Tutorial: Creating and analyze the simple Cantilevered Beam shown below with

Pro/E and Pro/E Mechanica.

x
z

Part 1: Creating a Simple Beam

1. Start Pro/E Wildfire 3.0.

2. Select [File] [New] from the menu bar. This dialog shown in Figure 1.1 will
pop up. Create a new solid part, but be sure to deselect the Use default template
checkbox so that we can specify the appropriate unit system. Click OK and the
following dialog, shown in Figure 2 will pop up. Select mmns_part_solid for
the template and click OK.

Uncheck

Figure 1.1: New dialog box. Figure 1.2: New File Options dialog box.

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 Sketch Tool

Figure 1.3: Select Sketch and select the plane labeled FRONT.

3. Select the Sketch Tool icon from the tool bar at the right of the screen, as shown
in Figure 1.3. Select the plane labeled FRONT for the reference sketch plane.
Click the Sketch button to go to the sketch workspace.

4. Select the Sketcher Palette icon. Double-click the desired profile [the square under the
Polygon menu] and click anywhere in the sketch workspace to place a sketch of the
desired profile. A dialog box will appear allowing you to adjust the scale of the sketch.
Simply click the green checkmark for now, since we will modify the dimensions of the
sketch in the next step. NOTE: The sketcher palette has many different cross sections,
such as an I-Beam profile (you will find this under the profiles tab in the sketcher
palette) which will be useful for your project.

Sketcher Palette

Figure 1.3: Select Sketcher Palette and double-click the desired Profile. Click in the
sketch space to place the sketch and use the default scale for now.

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 5. Double click on the width dimension and change it to 260 mm, then hit Enter.

Modify
Dimension

Figure 1.4: Double click on width dimension to change width to 260 mm. NOTE: Since
this is a square cross section, the aspect ratio is fixed.

6. Click the check mark on the toolbar at the right hand side of the screen to save the
sketch and exit the sketch workspace.

7. Select the Extrusion Tool icon from the tool bar at the right of the screen. Enter a
value of 4500 mm for the extrusion length. Click the green checkmark to
complete the extrusion and the beam is done. You can reorient and view it.

Extrusion Tool

Extrusion
Length

Figure 1.5: Use Extrusion Tool to extrude sketch. Extrusion Length = 4500 mm.

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Part 2: Performing a Static Analysis with Mechanica

1. Once we have created the part we are ready to switch over to Mechanica. Select
[Applications] [Mechanica]. A dialog box displaying the units system info
will appear. Click Continue.

2. A model type dialog box, shown in Figure 2.1 will then appear. Select
Structure for the mode and then click OK.

Figure 2.1: Model Type dialog box.

3. To define the material select the Define Materials icon from the tool bar at the
right of the screen. A Materials dialog box will appear. Select AL6061 from the
materials in the library. Click the Right facing arrows to add the selected material
to the model. Once the material has been added to the model it will appear in the
list on the right of the Materials dialog box. Click OK to continue.

Define Material

Figure 2.2: Materials dialog box.

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4. To assign the material to the beam, select the New Material Assignment icon from
the tool bar at the right of the screen. A Material Assignment dialog box will
appear. Since there is only one part in the model, you will see that the part that
we have created is listed under the references category. The materials available to
assign to parts in the model can be chosen from a drop down menu under the
materials. For this example we are assigning to AL6061 to the beam. Click
OK to accept this material assignment.

New Material
Assignment

Figure 2.3: Material Assignment dialog box.

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5. To assign the boundary condition to the model, select the New Displacement
Constraint icon from the tool bar at the right of the screen. A Constraint dialog
box will appear. In this case we want to fix all the degrees of freedom of the
surface of one end of the beam. Select one of the ends of the beam as the surface
to apply the constraint to, do this by placing the cursor on the desired end of the
beam and clicking. Notice under the Translation and Rotation sections of the
dialog box that there are options to set the constraints in the X, Y, or Z as free,
fixed, or prescribed. In this case we want to set all Translational and Rotational
degrees of freedom for the face selected as Fixed. See Figure 2.4 below. Note
the name of the constraint set is Constraint1.

New Displacement
Constraint

Select Face
to be fixed
Fix all Translational and
Rotational Degrees of Freedom

Figure 2.4: Fix one end of the beam using by applying a constraint.

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 6. To assign a loading condition to the model, select the New Force/Moment Load
icon from the tool bar at the right of the screen. A Force/Moment load dialog box
will appear. In this case we want to apply a surface force of 5000 N in the
negative y-direction to the free end of the beam. Select the free end of the beam
and enter -5000 as the Y component of the Force. See Figure 2.5 below. Note the
name of the load set is LoadSet1.

New Force/Moment
Load

Select Face to apply force to.

Figure 2.5: Fix one end of the beam using by applying a constraint.

NOTE: To perform any type of design study, a material, loading condition, and
boundary condition must be specified!

7. Now we are ready to run a design study. Select the Run A Design Study icon
from the tool bar at the top. This will open the Analyses and Design Studies
dialog box.
Run a Design
Study

Figure 2.6: Select the Run a Design Study Icon

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8. To create a static analysis, select [File] [New Static], from the Analyses and
Design Studied dialog box, Figure 2.7.

Figure 2.7: Analyses and Design Studies dialog box

9. After choosing to create a New Static analysis, the Static Analysis Definition
dialog box appears, Figure 2.8. Note that the constraints and the loads available
are ConstraintSet1 and Loadset1 that we previously created. For this
example (and for the project) use the Single-Pass Adaptive convergence
method. Note that the name of the static analysis is Analysis1. Click OK to
continue with the analysis. Leave the Analyses and Design Studies dialog box
open for now.

