school help needed (engineering related)

For one of my classes this semester (Computer Aided Engineering), we have to pick a simple multiple part component and draw it in Solid Edge, then do a finite element analysis on it in Algor. We weren't sure what to do, so we brought up the question if we could draw a bike. Our prof. said that would involve too many parts, but if we wanted to do the wheel then that might be kind of cool. Does anyone have any other ideas of a component that we could work with, preferrably skiing/sports related? (bolts, washers, etc don't count as parts).

Out of curiosity, are you going for the 'section 8 - I'm a crazy guy' or 'section 8 - I live in gov't subsidized housing'??

finite analysis programs can be very finiky, at least that is my experiance with catia. Try doing a crank arm, it isnt to complex but will look prety cool when you do the FA.

How about a ski pole? Has a few parts, should be a very straightforward analysis.

I agree, FEA is complex, even for "simple" parts. I'm a structural analyst at my company and use FEA (Ansys) quite a bit.

Be sure to select a part whose boundary conditions and loadings are very simple. Making a mistake here will completely skew your results.

Selecting a part for which you can do a simpified analytical result will help you bracket (and substantiate) your solution. Remember that the FEA code will always calculate something; its up to you to decide if the results bear a resemblance to reality. Contact and relative motion between parts is difficult and should be avoided, especially if you're trying to learn the software at the same time.

Pick a part made with isotropic materials (no composites).

Remeber to start simple and add complexity as you gain confidence with the solution.

Thanks guys, I was thinking of a ski pole as soon as I got home, but I'll take a look at the crank arm too. How many parts are involved in a crank arm? I'm kinda a jong at this stuff, and I think i need around 5 parts or something like that.

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Originally posted by mtbakerskier
finite analysis programs can be very finiky, at least that is my experiance with catia. Try doing a crank arm, it isnt to complex but will look prety cool when you do the FA.

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I don't do any stress analysis, but I'm running CATIA 40 hours per week at my job (structural design)!

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Originally posted by fridge
Thanks guys, I was thinking of a ski pole as soon as I got home, but I'll take a look at the crank arm too. How many parts are involved in a crank arm? I'm kinda a jong at this stuff, and I think i need around 5 parts or something like that.

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Umm ski pole is one part....but a crank could be 5, kind of cool to depending how crazy you get. Bending beam for the pedal, torque/bending arm for the crank and the bottom bracket for a torque tube/bar with bending. If you model both sides it could be five parts. The loading points and constraints are easy to model. Easy to do long hand if you need to prove your model. You would see lots of cool colors in many different places.

Stay away from thin wall tube structures like bike frames.

Cool, I'll run that by my prof. Thanks.

I'm not an engineer at all - but I did stay at a HOLIDAY INN EXPRESS last night..
http://www.arcticchat.com/forums/htm...emoticon55.gif

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Originally posted by silas
Umm ski pole is one part....

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Couldn't be 4?

Grip,shaft,basket,tip?

You could always go for the gusto and model a ski w/o binding through various loading conditions (bumps, pow, ice, hucks). Might not be as tricky as you would think, just create a formula for the stiffness throughout the length of the ski and simplify the binding as a distributed load under the boot. The dynamic loading conditions would proably be difficult to model though, but there's proably a lot of simplifications that could be made. Then again I've only used SAP and have no idea what I'm trying to get you into. I just think it would be cool.

what about a boot bucke, might e a little tricky thou.. or not..

Pro/ENGINEER 4 lyfe, bitches!

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Originally posted by phUnk
Pro/ENGINEER 4 lyfe, bitches!

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Yeah, probably a better product. My company has been in the Frogs' (Dassault Systemes) pocket for years and will never change.

Do th e crank arm off a bike with the pedal, not only is it cool, but since everything is at a 90 degree angle the finite analysis will be easy!

if pro E was a child, I would smother it to death while it was sleeping. Or shake it vigorously.

Tele Binding?

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Originally posted by TeleAl
Tele Binding?

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I was thinking about that, but I need access to the part, and I don't know if I'd be able to find one where I live. And I found out that it has to be at least 5 components.

is this thread really a cry for help, or are you just trying to prove your intellectual superiority over the rest of us commoners?;)

since the ogre is not here, NOOOOO NEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEERRRRRRRRRDS

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Originally posted by DJSapp
You could always go for the gusto and model a ski w/o binding through various loading conditions (bumps, pow, ice, hucks). Might not be as tricky as you would think, just create a formula for the stiffness throughout the length of the ski and simplify the binding as a distributed load under the boot.

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The integrated bings skis would be easier to model - 2 point loads at the binding mounting pins.