I received quite a positive response to some of my LinkedIn posts, so I thought this might be of interest to the CalculiX community as well.
I’ve recently been working on automated parameter variation and simulation using FreeCAD and its workbenches. For FE calculations, I use the FEM workbench, which is essentially CalculiX as all of you probably know.
I have created (so far) an automated parameter variation and simulation of an L-bracket, where the parameters relating to leg length, width and thickness are varied and calculated. The post-processing aims to find the best solutions that combine low stresses with low volumes.
I hope you like it and if you have any questions, comments or feedback, I’d love to hear from you.
Parametric studies would be a great addition to FreeCAD’s FEM workbench. After all, one of its key advantages is direct integration with CAD environment.
What algorithm are you using. Is this a simple DoE? I used to perform such type of analysis in Isight with abaqus as the FEA solver. Due to cost cut in our department, I want to start exactly with this project by leveraging free cad and ccx.
I am planning to use python as the overall driver. But especially for the optimization I want to start tinker with DAKOTA. It has quite powerful optimization routines, which seem to be perfect for such tasks.
Prepomax is another valuable tool. It can update Fe models, when changing the input step file. I will perform some benchmarking soon.
Thanks for sharing. I’ll try to keep you also updated.
Yes, it’s simply a DoE with predefined parameters. It’s exactly as you describe. I use FreeCAD’s CAD capabilities to define the geometry, and then the FEM setup is created using the boundaries and so on. The Python macro tool handles the rest.
If you’re interested, you can check out my tutorial on YouTube: L-Bracket Tutorial
If you say you want to use it for commercial purposes, and if you tell me what you want to do, perhaps I can help you with it. Just get in touch if needed.
Yes, that’s what I see too. With FreeCAD and the FEM workbench, you have a powerful open-source tool that combines many of the features found in commercial software.
I have used also Isight in the past and was able to replace it with Optimax (from the same author than PrePoMax!!!) and CalculiX, but I have use it for rubber material coeficient identification (so, not changing the geometry but the CCX cards). I would love to have some integration of the Optimax tools in Prepomax directly.
