study 1 regarding the cylinder on the top of the cab and the contact settings hold true. 

2. Similarly, the default contact being bonded will negate the impact of the bolted connections. 

fops s4.png

 

Study 5: 

1. This model was running as you sent it, however, if you look closely at the results and remember what I said about contact in Event SIM, there is no bonded contact throughout the assembly. This model should follow the practices outlined in a previous post to make sure that contact is correct for Event Simulation. Note: your connectors are suppressed in this study. This model is still running on the cloud, so no result images yet, but I expect the results will look fairly similar to what it looked like when the parts were in Separation contact, however, I expect the stress to be carried in a wider area once bonded. 

 

I have attached an F3D for you to run with all of these changes. 

 

Please let me know if you have any further questions. 

 

Thanks, 

Mike

 

 

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Message 14 of 19

Anonymous
Not applicable

Thanks for your reply.

 

I'm trying to set up for rebound test of a falling cylinder (study 5). 

I believe as I increase the time in total event duration I'll be able to see its rebound motion after it hits the roof. However, when I increase the time and run the simulation I get warning that model is going to exceed 12 hours to solve. Coarse the mesh size didn't help.

 

By the way, a system is telling me that I'll use 0 credit to solve. Is this a licence problem?

and in the preview reply to ROPS results as you mentioned "The displacements seem a bit small. I would check the load magnitudes with respect to the dimensions of the model and the material properties." I've checked and I don't see anything obvious in them. Is there anything else I need to consider why displacements are very small? Results are still not accurate.

 

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Message 15 of 19

Anonymous
Not applicable

Hi Mike,

Whilst your efforts and assistance are appreciated, we are still in the position of having not managed to make any progress in 3 weeks.

We are unable to get any of the ROPS models to produce plastic deformation, yet the trial run as linear shows stresses well exceeding the yield points.

We have not used a single cloud credit in attempting to run any of these non-linear material models?

 

The FOPS model that you kindly reviewed is supposed to have the steel cylinder falling onto the roof at -10.5 m/s (approx).

we expect this to produce plastic deformation, in the poly carbonate "window" at the minimum, however you appear to have produced results for the two linear material models and the roof stresses look to be ignored?

 

Can Autocad advise us of any Fusion Ultimate users in New Zealand?

I expect they will be doing similar work and we may be able to sort some of our problems by communicating with them.

 

Shane M Speight

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Message 16 of 19

MikeSmell_ADSK
Autodesk
Autodesk

Hi @Anonymous and @Anonymous - 

 

A few comments on your last couple posts. 

 

1. Currently, Event Simulation is in Tech Preview. The Tech Preview process allows us to collect feedback from users about what is working, what is not working and what additional functionality is required to solve a common set of problems. While this study type is in Tech Preview, it is free of charge and is time limited to jobs of less than 12 hours. Once commercialized, we will have a cloud credit charging scheme in place for this study, similar to other cloud solves where you see credits deducted with each run and jobs will not be time limited to 12 hours.

 

2. As I mentioned, part of the Tech Preview process is about collecting feedback. One of the major pieces of feedback we have gathered so far is Event Simulation's ability to handle scenarios where the time duration is longer than one second, as these jobs typically hit the 12 hour time limit. We have been actively working with our solver team to better handle these type of events and have been making some progress that will be made available later in a future release. In the current form, Event Simulation is best suited for short duration events and we have had success with customers doing snap-fits and crushing/collapsing of container type of problems.

 

3. Regarding the small displacements in the Event Simulation model, after further review, I believe the issue we are facing is due to duration of the event that we are needing to use to stay under 12 hours. With such a short duration to apply the load, the load is likely not overcoming the inertia of the cab. This can be demonstrated pretty easily with a simple cantilever beam. See the attached f3d. If you compare the studies, you will see that when Event SIM uses a constant load, the displacements are very similar to that of the linear static and nonlinear static stress runs, while the Event SIM model with the default duration, the displacements are much smaller. When the duration is increased, the displacements become similar to that of the static runs. While this is not helpful for your design, this does explain the behavior you are seeing. I have made a few tweaks to your designs and have those running now. When I get results, I will share an update. 

 

4. Regarding the Polycarbonate material behavior, while I see that you have defined it as nonlinear, you have not defined any post yield data. When using the Nonlinear Plastic material model, for materials other than what is in the Fusion Nonlinear Material library folder, the user must define the post-yield curve. If you do not have this curve data, you can consider using the Elasto-Plastic material model where a Tangent Modulus value will be used to define the post-yield behavior. This approximated to 10% of the Young's Modulus by default. 

linear materials FOPs.png

 

Stay tuned for updates from my extended duration runs. 

 

Thanks, 

Mike

 

 

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Message 17 of 19

Anonymous
Not applicable

Hi Mike,

Thank you for your attention, assistance and feedback regarding our models.

I understand what you are saying about inertia, when I was using algor MES I would deliberately tell the solver to ignore self mass of the model to save solver time and to negate inertia effects.

 

I was not aware that Fusion Ultimate was running in a "Tech Preview" mode when i inquired with the NZ agents about non-linear event simulation FEA software.

I did explain very carefully what we were needing to do, however that does not help now.

It would seem that this product is largely unable to perform the modelling that we require, however I remain hopeful that your extended simulations will provide useful results.

 

A full ROPS test regime requires 3 consecutive loads in all three principal axis directions as 1 single model / event.

Algor was able to do this.

We generally ramped each load up over 8 seconds and then down over 2 seconds, the entire event was 30 seconds.

 

The FOPS test is an impact / energy absorption event.

With the test mass given an initial downward velocity and positioned just above the impact plane, the duration of the event was generally very short.

From memory the event would take 0.02 seconds.

This software is capable of the event duration, so if we define the material properties better we might get useful results??

Algor would always show plastic deformation of a roof plate after a FOPS test.

 

I look forward to seeing your results, in the mean time I am looking at firing up the Windows XP computer and running the Fusion models using the Algor event simulation solver?

I have clients who are bouncing around with machines about to be ordered out of the forest for not having ROPS / FOPS / OPS certification.

 

Shane M Speight

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Message 18 of 19

Anonymous
Not applicable

Hi Mike,

 

Non-linear static stress and event simulation are still in preview mode. Can you recommend other software does plastic deformation of non-linear materials? Hopefully, I can use existing model to solve in other software as we have more ROPS design coming shortly from our client. 

 

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Message 19 of 19

I_Forge_KC
Advisor
Advisor

@Anonymous

The non-linear tools built into Fusion are a derivative of the Autodesk Nastran engine. 

 

Autodesk Nastran In-CAD is available as an add-on for Inventor (the flagship mechanical design tool). While not nearly as user-friendly as Fusion's sim package, having the solver locally allows you to run studies of nearly unlimited complexity (well, limited by your hardware and patience).

 

https://www.autodesk.com/products/nastran-in-cad/overview

 

 

Unfortunately, Nastran In-CAD is only available with the Manufacturing Collection. The up-shot is that you could subscribe for as little as one month and likely recover a lot of your lost time with Fusion's current limitations in that fairly short amount of time.


K. Cornett
Generative Design Consultant / Trainer

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