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TractorGuy14-Alexandrite
14-Alexandrite
July 22, 2014
Question

AutoGEM will not mesh parts

  • July 22, 2014
  • 18 replies
  • 9591 views

I am using mechanica to analyze a set of brackets that mount to a transmission housing for support. I have everything setup in my analysis but I am having one hell of a time trying to get the transmission housing to mesh. In fact, I have been trying to get this thing to mesh for a solid week now.

Here is what I have done so far to try and get it working:

1. Turned off as many features (holes, rounds, etc) as possible to reduce the number of elements.

2. Carefully repaired all of the errors in the geometry (overlapping surfaces, etc.).

3. Ran AutoGEM successfully on each part individually (including the housing).

4. Tried suppressing one part at a time in my analysis to see if there was some sort of glitch with the analysis.

No matter what I try, AutoGEM will get 99% complete and stops without throwing any errors other than it is unable to mesh. The thing that really annoys me is that my counterparts in Japan have been able to run a similar FEA with the same transmission model and computer setup without issues.

Any ideas of things to try to get this working?

BTW, I am using 64bit Pro/E WF4.0.


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    18 replies

    danderson1-Visitor
    1-Visitor
    July 22, 2014

    When you run the analysis on each part individually do you get any warnings in the diagnostic’s window?

    If you do, this might lead you to the culprit. Also check your material properties for each part.

    Hope this helps,
    Don

    TractorGuy14-AlexandriteAuthor
    14-Alexandrite
    July 22, 2014

    I succesfully meshed each part individually and did not receive any errors, only some warnings about edge angles. I also verified that all parts have a material property so I don't think that is it either.

    Any other ideas?

    danderson1-Visitor
    1-Visitor
    July 22, 2014

    I have run into issues with surface warnings at the part level that would not let the assembly level analysis mesh.

    Verify there are no surfaces created by rounds or blends that fold over it's self.
    When you do a tolerance report in Simulate are they all close to each other in values?

    Don

    TractorGuy14-AlexandriteAuthor
    14-Alexandrite
    July 22, 2014

    I will when my company switches to it (our internal software only supports WF4 at the moment). At the rate we are going now, that should be some time in 2020.

    TractorGuy14-AlexandriteAuthor
    14-Alexandrite
    July 22, 2014

    I have already verified the strength of my brackets, but now there is concern that I'm going to break the transmission.

    346gnu13-Aquamarine
    13-Aquamarine
    July 23, 2014

    Hi,

    Castings can be painful. Scanned data even worse. 'Model over the top' with simple protrusions is quickest (crudest) but effective way to get rid of dodgy rounds.

    If brackets are sheetmetal, remodel as approximate normal parts.

    Look out for tiny surfaces created where components touch and perimeters over/underlap. Adjust to map exactly.

    Make sure there are no interferences. Fix if there are.

    Confirm adjacent part accuracies are similar (use the tolerance report)

    If there are any contacts with split surfaces switched on, either adjust components so they map exactly and/or switch off the split surfaces.

    If the parts mesh but the assembly doesn't, suppress all components (and fasteners if any) and resume one part at a time until you find a potential culprit/area of the model. Freeze components if you have to in order to achieve a logical order to this.

    Resume fasteners at the end (one at a time is necessary).

    Other things I have tried in the past to narrow down the potential location of the problem include cutting away half or 3/4 of the casting, gradualy replace, 'machining back' and replacing with 'clean' protrusion where components meet.

    TractorGuy14-AlexandriteAuthor
    14-Alexandrite
    July 23, 2014

    Not sure what did it, but after checking and trying several things here I got it to mesh!

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