ANSYS DesignXplorer
Simulation is typically used to assess the performance of a part or a system for one given set of CAD dimensions, loads and material properties. Through the combined use of ANSYS DesignXplorer and ANSYS comprehensive single and multiphysics parametric solutions, you can efficiently answer ‘what-if’ questions and understand the relationship between design variables and the performance of your product or process.
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Overview
What happens if my load changes by 10%? Which parameters are really influencing the behavior of my system? These types of questions can be answered by an appropriate parametric study of the model.
A parametric analysis can be either deterministic or probabilistic. In the former case, all parameters are supposed to vary continuously within a given range (defining the design space) and the expected result is the continuous response of the various performances. The deterministic analysis is a first step to take to understand the product and find a feasible design within the design space. Once a feasible design has been found, the next question is: how robust is it?
The probabilistic parametric analysis will help answer that question. Loads, dimensions and material properties are not deterministic parameters; a dimension has a certain tolerance and material properties depend on the manufacturing process. How does the scattering of these parameters influence the performance of the product? How much is the product likely to fail?
Through the combined use of ANSYS DesignXplorer and the comprehensive multiphysics solutions from ANSYS, parametric analyses are available for virtually every simulation. ANSYS DesignXplorer supports all physics available from the ANSYS Workbench schematics: structural (both implicit and explicit), fluid flow and multiphysics. Combined analyses in which multiple physics are analyzed independently or in a coupled manner are also supported.
Design of Experiments and Response Surfaces
Achieving a good design point often means making trade-offs between various objectives, and the exploration of a given design cannot be performed exclusively by using direct optimization algorithms that lead to a single design point. It is important to gather enough information about the current design to be able to answer so-called “what-if” questions and quantify the influence of design variables on the performance of the product in an exhaustive manner. In doing so, the right decisions can be made based on accurate information, even in the event of an unexpected change in the design constraints.
ANSYS DesignXplorer provides a description of the relationship between the design variables and the performance of the product by using Design of Experiments (DOE) combined with Response Surfaces. DOE and Response Surfaces provide all the information required to take advantage of Simulation Driven Product Development. When performance variations due to design variables are known, it is easy to understand and identify all changes required to meet the product requirements. Once the Response Surfaces are created, information about curves, surfaces, sensitivities and other variables can be shared in terms that are easy to understand and can be used any time in the product- development cycle without requiring additional simulations to test a new configuration.
ANSYS DesignXplorer Key Capabilities
- Available DOE schemes
- Central Composite Design (CCD)
- Optimal Space-Filling.
- Custom defined (allows import of your own DOE scheme)
- Fitting schemes
- Full Second-Order Polynomial
- Kriging (with manual or automated refinement)
- Non-Parametric Regression
- Neural Network.
- Optimization
- Screening (shifted Hammersley)
- Multi-Objective Genetic Algorithm (MOGA)
- Nonlinear Programming (NLPQL).
- Graphical tools
- Sensitivity plots
- Correlation matrices
- Curves and surface
- Trade-off plots
- Parallel charts with Pareto Front display
- Spider charts.
Optimization
Good design starts with identifying the relationship between performance and design variables. In most cases, there will be a number of “optimal” designs to choose from, depending on the parameters and objectives of the product. ANSYS DesignXplorer software offers several ways to investigate response surfaces, including interactive tools and optimization algorithms such as multi-objective search. This technology analyzes input constraints, such manufacturing cost, and provides several design candidates from which you can choose. With optimization, there are usually trade-off solutions.
