MecE468 - Assignment 3 - BCs - Fall 2023

Department of Mechanical Engineering
University of Alberta
MecE 468 – Numerical Simulation in Mechanical Engineering Design
Assignment Number 3: Due September 26 Before Lecture
Boundary Conditions
TUTORIALS
Design Studies
(Tutorial on eClass)
- Learn how to setup and perform a design study,
specifically focusing on mesh convergence behavior.
For Assignment: Bolted Connections

(Tutorial on eClass)
- Conduct a FEA study exploring different ways to assign
boundary conditions to simulate a bolted connection and
observe how results change.
ASSIGNMENT
Objectives
• Understand different ways to implement boundary conditions (BCs), and how to use simulation
results towards selecting the most appropriate BC assignment.
• Generate a design question for the trailer hitch and work towards a solution.
Tasks
• Complete the assigned tutorials on eClass. The Design Studies tutorial will show how a design study
in Solidworks can be used to help monitor mesh convergence. The Bolted Connections tutorial will
begin to explore how BCs can influence your results, and will be used in the assignment. It will also
expose you to using more advanced constraints through a bolted connection.
o Upon completing the Bolted Connections tutorial, before working on the assignment, consider
which BCs you want to use. Depending on your design question and what you may wish to
investigate, a number of possibilities exist that could be fundamentally appropriate. Base your
decision on outcomes from the Bolted Connections tutorial and justify your choice in the
reporting.
• Establish mesh convergence for your component before working on your design question. Be sure to
consider any outputs that will be important to your design problem. For example, if displacement of
the hitch where it connects to the vehicle is important to your design question along with avoiding
yield, you should monitor displacement at the vehicle connection as well as maximum stress in the
part at critical locations to ensure that the yield stress is not exceeded.
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• Develop a design question for the trailer hitch after completing the tutorial. As a part of your design
question, you must not alter the geometry of the bolt holes or where the hitch would connect with the
trailer (location of force application). As these geometries interface with the vehicle and trailer, they
cannot be altered. In this instance, you cannot choose to alter material as a design question. You
should choose an appropriate material to use from the beginning and focus on other aspects of the
trailer hitch to manipulate. Finally, keep in mind that a good design question should present a
relevant problem, a clear path to solution, and clearly describe the end-point criteria.
• Complete your reporting requirements, as discussed in Deliverables.
Deliverables
• Standard report format (Title page, abstract/summary, table of contents, table of figures, report body,
appendices [only if needed]).
• The body of your report will follow the format below:
o A 1-page maximum introduction (including figures) that outlines the problem, written in
typical paragraph form.
o A series of figures and bullet points under appropriate section headings (e.g. Assumptions,
Methods, Results and Discussion) that will describe the assumptions, methods, and
results/discussion. Each figure or table should have a clear caption/heading and up to five
bullet points associated with it that are approximately 1-2 sentences. Start each new figure or
table on a new page with the bullet points under it. The points associated with each figure or
table should describe the presented data/information as well as provide interpretations.
o A concluding section that is a maximum of ½ page, written in typical paragraph format.
o Appendices: you may include appendix sections where additional information may be
included that helps to support items in the report body but is not essential. Appendix sections
should be organized in the order they are referenced in the report body. Remember, any piece
of information vital to the report should be in the report body, and only supplemental material
should be moved to the appendices (if you’re unsure, please ask!).
• Upload for marking a PDF of the report and ZIP of the solid model (original and yours) and a single
drawing file.
• Electronic submission only over eClass.
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