Assignment title: Information
49325 CAMD: Computer-Aided Mechanical Design
Project (2016 Spring Semester)
Due date 1:
Project Proposal (your topic and problem, as well as your group members including names and
student IDs). You may email us your Project Proposal no more than one A4 page. The due date of
this stage is Thursday, 6 October 2016;
Due date 2:
The final Project Report is due up to Thursday, 27 October 2016;
Topic: Finite Element Analysis and Optimization in Mechanical Design
Generally, any examples involving the Finite Element Analysis and any Structural Optimization
or Design Optimization techniques will be acceptable. So you may freely design your own problem
related to this topic in a general sense (e.g. numerical examples or practice-based engineering
design problems). However, the problem you choose should be based on the knowledge you have
gained from the practices of Quizzes and Assignments, as well as lecturing notes and computer lab
tutorials of this Subject.
Requirements:
You may apply Finite Element Method and Optimization techniques to any structural mechanical
components as a numerical problem or as a practice-based design problem of your own choice,
with appropriate geometric dimensions, loads and constraints, as well as simulation and optimization
parameters. You may complete this project individually or in groups of up to 7 (note: 1 group leader).
This Project should take a typical group 35 hours to complete. It is noted that this project can either
be completed using Matlab to develop your own codes for any typical numerical examples, or you
can use ANSYS, Altair.Hyperworks or any software tools to the analysis and design of any realworld engineering programs.
Upon the completion, the group leader of each group should submit one hard copy of the detailed
project report. The report will be marked out of 30. The report must contain a statement detailing the
contributions of all individual group members, signed by all members of the group. Basically, your
report should include the following aspects:
(1) Problem description and statement
(2) Finite element procedures and analysis
(3) Design optimization model (design variables; objective function; constraints)
(4) Matlab codes, with detailed explanations, if you use Matlab
(5) Results and discussions, as well as conclusions.
Note: The marks depend on the nature and complexity of your analysis and design problem, as well
as the appropriateness and correctness of using the knowledge gained in this subject.Suggested numerical problems:
The followings are some suggested typical numerical problems only for your reference purpose. You
may directly use them as your numerical example or you can change at your will.
Figure 1. Design domain of a cantilever beam
Figure 2. Design domain of a MBB structure
Figure 3. Design domain of a Michell-type beam
8 8 8
24
F3 F2 F1 8
Design Domain
Figure 4. Design domain of a cantilever beam with three loads
Submit:
(1) Email your Matlab codes (including student names and student IDs in the "Subject" of your
email), to: [email protected] and [email protected], and Cc:
[email protected].
(2) Submit your hard copy to Miss Jing Zheng, CB11.09.205 (Building 11, Level 06, Rm 205), or
Dr Zhen (Jeff) Luo, CB11.09.132. Late submissions are subject to penalty.