Design Exploration Workflows

Design Exploration guides you through the workflows for a typical design study. There are two basic workflow types available: parametric and nonparametric. Parametric improvement workflows change parameter values within the existing design, such as the size or spacing of features. Nonparametric improvement workflows modify the shape or topology of the design.

This page discusses:

The complete workflows include steps that you must complete in other apps in addition to Design Exploration.

Parametric Design Improvement Workflow

  1. Create and solve a structural analysis case using the Mechanical Scenario Creation app.

    The results of the analysis case must contain sensors for the parameters that you are interested in evaluating. If you want to evaluate the designs using only parameters that are calculated by the product (such as total mass), you do not need an analysis case.

  2. Define design variables for the parameters that you want to vary in the study.

    You can specify an allowable range of values for each design variable. For more information, see Design Variables Manager.

    If your model or scenario do not contain the parameters you need, you can use Knowledgeware to create them. For more information, see Using Knowledgeware to Parameterize Simulation Features. You can either add parameter ranges using Knowledgeware or specify allowable ranges in Design Exploration.

  3. Define the response variables for the results you are interested in tracking.

    For more information, see Response Variables Manager.

  4. Define the goals of your study by specifying an objective for one or more response variables (for example, to minimize or maximize the target value).

    For more information, see About Objectives and Constraints.

  5. Define constraints (such as a maximum allowable value for stress) on any response variables that you want to use to evaluate the designs.

    Designs that violate a constraint are marked as infeasible. For more information, see About Objectives and Constraints.

  6. Check the robustness of the design by evaluating sample points throughout the design space.

    You can assess the geometry, mesh, or scenario changes. If a large number of points fail, you might want to modify the model or reduce the range of allowable values for some design variables. For more information, see About Design Space Checks.

  7. Run the study.

    While the study is running, you can monitor the results of simulations in the study as they complete. For more information, see About Simulation Configuration.

  8. Review the results of the study. Use the ranking and comparison tools to select your favorite designs.

    For more information, see About Study Results.

  9. Generate alternatives of your favorite designs if you want to perform additional validation tests.

    A separate Physics Simulation object and products are created for each alternative. You can then use Mechanical Scenario Creation for structural analyses to run additional simulations on that design.

Nonparametric Design Improvement Workflow

  1. Prepare the geometry in the Simulation Model Preparation app.

    You can define partitions for a topology design improvement study or define disconnects for a shape design improvement study. You can also complete other geometry editing operations.

  2. Define your simulation and mesh in the Mechanical Scenario Creation and Structural Model Creation app.

    You can use a single analysis for an optimization. The analysis case can contain any number of static steps, static perturbation steps (including load cases), and frequency steps.

  3. Create a topology or shape optimization design improvement study.

    For more information, see Creating a Design Improvement Study.

  4. Define the design space for your optimization.

    For a topology optimization, select the part to be optimized, and select the regions you want to preserve during optimization. For a shape optimization, select a disconnected feature and the corresponding disconnected areas defined in Simulation Model Preparation as the design space. For more information, see About Design Spaces.

  5. Define response variables, constraints, and objectives.

    For more information, see Response Variables.

  6. Define manufacturing and shape controls that limit the optimization processes to producing designs that can be manufactured.

    For more information, see Manufacturing Controls and Shape Controls.

  7. Run the study.

    While the study is running, you can monitor the results of simulations in the study as the study progresses. For more information, see About Simulation Configuration.

  8. Review the results of the study in Physics Results Explorer.

    In Physics Results Explorer, use the Generate Concept and Generate Designs commands to create new geometry based on the study results.

  9. Create and run validation cases in Mechanical Scenario Creation to verify the proposed new geometry.