Figure 2.8: Static Analysis Definition dialog box

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10. To run the static analysis we created, we must select the green flag from the tool
bar at the top of the Analyses and Design Studies Dialog, Figure 2.9. You will be
prompted if you want error detection or not. Select Yes so that Mechanica will
check to see if you model has any errors. The status of the run can be viewed by
selecting the Display Study Status icon. When the run is finished you can close
the Run Status dialog box.

Run Study Display Study Status

View Results of Design Study or Finite Element Analysis

Figure 2.9: Run Static Analysis

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11. Once the study has completed, select the Review Results of a Design Study or Finite
Element Analysis icon from the Analyses and Design Studied dialog box, see Figure 2.9.
This brings up the Result window definition dialog box, Figure 2.10. For example, lets
look at the tip deflection of the beam. So lets select Displacement as the Quantity a
Y as the Component we wish to view. Click Ok and Show to see the results, Figure
2.11. At this point, one could close the current results window and use the same
procedure to plot other results. When finished plotting results, close the results window.

Figure 2.10: Result Window Definition

Note: Max tip deflection

Figure 2.11: Static Analysis Results, Tip Deflection

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 Part 3: Running A Sensitivity Design Study

1. To run a Sensitivity Design Study, we must first create an analysis to base our
sensitivities off of. This can be a static analysis, modal analysis, buckling
analysis, etc. In this case we will use the static analysis of the beam that we
previously created as our base analysis.

2. Select the Run a Design study icon. Then from the Analyses and Design Studies
dialog box, select [File] [New Sensitivity Design Study]. The Sensitivity
Design Study Definition dialog box will appear. We want to perform a global
sensitivity on the static analysis that we created, so we select Analysis 1. We
must then assign a parameter(s) to study. Click the Select Dimension from
Model icon from the toolbar on the right side of the Sensitivity Study Definition
dialog box. In this case lets specify the length of the beam as the design variable.
Use 0.5 m as the starting length and 4.5 m as the ending length, with 3 steps. See
Figure 3.1 below for the details of this procedure. Click OK to continue. Note
the name of this study is study1.

3. Select dimension
from model
1. Select the
base analysis Note: You
may have to
click the beam
2. Click Select Dimension for the length
from Model icon dim to appear.
4. Specify the starting
and ending dimensions

5. Specify the
Number of Steps

Figure 3.1: Sensitivity Study Definition

3. We can now run this design study by selecting study1 from the Analyses and
Design Studies dialog box and selecting the green flag. Again, we will be asked
for error detection, select Yes. It will take a few minutes for the study to run,
you can view the progress of the study by selecting the Display Study Status icon.

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 4. Once the study has completed, select study1 and click the Review results of a
Design Study or Finite Element Analysis icon from the Analyses and Design
Studies dialog box. This brings up a slightly different Result window definition
dialog box as compared to before, Figure 3.2. For this example, lets look at the
sensitivity of the tip deflection of the beam with length. Click the button below
Measure (as illustrated in Figure 3.2) and the Measures Dialog box appears
with a long list of measures available to examine. Select max_disp_y. Click
OK in the Measures dialog box. Click Ok and Show to see the resulting
graph, Figure 3.3.

Figure 3.2: Result Window Definition for Sensitivity Design Study

Figure 3.3: Result Sensitivity Design Study Results

Note: From the window in which the results are displayed, you can select
[File][Export][Excel] to export the data to an excel spreadsheet. This may be
useful if you want to copy your data into Matlab for the project.

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Part 4: Patterned Extrusion

1. Suppose you wanted to specify a pattern of holes in the beam to reduce the
weight. We can switch back to Standard Pro/E by selecting [Applications]
[Standard]. Select the Hole Tool icon from the tool bar at the right of the screen.

2. Follow the steps below (see Figure 4.1 for additional details):

a. Position a hole by clicking somewhere on the desired face of the beam.

b. Set the datum references to the front and side edges of the face in which
you placed the hole.
c. You may adjust the location of the hole by changing the appropriate
dimensions with respect to the datum points.
d. Specify the length of the hole and the diameter in at the bottom of the
screen.
e. Accept the hole by clicking the green checkmark in the lower right corner.

Datum References

Hole Tool

Specify hole length and

diameter

Figure 4.1: Use Hole Tool to insert hole in the beam.

3. Select the Pattern Tool icon from the tool bar at the right (see Figure 4.2).

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 4. Follow the steps below (see Figure 4.2 for additional details):

a. First, click in the field of the First Direction Pattern Dimension. This allows
you to select a direction in which you wish your pattern to repeat and to specify
the spacing between pattern members in that direction. You do this by locating a
dimension in the model that is in the direction that you want your pattern to vary.
Click on that dimension and you will have the opportunity to specify the spacing
between members in that direction.
b. Second, enter the number of pattern members in the first direction.
c. Third, click in the field of the Second Direction Pattern Dimension. This
allows you to select another direction in which you wish your pattern to repeat
and to specify the spacing between pattern members in that direction. Follow the
same procedure as part a) for a dimension in a different direction.
d. Finally, enter the number of pattern members in the second direction.
e. Accept the pattern by clicking the green checkmark in the lower right corner.

5. Select a dimension in
the second direction and
specify the spacing

Pattern Tool
2. Select a dimension in
the first direction and
specify the spacing

3. Specify the number of 1. Click in field of First 6. Specify the number of 4. Click in field of Second
pattern members in the Direction Pattern Dimension pattern members in the Direction Pattern Dimension
first direction second direction
Figure 4.2: Parameters required for specifying a pattern.

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