Basic Stress Analysis

[vmontefusco]

Greetings

I have been using Inventor from the beginning for designing and fabricating hundreds of film & TV physical special effects projects. On occasion I've used my structural engineering Inventor instructor to test some of the gadgets for stress. He is no longer available. I know this is probably a dumb question, but is there a way for me to do a very basics stress analysis . As an example, if I had a 6061 T6 aluminum channel that is 1.25" x .5" h x .125" thick 55" long and supported both ends, is there a simple way to add a static load in the center to see how much deflection using various loads?

Thanks

Vince

[JDMather]

What version of Inventor are you using?  (You didn’t Attach your files here?)

Go to Environments tab and click Frame Analysis.

[vmontefusco]

Greetings 

2020 Pro and it is up to date. If what I am asking for can be accomplished by a non engineering person, great!! For 45+ years I've designed and fabricated many crazy (and dangerous) gadgets and gizmos for stunts with complete success for major motion pictures and TV commercials. Every once in a while, I consult with a structural engineer (my instructor buddy) that has my program. However, it would be nice for me to do a very basic test to make sure I am on track.

Thank you

Vince Montefusco

Partial Motion Picture Resume:

www.imdb.com

[NigelHay · Accepted solution]

As JD said. The attachments are for a beam to the dimensions you describe with a load of 200N in the centre & the ends fixed (I'm working in metric but you get the idea). In your part file go to Environments, Stress Analysis, Create Study. It's fairly intuitive.

[vmontefusco]

Thank you for the info. I will give it a try this evening and hopefully it is not complex. I tend to make things overly complex, one of my faults (of a few - LOL)!

Vince

[vmontefusco]

Greetings

I tried to do a basic stress on a part the is Mild Steel 1" thick x 2" x 24" long. I added 2 fixed points and a 1 (one) pound weight in the center. It is hard to believe that there is any deflection as noted. I used this test piece because my original part made of 6061 aluminum deflected as much with a small amount of weight.

What am I doing wrong?

Thanks

Vince

[NigelHay · Accepted solution]

In the image the deflection is deliberately exaggerated to highlight it. If you double click on 'displacement' in the browser it will give you a value for the movement.

[vmontefusco]

Thank you again!!
Vince
www.imdb.com

[vmontefusco]

Greetings

I did what you said and double clicked the "Displacement" in the browser (there seemed to be 2 displacements).

The metal part experiment is 1" thick x 2" by 24" long. Fixed points are at each ends. The load is 10 pounds. I am now assuming you have to be an engineer to read the confusing data? For me, I just need to see how much it will deflect with a specific load for a simple part. Example, for this part, let's say it deflects .125", is there a way I can see the data that it defects .125" as opposed to all of the engineering stuff?

Thank you

Vince

[TheCADWhisperer · Accepted solution]

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@vmontefusco wrote:

I am now assuming you have to be an engineer to read the confusing data? 

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Do you recall Scientific Notation from HS math/science slide rule days?

2.531e-5 = .0000253

In other words, no measurable  displacement at the load and conditions you specified for the analysis.

[vmontefusco]

OMG I went to New York City CC (I assume the name changed) in 1972 for electrical engineering x 1 years prior to getting involved in the entertainment industry. I did use a slide rule, but forgot how to use it. The math for this part looks foreign to me, I will refresh my math.

Thanks

Vince

[TheCADWhisperer · Accepted solution]

In Spring 1972 is was finishing up first year of HS learning to use a slide rule in Freshman Chemistry class.

No (user) math required for this — Inventor does the math for you.

You just need to read the numbers.

In math/science we typically represent really large or really small numbers in the form of Scientific Notation (x10 to a positive or negative exponent), the e means exponent in Inventor.

Search Wikipedia on the term “Scientific Notation”. Like riding a bike - will all come back in seconds.

[Gabriel_Watson]

Thank you so much for your work in Independence Day and Jurassic Park. Truly, many here in this forum have chosen careers in science and engineering after being inspired by what you have brought to life.

[vmontefusco]

Thank you for the reply.

On Independence, I designed and built a "very" large circular hydraulic structure. The art department added various pictures so that it looked like the space ships were traveling and missing debris, etc. The space ship cockpits were stationary on a movable rocking base and the circular background moved via hydraulics.

On Jurassic Park, I designed and build a six axes motion base and the creature (dinosaur) was mounted to it and moved in a variety of ways including into the front windshield of the vehicle.  I built a similar device (very large) for True Lies. The jet was on it on top of it and it was placed, in part, on a high rise building in Los Angeles. The motion base (aka flight simulator) was green screened out.

Have a great evening

Vince

[Gabriel_Watson]

Amazing.
You could write a book on all the experiences and engineering challenges solved through the years. I honestly never thought Inventor would be used as much for in the entertainment industry, but it makes sense that jigs and purpose-built apparatuses can have that level of complexity (and Solidworks would not have some advantages over Inventor when sharing files with other Autodesk products used in that industry).

Over here we have a regular forum post for pictures showcasing what some members can share from their work, in case you are able to gift us with some more insight on how your work looked like at some point:
https://forums.autodesk.com/t5/inventor-forum/community-pictures-april-2022/td-p/11075932

Have a great weekend!

P.S.: @CGBenner: this is the kind of legend you should also consider interviewing for the Community blog someday. https://blogs.autodesk.com/community-journal/

[vmontefusco]

Greetings

I've designed and built hundreds of simple to complex gadgets and gizmos to flipping vehicles using inventor. For many projects (and in part), I take the data to use on CNC's (plasma, waterjet) for fabrication. I am hooked on designing stuff using Inventor as it has saved me countless hours on experimentation and money and, it makes me look good!!.

Art department, stunts, producers, executives, other department heads and fabricators appreciate the drawings and colorful renderings of what the end result will look like which eliminates misinterpretations, this alone, saves me time and headaches as everyone is on the same page!!

I don't know how I could ever design stuff again without using Inventor!! BTW I started out (25 or so years ago) with AutoCAD Lt, than AutoCAD and got certified, than Mechanical Desktop, than Inventor Lt to Pro version and got certified (classroom settings) in Canada and USA. 

Vince