A lot has been said of Fusion 360 and that it is the little brother to Inventor, but boy oh boy is this little brother growing up strong and fast. The FEA or simulation that powers Fusion 360 is the Nastran software just like Inventor but it is ever slightly so different.
To start you create a study. The following dialog box pops up.
Now you might recognize some of these terms and others you might not like Modal frequencies or Nonlinear static stress. What do these mean and how do i learn more about these functions.
When you start Fusion 360 simulation study a window pops up and you can watch tutorials on them. So what do these mean?
Static Stress – if I apply forces to the objects will it bend or break
Modal Frequencies – If it vibrates, at what frequency will it shake itself apart
Thermal – If there is a heat source in the design you can calculate the temperatures as it dissipates through the model. Ask yourself does the object too hot
Thermal stress – If an object is subjected to heat, how much does it affect the bending or warping of that object under load
Structural buckling – Calculate if a slender structure is going to bend or not eg. legs of a table
Nonlinear static stress – this will calculate large deformations and can utilise non linear materials like plastic
Shape Optimization – this allows you to put stresses on an object and then calculate how much mass can be removed. This is extremely;y useful when trying to drive down costs as less material makes the design more cost effective
Electronics cooling – Eagle has been integrated with Fusion 360 and this simulation gives the program the ability to see how much heat needs to be whisked away from your electronic components which if gets too hot will be damaged.
