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Finite Element Analysis of Heavy Steel Door
The problem
An industrial press manufacturer wanted to improve a
press, by reducing its weight and manufacturing cost,
while increasing the force on the press tools. They asked
Coupland Bell consultants to consider the whole design
and recommend improvements. One of the loaded parts our
consultants looked at in more detail was a heavy steel
door. Our consultants chose the door for more work, because
it seemed to be too heavy and too expensive to make.
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Our solution
The door is a welded fabrication, with an internal lattice
framework, an outer frame and outer panels. This was simplified
for an FEA model by modelling half
of it with symmetrical boundary conditions and using shell
elements. The internal lattice framework was not included,
because hand calculations and experience suggested it
was redundant. It’s weight was represented by vertical
loads on the front panel. The finite
element analysis results confirmed very small stresses
and deflections, even without the internal structure.
Our consultants recommended a much simpler design, which
was lighter and cheaper to make.
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