When designing new mechanisms, the knowledge of the loads acting on the members is fundamental to correctly calculate all dimensions. The correctness of the design loads is particularly important for moving systems, where external working forces (and moments) couple with inertial effects that might be even bigger than the first ones. For moving mechanisms, all of the components have to be verified for static strength and durability.
These objectives can be fast reached by introducing numerical simulation in the design process.
Multi-Body Dynamics (MBD) simulation is the key technology to investigate how the mechanism parts move (study of kinematics) and which forces are behind the motion (study of dynamics). Forces, in general, come from part-to-part interactions in dynamical conditions, working loads, and from motors/actuators. Once the loads are extracted, they can be straightforwardly transferred to a Finite Element Analysis (FEA) software for the structural assessment. Static verification deals with the response under the maximum identified loads (worst case), while durability verification deals with the determination of part life considering the cyclic nature of the loads in a moving system.
In this paper, we apply the both technologies to calculate the components of an eccentric mechanical press. Both multibody and finite element analyses have been carried out in Ansys® Workbench environment. The proposed approach has made possible a reliable sizing of the mechanical parts, while reducing the overall design time.