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Static Simulation · Lesson 3: Contacts, bolts and assembly connectors

Contacts between parts, bolts, pins and springs, and shells for thin structures.

Lesson goal

Analyze an assembly by modeling the connections between parts correctly, and lighten the model with shells and connectors.

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3 videos

✎

1 exercise

Intermediate

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Prerequisite: Lesson 2

1. Watch the videos

Dassault Systèmes videos hosted on MySolidWorks: they open in a new tab and a free account is enough. Watch them in order.

Bolt ConnectionsVideo 1▶Bolt ConnectionsContacts between parts, bolt connectors and remote loads.↗ Assembly Analysis with Connections and Mesh RefinementVideo 2▶Assembly Analysis with Connections and Mesh RefinementContact hierarchy, pin and spring connectors, local refinement.↗ Analysis of Thin ComponentsVideo 3▶Analysis of Thin ComponentsModel thin structures as shells and use symmetry.↗

2. Key takeaways

1

By default, touching parts are Bonded: switch to No Penetration contact where parts can slide or separate.

2

A bolt connector replaces the modeled screw: a lighter analysis, and the bolt force is available directly.

3

Shells model sheet metal and thin walls with far fewer elements than a solid mesh.

4

Symmetry lets you analyze only half or a quarter of the model.

Tip

Remove fasteners and parts that carry no load from the analysis and replace them with connectors: the study often drops from several minutes to a few seconds.

3. Do the exercise

On an assembly of two bolted plates:

  • replace the screws with bolt connectors with preload
  • set the contact between the plates to No Penetration
  • note the force in the most heavily loaded bolt
✓To check: The deformed shape shows the plates separating slightly away from the bolts, without interpenetrating.

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