Design Optimization Based on Verification According to Standards

With the help of the FEA and simulation tools, engineers can understand the behavior of any structure. But simulations don’t directly answer the question of whether the structure is safe and whether its design will pass the certification process. Potential failure modes or limit states (fatigue, plate buckling, joints, strength of welds and connections, or beam buckling) must be evaluated by the engineers. With simulations, engineers get the outputs for stress, force, and displacement but not the confirmation of compliance to limit states contained in industry standards. Picking optimal design decisions based on the requirements of the standards is a time-consuming and repetitive routine that is complicated and leaves a lot of room for error. That is why smart and effective engineers should use automation tools to overcome this. A successful CAE process that automates verification according to standards should cover the tasks above by picking, analyzing, and evaluating the different design variables or decisions. This helps to understand if the particular design decision meets the requirements. Optimization allows the engineers to prepare a set of possible member sizes, shapes, thicknesses, or classifications for each part of the model, finding a balance between project requirements, compliance with industry rules, and the costs of the structure. The first design iteration is rarely optimal and often needs to be corrected. Usually, many iterations are necessary. So a well automated workflow will help to avoid repetitive routines and automatically pick the best design decision. During this presentation, we will demonstrate the best practices of design optimization, allowing engineers to certify the design using simulation and optimization based on the requirements of the standards. Presented ideas will help structural engineers to save up to 40% of the time spent on repetitive tasks and to focus on innovations instead of routines.