Efficient remeshing and analysis views for integration of design and analysis

Abstract

Design and analysis of products are two separate disciplines, nowadays supported by computers, that frequently need to interact. The first is also known as computer-aided design, and is about the complete digital specification of products, in particular their geometry. Analysis is the process of simulating the physical behaviour of a product under certain conditions, such that this behaviour can be tested before the product has been actually manufactured. The interaction of these two disciplines of design and analysis is not very smooth. A lot of time is spent on converting models and tedious tasks related to this transition. With this thesis, we aim to improve the interaction of the two disciplines and improve the overall efficiency of the product development process. The work is focussed on two aspects in particular: efficient remeshing of analysis models, and analysis views. The first aspect concerns efficient maintenance of the analysis mesh when changes are made to the design. The second aspect is about improving the link between the models of the product for design and for analysis.