Designers and engineers need to know whether their designs will perform up to spec, but too often analysis and simulation tools are time-consuming to learn and interact with. They typically require expertise in mesh preprocessing and are expensive desktop-only software packages. We think that’s a problem. We built Intact so that you can simulate and analyze your designs directly in Onshape. No manual meshing, preprocessing, or installation required.
Let’s see how we can incorporate Intact into the design of a large assembly in Onshape. You can follow along with the same model by copying our Public Document.
With this kind of complicated assembly, it is very difficult to mesh and simulate in a traditional finite element suite. But we’re going to show you how to start simulating this model in minutes.
The first step is adding the Intact app from the Onshape App Store. We offer a free plan to get started, as well as a paid plan that offers higher resolution simulations and individual support from our team of engineers.
Next, click into the Intact tab on the bottom tab list, and import the assembly (or any parts or Part Studios) by clicking “Import Model.”
Once the import is complete, click on the model (called “Assembly 1”) and we can start setting up simulations immediately.
Intact supports multi-material assemblies, but for now, we’re going to choose a single material for the entire assembly. We provide a couple of scenarios that help you get started with some sanity checks, as well as the “advanced” option to build your own scenario. Let’s start with the Squash scenario with the +Y direction as “up.”
And a couple of minutes later, we can view the results by clicking on the simulation name. From the results screen, we can export a video showing the deformation of the model as well as share a link to colleagues to provide an interactive solution viewer without having to log in.
Here’s the shareable link for the Squash scenario on this model.
That’s all you need to start interrogating your design for weaknesses!
As you’ve seen, the Intact workflow is straightforward, and the finite element technology underneath has been successfully benchmarked against other professional tools, but we need your feedback to tailor the product to your needs. So give it a try and let us know how we can help you by emailing us!