Abstract:

The meaning of simulation of virtual prototypes has become more and more important over the past years. Corresponding to this is the necessity to manipulate the CAD-parts which represent the basis of those simulations. This article deals with methods to handle virtual models in theory and praxis within the context of a simulation process. In detail, an approach for a workflow is presented which enables one to make use of a deformed part in the CAD-environment after successful structural simulation. The advantage of the utilization of such native CAD data which fulfill specific needs with regard to the applied load situation is based on the still precise and parametric definition of the geometry, as there is no approximation through smoothing or similar necessary. One pre-condition is the use of an efficient CAD-software with the ability to create hybrid models. During realization of the approach there are issues of coding and software-interfaces to be taken into account as well as a proper modeling strategy within the context of CAD. Therefore one of the main aspects will be to create a CAD-model in a way that enables loss-free implementation of external data. The approach also increases the available degrees-of-freedom for geometry-manipulation in contrast to sizing- and shape-optimization. In further steps this method is mainly utilized to create load-adaptive parts in an iterative optimization process.