Discussion: Adhesive Modeling

I’m currently working on a project that models a telescope assembled with an adhesive and clamps. I intend to assess the part over a variety of conditions/environments. Currently I’m using Scan and Solve for most of my FEA projects, and am working on ways to do this at least somewhat accurately.

Has anyone tried to do this with scan and solve yet and had any success?

I’m assuming there is a way to do this Grasshopper, but since I’m inexperienced with parametric design I would prefer to have a program that’s more user friendly.

Thoughts or suggestions?
Thanks

@MichaelF, can you help here?

Phillip,
We don’t have specific knowledge about using Scan&Solve on telescopes, but we may be able to help with Scan&Solve application questions. Can you provide more detail on the geometry and conditions you’re trying to model?
~Michael
Intact Solutions, Inc.

Hi Michael,
The frame is carbon fiber pipes with plates spaced every so often. These (there are multiple) are then clamped to a steel frame and mounted onto a commercial telescope base. Previous prototypes would begin to deform in short periods of time due to the weight of the equipment they held.

Most parts of this test I am comfortable with doing, however the plates and pipes are joined with an adhesive. I remember reading a post that said SnS did not have an adhesive solver, however I’ve been trying to work around that by connecting the parts with small, cylindrical extrusions to mimic the surface area and volume of an adhesive seal. I then set a custom material with data that corresponds to the material. Would the solver read this as two separate parts ( the plate and the pipe) connected by the adhesive?

Thanks

Phillip,

Assuming the adhesive is a thin cylinder, Scan&Solve Pro will essentially average across your adhesive, combining the properties of the tube + adhesive + plate in proportion to their local volume fraction. This may not model reality perfectly, but if you are expecting a rigid connection, it may be an adequate approximation. If you also enter the appropriate glue strengths, the danger level in the glue part should reflect the relationship of the stress state within the glue to its strength.

Does this help?

~Michael

Michael,

This is what i was looking for thanks.

Do you know if anyone has asked this question/tried to do this before and if they had any success?

Phillip

Phillip,

I don’t recall anyone asking this question before.

As part of his PhD research, our application engineer did a comparison of Scan&Solve against other FEA software and published literature on adhesive lap joints and butt joints. There was good qualitative agreement at all resolutions (stress distribution looked the same) and good quantitative agreement (stress values close to theoretical) with increasing resolution. Email us if you want a copy.

~Michael