& Construction
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Integrated BIM tools, including Revit, AutoCAD, and Civil 3D
& Manufacturing
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Professional CAD/CAM tools built on Inventor and AutoCAD
Integrated BIM tools, including Revit, AutoCAD, and Civil 3D
Professional CAD/CAM tools built on Inventor and AutoCAD
Transcript
00:02
Shape optimization versus a Generative Design.
00:06
In this video, we will identify a topology optimized part and a generative designed part.
00:13
Topology optimization or shape optimization as it's called in Fusion 360,
00:18
and Generative Design often get lumped together in the same category.
00:22
However, the two functionalities couldn't be more different.
00:25
So let's explore design and identify the differences between Generative Design and topology optimization.
00:32
First, we're going to take a look at this bracket.
00:35
It connects a piece of equipment to a fixed wall and has a specific load case.
00:40
When we design something like this manually, we have to use our own experience,
00:45
and we have to begin a design and then figure out if it's strong enough through testing and validation.
00:50
With generative design, however, what we're actually doing is we're telling the software exactly which components need to stay,
00:58
what things we need to avoid and then giving it a whole host of criteria, things like materials, manufacturing methods.
01:05
And whether or not we want to optimize the stiffness of our design or minimize the mass.
01:10
There are many other criteria that we can define but these are the basics of using a Generative Design study.
01:17
When a Generative Design study is run,
01:19
what it's actually doing is it's looking at the amount of load that's transferred from the different sets of objects in our design.
01:27
It then adds or removes material based on those results and through those iterations, we get results like we see on the screen.
01:34
When we talk about a shape-optimized or topology-optimized body.
01:39
What we're actually taking a look at is the load path.
01:43
When we talk about the load path, we still need to define things like our loads and constraints.
01:47
We need to take a look at certain areas where we can build.
01:51
But ultimately what we're getting is the areas in which the load is transferring,
01:56
from in this case are fixed constraint at our wall to our load applied at the equipment.
02:01
So we can see here how the mesh is generated, and we can then use this to base our design off of.
02:08
But again, this is all done manually, and the load results here are not actually taking into account the magnitude,
02:14
they're only looking at the load path.
02:17
So when we compare a Generative Design and a manual design and a shape optimized design, they all look very different.
02:24
The manually designed bracket is based on our experience,
02:27
while the shape optimized design is based on the path of the load going through our constraints and our loads defined in that study.
02:35
But when we look at our Generative Design,
02:38
this is based on the loads that we applied and all of the other settings that we defined such as our materials and our manufacturing methods.
02:46
So not only are we getting a final result, but we're also getting a result that is intended to hold up to the loads and constraints that we defined.
02:55
We could take this a step further into simulation and validate the results, but in general,
02:59
the Generative Design is going to be based on those actual loads and constantly iterated until we come up with a converged or a final solution.
03:08
So when you begin comparing shape optimization and Generative Design, there are some major differences in the results that you get.
03:17
Shape optimization is great for things like 2D linkages, just to see how the load transfers between the various points.
03:24
However, when you begin working in more of a 3D environment and you have more complex solutions,
03:29
using Generative Design is going to be a much more robust solution,
03:33
and it will allow you to ultimately make a design that can hold up to the stresses of your situations.
03:40
So in this case, I'm going to save this design, and we're not going to be looking at this in our course.
03:44
But it's important that we understand,
03:46
and we identify the differences between how a topology optimized part is created and how a Generative Design one is.
Video transcript
00:02
Shape optimization versus a Generative Design.
00:06
In this video, we will identify a topology optimized part and a generative designed part.
00:13
Topology optimization or shape optimization as it's called in Fusion 360,
00:18
and Generative Design often get lumped together in the same category.
00:22
However, the two functionalities couldn't be more different.
00:25
So let's explore design and identify the differences between Generative Design and topology optimization.
00:32
First, we're going to take a look at this bracket.
00:35
It connects a piece of equipment to a fixed wall and has a specific load case.
00:40
When we design something like this manually, we have to use our own experience,
00:45
and we have to begin a design and then figure out if it's strong enough through testing and validation.
00:50
With generative design, however, what we're actually doing is we're telling the software exactly which components need to stay,
00:58
what things we need to avoid and then giving it a whole host of criteria, things like materials, manufacturing methods.
01:05
And whether or not we want to optimize the stiffness of our design or minimize the mass.
01:10
There are many other criteria that we can define but these are the basics of using a Generative Design study.
01:17
When a Generative Design study is run,
01:19
what it's actually doing is it's looking at the amount of load that's transferred from the different sets of objects in our design.
01:27
It then adds or removes material based on those results and through those iterations, we get results like we see on the screen.
01:34
When we talk about a shape-optimized or topology-optimized body.
01:39
What we're actually taking a look at is the load path.
01:43
When we talk about the load path, we still need to define things like our loads and constraints.
01:47
We need to take a look at certain areas where we can build.
01:51
But ultimately what we're getting is the areas in which the load is transferring,
01:56
from in this case are fixed constraint at our wall to our load applied at the equipment.
02:01
So we can see here how the mesh is generated, and we can then use this to base our design off of.
02:08
But again, this is all done manually, and the load results here are not actually taking into account the magnitude,
02:14
they're only looking at the load path.
02:17
So when we compare a Generative Design and a manual design and a shape optimized design, they all look very different.
02:24
The manually designed bracket is based on our experience,
02:27
while the shape optimized design is based on the path of the load going through our constraints and our loads defined in that study.
02:35
But when we look at our Generative Design,
02:38
this is based on the loads that we applied and all of the other settings that we defined such as our materials and our manufacturing methods.
02:46
So not only are we getting a final result, but we're also getting a result that is intended to hold up to the loads and constraints that we defined.
02:55
We could take this a step further into simulation and validate the results, but in general,
02:59
the Generative Design is going to be based on those actual loads and constantly iterated until we come up with a converged or a final solution.
03:08
So when you begin comparing shape optimization and Generative Design, there are some major differences in the results that you get.
03:17
Shape optimization is great for things like 2D linkages, just to see how the load transfers between the various points.
03:24
However, when you begin working in more of a 3D environment and you have more complex solutions,
03:29
using Generative Design is going to be a much more robust solution,
03:33
and it will allow you to ultimately make a design that can hold up to the stresses of your situations.
03:40
So in this case, I'm going to save this design, and we're not going to be looking at this in our course.
03:44
But it's important that we understand,
03:46
and we identify the differences between how a topology optimized part is created and how a Generative Design one is.
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