FEA Bolt connection feature

[alexYQ49V]

Hey guys I was just wondering if anyone knows of a way to edit the style of bolt and/or the washer setting on the bolt connector function in the FEA analysis under the constraints tab. I'm assuming there is only one way to do it and that's to simulate that bolt function with a real bolt but I'm hoping there is an easier way. Also with in regards to this function is there a way to copy and repeat it rather than doing it time after time again on say 15 bolt holes. Takes ages and gets tedious when you are comparing 3 or 4 simulations and you have to input the constraint of a m16 bolt 45 times. Any help is greatly appreciated! Cheers.

[dsouzasujay · Accepted solution]

Hi @alexYQ49V ,

Today in Fusion 360, we cant change the visualisation style/colour of bolt & washer of a bolt connector in Simulation.
We cant even copy-paste or do a batch edit of bolt connectors.

I can understand the difficulty to create multiple bolt connectors each time.

I will raise a request to implement this improvement. I cannot say for certain when this improvement will be implemented.

[alexYQ49V]

Okay makes sense, would be good to see this as a fair few other programs allow for this. Thanks!

[henderh]

Hi @alexYQ49V,

Development has completed an investigation spike to address the create / edit performance issue in an upcoming release (ID-79152). We apologize for the inconvenience this is causing, and appreciate you bringing this to our attention.

The style you mention for the bolt and washer setting, it can be changed by the Subtype (with nut or threaded) only, and we currently have the limitation that adding the washer doesn't spread the load, as described in the corresponding online documentation.

I'm happy to convey that we are in the process of improving the bolt connector that you'll see in upcoming updates, as part of our long-term plans to improve our connector idealizations in Fusion Sim.

As always, please let us know if you have any additional questions, comments or suggestions.

Hope this helps!

ps: you can copy / paste a bolt connector by drag n drop via the browser node, but it doesn't retain any useful info - we'll get this back-door closed too 😉

[henderh]

"Takes ages and gets tedious when you are comparing 3 or 4 simulations "

We have a way to clone a study, it should be possible to define the first simulation as the 'primary' with the 15 bolt connectors, then RMB->clone the study browser node to make 'secondary' (and non-associative) copies.

In the Simplify workspace, we can clone the entire Simulation Model, which can additionally clone studies.

[alexYQ49V]

What would you suggest is the best way for me to simulate an m16 bolt holding down a top plate that has X amount of pressure on it? For example I want to test when the threads will fail and how much pressure can I place on this metal plate until it pops off and rips apart.

[a.monopoliQCTV2]

Hi, I am trying to analyse appropiate bolt size for an assembly. The bolt conection constrains do not show stresses on the bolt (as the bolt is not modeled). How are people testing this? I have being modeling the actual screw, and setting bonded contacts on the thread but i am missing pressure forces and the bolts are not taking as much load as espected. Thansk 🙂