Application Briefs

New! A Novel Approach to Planar Mechanism Synthesis Using HEEDS
The problem of mechanism synthesis (or design) is deceptively complex and has been the subject of much attention since soon after the discovery of the wheel. In this paper, a novel approach to automated mechanism synthesis is described that uses a technique called “convertible agents” to simultaneously find the most appropriate mechanism type for a given problem, while also finding an optimum set of dimensions for that mechanism to realize a specified behavior.
Download (PDF, 667 KB)

Optimization of a Vehicle Door to Minimize Mass
In this application brief, an approach is presented to optimize a vehicle door using HEEDS Professional. The goal of the study was to minimize the door mass through gauge optimization, while meeting the constraints on stress and deflection. Six static load cases were considered for each design iteration. HEEDS found a design that reduced the mass of the considered components by 18.6% over the baseline design, while meeting all of the performance requirements.
Download (PDF, 860 KB)

Designing for Cost Reduction
In this application brief, we demonstrate how to couple a cost model and a finite element model within an optimization process to obtain a minimum cost design that also meets performance requirements. The application example is an office chair leg with both material and shape design variables. HEEDS Professional is used to automate the design evaluation and optimization process, Abaqus is used to perform finite element analysis, and Excel is used to calculate the cost of each proposed design.
Download (PDF, 228 KB)

Optimizing Traffic Signal Control for Emergency Evacuation
While most applications of HEEDS Professional focus on design of physical parts and products, it can also be applied to many other forms of optimization. This paper discusses the success of HEEDS in the area of traffic control for urban evacuation, using agent-based modeling (ABM).
Download (PDF, 350 KB)

Optimization of a Hybrid Electric Bus
This paper demonstrates a strategy for optimizing Hybrid Electric Vehicles (HEVs) that accommodates the complexity of the HEV problem statement, interactions among the HEV components, and the design landscape. An integrated simulation and design optimization framework is presented to find the best overall combination of engine size, battery pack, electric motor and generator for minimum fuel consumption under specified performance criteria. HEEDS Professional was successful in optimizing a series hybrid bus that substantionally outperformed the conventional version of the bus, using ADVISOR as a simulation tool.
Download (PDF, 387 KB)

Optimization of an Armored Plate for Light Armored Vehicles Subjected to Blast Loading
This paper demonstrates how design optimization can be used in designing an armored plate for the undercarriage of a light armored vehicle. A validated loading model for simulating blast mine effects was utilized in this study. LS-DYNA was used to simulate the dynamic blast response, and HEEDS Professional was used to perform the automated optimization.
Download (PDF, 521 KB)

Optimization of a Vascular Stent 
This paper briefly describes how HEEDS™ Professional design optimization program was used to find the design geometry solution that most substantially reduced the principal strains seen in the crimping phase of Nitinol stent manufacture. This shape optimization methodology could be applied similarly for stents based on other stent materials.
Download (PDF, 567 KB)

Design Optimization of Progressively Crushing Rails
This paper demonstrates a new strategy for achieving progressively crushing designs during an automated design optimization study. Independent crush zones are defined along the length of the rail. The main goal of the optimization is then to encourage maximum energy absorption in a given crush zone to occur prior to any energy absorption in rearward crush zones. In other words, crush should initiate in the tip and progress from zone to adjacent zone toward the rear of the rail. Compared to traditional optimization statements that focus only on total energy, the current approach can produce designs with similar total energy absorption but with a dominant progressive mode. 
Download (PDF, 222 KB)

Optimization of Steam Usage for a Chemical Process 
HEEDS Professional was used with the Aspen Plus 2006 simulation tool to minimize the cost of producing Dicloromethane (DCM), a common chemical byproduct that can be used as a solvent and in the production processes of certain food products (such as decaffeinating coffee).
Download (PDF, 156 KB)

Design Optimization for Fatigue Life 
To ensure reliability of designs, fatigue life performance is often an integral part of today’s CAE evaluations. Fatigue life predictions are generally calculated from the results of finite element based simulations.This example illustrates how HEEDS Professional can be incorporated into the standard CAE-based design process for finding mass-efficient designs that also satisfy reliability requirements. The automated HEEDS Professional optimization process frequently yields designs that are better than those found from a manual search process, and in a fraction of the time.
Download (PDF, 173 KB)

Advanced Technologies for Design and Fabrication of Composite Automotive Components
In this paper, several example applications to real automotive composite components are described to illustrate the benefits of combining advanced manufacturing and design optimization methods to realize novel composite solutions at a fraction of the weight of equivalent metallic parts.
Download (PDF, 300 KB)

The Role of Individual Failure Mechanisms on Crush Energy Absorption in a Composite Tube
A Design of Experiments (DOE) study was performed to estimate the contribution of various energy-absorbing mechanisms to the total energy absorbed during quasi‐static crush of circular composite tubes. Failure mechanisms such as material failure, delamination, friction between plies and friction between a metallic initiator and the tube were explicitly represented in an axisymmetric finite element model. The results of this study not only provide a better understanding of tube crush behavior, but also guide the development of better models for design of composite crush tubes.
Download (PDF, 200 KB)

Abaqus Technology Brief: Material Model Calibration Using Abaqus and HEEDS
In this Technology Brief, HEEDS, an optimization tool developed by Red Cedar Technology, was used in conjunction with Abaqus to determine the parameters needed to model the viscoelastic behavior of a rate-dependent vinyl material.
Download (PDF, 337 KB)

Optimization of a Tube Hydroforming Process
Hydroforming is an emerging technology that meshes well with the automotive industry's drive to achieve part reduction and more efficient use of material. Using finite element analysis methods in conjunction with automated design optimization procedures, this application brief demonstrates that optimal hydroforming process parameters can be determined very efficiently. In the present study, a 55% increase in expansion of a circular blank in a square die was achieved with HEEDS Professional compared to manual optimization.
Download (PDF, 297 KB)