Structural FEA Meeting Notes
- Tommy Tran
Page to document the meetings that were held.
Types of Meetings:
Project Planning
Updates
Training Session
Working Session
Decision-making
Format:
[Type of Meeting]_[YYYY.MM.DD]_[Meeting Description]
Terms:
DRI - Directly Responsible Individual
Training Session_2021.05.06_Project Breakdown, Timelining, Member Training
Meeting Agenda/Goals:
Have a context debrief and history debrief of Structural FEA project
Describing and detailing out (documenting) each project stage.
Note: Work together to document details; make members the DRI for documentation for their respective project stage
Understanding dependencies/blockers and setting short term timelines/goals
Note: we primarily need to prioritize reviewing past work (e.g. MS12) and re-evaluating our current assumptions/FEA setup to see if it is the most appropriate approach.
Note: ASC Regs are our rules and constraints to design by.
Train members on existing Ansys Structural FEA procedures
Note: try to highlight areas of uncertainty and improvements
Note to Self: Mechanical Bay Computers Remote Desktop and Signup Procedures
Meeting Notes:
Context Debrief
When and how Structural FEA was done in the past (by Jason and mentored by Matt)
assumptions that had to be made, e.g. dynamics weight and mounting - 100 kg on A plane and 100 kg on C plane
force model setup/assumptions, i.e. weight relevance when car is off the ground, how we are assuming/representing the vehicle collision scenario in simulation
Describing and detailing each project stage:
Notes were made in each project stage’s confluence page
Recommendation to create meeting notes/documentation for each project stage to record advice/directions/suggestions given. Also to document any decision-making.
create child pages as deemed appropriate
Understanding dependencies/blockers and setting short term timelines/goals
Notes were made under Timeline section of Structural FEA Project home page:
MS14 Chassis Structural FEA Project - Mechanical - Confluence (atlassian.net)Notes were made for priorities, due dates, and blockers
Member Training
Notes were made under Project Training page.
Structural FEA Project Training - Mechanical - Confluence (atlassian.net)
Decision Making_2021.05.15_Week 1 Deliverables
Meeting Agenda:
Review Deliverables
FEA Setup Justification
Mass Analysis
Assign Week 2 Deliverables
1.a Most collisions outside of ASC, explicit dynamic analysis makes the most sense
Matt said - the way the load was worded → “5G” instead of a speed. A lot of teams chose to do that instead of dynamics analysis. Therefore static analysis was the easiest was to pass ASC.
1.b Mass Analysis
Didn’t get to dig into simulations
maximum 3 vehicle collision scenarios; enough mass configurations (hopefully some are redundant)
Timeline - busy and unable to deliver until Tuesday (19)
Action Items:
Read ASC Regs related to Structural FEA + Review the confluence pages for research related to setup justification + simulation setup.
New Goals have been set
Night of Tuesday, May 18 - Min finishes Mass Analysis Study
Tuesday/Wednesday May 18/19 - Review Mass Analysis Simulations with Tommy + Create small report for Mech Advisors (Leif, Matt, and Kevin + Catherine) to review and approve
Thursday, May 20 - Begin Stage 2 deliverables (assuming stress values are still not solved
Saturday, May 22 - Have mech-leads meeting to review progress and give training on Stage 2 deliverables
Night of Tuesday, May 25 - Finish Stage 2 deliverables
Tuesday/Wednesday May 25/26 - Review Stage 2 deliverables + Create small report for Mech Advisors (Leif, Matt, and Kevin + Catherine) to review and approve
May 31 - Complete Supplier Interfacing Logistics for approved solution
2021.05.22
Chassis inaccuracy investigation should use the direct method of creating accurate chassis model and running it in simulations
it is not possible to do this without being onsite and measuring out the chassis
Conclusion: Composite solution FEA will continue, but incorporates a large SF as much as possible
Chassis inaccuracy investigation will be an additional investigation after June 2 (when lockdown lifts) to validate the solution chosen.
Also provides geometrical constraints/requirements that is useful
We should also do destructive and validation testing of composites and composite joints on the solution found
→ this should be added onto the project timeline near the end, etc.
What are the real downsides of sheet metal compared to composite panels besides weight?
(Efforts of down selecting material choice for panel solution)Sheet metal is
easier to manufacture
we won’t have to manufacture it besides partially sizing it down
no testing required
more reliable
less work for us overall
Need to know more about weight:
We can add more weight but do we care (i.e. will it surpass the weight limit?)
S2021 Updated Masses of Sub-Team Assemblies - Mechanical - Confluence (atlassian.net)
E.g. we can’t use steel sheet metal because it will break UCA = convincing reason
Aluminum may not be in our design space and there is an easy way to validate that:
is it weldable, etc.
Could have been a prescreening method before material selection and adding simulations
Order of priorities/working on things:
Possibly steel, composites, maybe exclude aluminum
Note: Wouldn’t turn over every rock in the investigation
also want to close out options as soon as possible before they rear their ugly heads down the line
Action Items
Invalidate aluminum through welding or attachment research
See if we can exclude composites
Get updated masses of vehicles
Mesh convergence studies
question mark of how accurate results are and if any results have converged
Fixed faces of collision object to allow bowing of the collision object itself
Contact between collision object and chassis to become frictionless
Would need additional ways to constrain Chassis' movement (to compile solution)
But there is a chance that it can improve
also gives gap between chassis tubes and collision object when (e.g.) the front chassis face bows in front of the collision object
if it was bonded - the front tubes of the chassis cannot deform in any way (infinite stiffness problems)
Other ASC/legacy setup questioning contact mech advisors about
Material Selection Note:
Choose a baseline material at the beginning and try to refine that material later on
If there is a reason to change it, just need to check previous documentation
2021.05.29
Meeting Agenda:
Sync Up on each person’s progress and availability for the next week
Mentioning about additional 1 or 2 weeks of timeline because of component design aspects and review
Bring in more people to this project
get to help out with minor stuff, etc.
delegate mesh convergence - Ansys has mesh convergence tool - Ask Matt / Adam
2021.06.05
Meeting Agenda:
Sync Ups and Updates and Blockers
New task - get more accurate masses of battery box and dynamics mounting since we have random 100 kg mass points everywhere. Those should be justified!!!
Distribute work
Updates:
Tommy - completed mass (got an approximation but could be improved)
mesh convergence studies on simulation was blocked (remote bay computers offline)
Kimberly -
made progress
blocked by offline remote bay computers
Min -
Mesh convergence tool doesn’t work on beam tools
Working on sheet metal into Chassis
blocked by bay computers
Sheet metal placement (ASC Regs + Communicate with Interiors)
need to figure out occupant space and assembly interference
Component design of how the sheet metal would be installed onto the Chassis
Material Selection page by kimberly had some research about mounting parts
Updated Master Assembly (Announcement into Chat)
Updated Mass Assembly
2021.06.12
2021.06.26
2021.07.03
2021.07.14