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Integrated BIM tools, including Revit, AutoCAD, and Civil 3D
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Professional CAD/CAM tools built on Inventor and AutoCAD
6 min read
There was one topic that dominated conversation at Autodesk University 2024— generative design. AI has been an unavoidable topic online and in professional spaces, and how can it not be? Autodesk is enamored with integrating generative design tools into its software. However, generative AI isn’t a complete replacement for traditional design methods; it is a powerful tool worth utilizing, as discussed at Autodesk University. Keep reading to see what Peter Simpson and Peter Champneys had to say.
At the heart of London, England, resides London’s Global University (UCL), one of the world’s most prestigious universities. Not only does it boast world-class education and research facilities, but it was also the first English University to open the door to equality in learning. It was among the first to grant degrees to women and minorities. UCL is home to alums of 30 Nobel Laureates.
UCL’s Department of Mechanical Engineering was the first to combine theory with practical teaching. This department expanded to include studies such as biomechanics, automation, and future energy. Coursework consists of a broad curriculum with modules covering thermodynamics, fluid and solid mechanics, control, materials, manufacturing, and more. Why are we talking about UCL, though? It’s because of their intense focus on design.
What is design? It’s the key to advancement. Design links creativity and innovation. It turns fantastical ideas into practical, attractive propositions for users. There are many different aspects of effective design. Let’s look at engineering design specifically. It is the process of creating functional products, processes, or systems that conform to a Product Design Specification and produces the solution that fulfills this need.
UCL sees design as something that can be taught, a process that involves many different skills at varying stages. Pugh (1990) defined these skills and stages in their diagram titled “Total Design Process.” The total design approach provides a systematic approach to developing a design that can improve the outcomes in these projects and enhance the learning experience. There must be a wide range of inputs for a design process to produce a valuable outcome. Shown below are different design processes.
Next, what is generative design? It’s a design approach where software becomes a creative partner in the design process, rather than a passive tool. It can create designs for us. If you’re already an Autodesk Fusion user, you’re probably familiar with how excited we are about integrating generative design into the software for you to maximize creativity. Generative design in Fusion has been developed in two functions: structural components and fluid paths. Structural components resulted in tools such as Design for Manufacturing or Multiple Material Comparison. The fluid path has Pressure Drop or the Optimization of Internal Fluid Volumes.
It won’t be easy to jump headfirst into generative design without base knowledge. There are two general topics to be aware of: FEA Analysis & Statistic Stress Simulation and CAD Modeling.
FEA Analysis & Static Stress Simulation is understanding the role of load and constraints within a static stress simulation. You must be able to make standard assumptions to simplify the model and loading conditions for more ease of use. And finally, it is essential to understand the role multiple load cases play in defining the different loading conditions of a product over its lifetime.
If you are already this far into the article, you’re likely already familiar with CAD. But just to be sure, we recommend you get familiar with basic CAD modeling functions, such as creating and editing shapes. More advanced CAD modeling knowledge may be required to play around with generative design outcomes productively.
All that being said, generative design is not simply a pure combination of structural simulation and CAD modeling. It has its own terminology and features that you would need to learn. You need to understand:
Now, how can generative design be practically applied to a design project? This AU session looks at a student design file where they are called to design a new engine con rod. This process can be broken down into a couple of steps.
The first stage is Discover. This part of the design phase is often the easiest to overlook, but not correctly exploring it will become immediately apparent as you progress with your project. This stage is when you define the design problem, your objectives, and potential challenges to overcome. Some other questions worth asking are:
You should also look at what tools you can use for the problem, including generative design. Where might generative design help you with the problem, and what part will it play in the design process? As a note, generative design is best suited to creating designs where structural strength is a key requirement. It is particularly powerful at exploring multiple alternative manufacturing methods or materials and performing cost-benefit analysis and lightweight optimization.
You can move onto the Define stage once you have mapped out your scope. This stage is when you need to lay out the design requirements. If you’re using generative design, this step becomes quite critical, as the software follows whatever definition you give it to create design outcomes. Generative design can be a great teaching tool because it forces you to think more carefully about problem definitions.
In generative design, you first specify design requirements. These are the minimum capabilities our design needs to fulfill its core capabilities, and they include design space and loading requirements.
We also specify design objectives; this is what differentiates a good design from a better one. This may include material options, lightweighting, stiffness, and manufacturability.
The third stage is Develop, where you build solutions to your problem. You can begin to truly harness the power and capability of generative design, as you’d be able to create hundreds of different CAD designs, each with accompanying data about how they perform versus our objectives, in a matter of hours.
It’s finally time to execute your ideas. The Delivery stage is when you converge your ideas into a single solution and deliver a final product. These are two distinct and essential steps that require a good amount of deliberation. Once you have a final product, you can conduct additional analysis to see how your design performs and what needs to be tweaked. Here’s how you can evaluate the produced outcome:
Remember that generative design works best when used alongside your other design tools. Manual CAD modeling can fulfill aesthetic requirements and give you complete control over the final shape.
Although it is a very powerful tool, generative design is not a replacement for traditional design methodologies. It performs automation and augments your creative process, but you are the hand behind the tool. We’re only scratching the surface of generative AI’s capabilities— start implementing it in your own design process to see for yourself what it can do.
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