Optimisation Analysis

All design is an exercise in optimisation; the act of trading off various potential solutions in order to arrive at a solution which best meets the design objectives.  Traditionally, this process relied solely on the design engineer’s skill and experience in all but extremely hi-technology applications such as aerospace.

The advent of modern parametric three dimensional CAD systems and integrated FEA solvers with automatic meshing algorithms has made it possible to implement rigorous mathematical optimisation processes within general engineering design.  

The key benefit of this approach is that it can be fully automated and is much more rigorous than manual optimisation procedures.  Nor are they limited to a single optimisation variable, but can be deployed with large numbers of design variables.  Mathematical optimisation also has the benefit that it frequently converges to design solutions that are counter-intuitive to engineers and hence are unlikely to be achieved by manual design or optimisation.

Typical applications for FEA based optimisation analysis include:

•    Stress Analysis based Optimisation & Material Removal
•    Natural Frequency Placement
•    Temperature Distribution, Heat Transfer and Flux Optimisation
•    Optimisation of Highly Non-Linear Systems
•    Multi-Physics Optimisation

FEA based optimisation analysis is a crucial design technology for ensuring that products have the greatest performance physically possible while remaining lean and cost-effective.  FEA based optimisation is now in widespread use in all sectors of industry and has therefore become an essential technique for all design organisations seeking to maintain competitive in the global marketplace.