Defining Surface Finishes

You can specify a base surface finish or a surface finish for one or more surfaces of the steel components of your model.

This surface finish overrides the base surface finish, if one is specified. If you define surface finishes that overlap, the worst finish quality is used for the analysis.

Important: For non-steel components, you should accept the default surface finish of K t = 1 .

You can define surface finish by entering a specific K t factor for surface finish manually, by selecting one of the predefined roughness settings in a default surface finish library or a library that you import into the database, or by selecting the R z value for surface finish.

This task shows you how to:

Before you begin: You must have either the Durability Performance Engineer (FGP) role or the Structural Performance Engineer (SFO) role to define this feature.
See Also
About Surface Finishes

Define Surface Finishes Based on a Kt Value

  1. From the Durability section of the action bar, click either Surface Finish or Base Surface Finish .
  2. Optional: Enter a descriptive Name.
  3. Specify a Support for the surface finish.
  4. Select Specific Kt value.
  5. Enter the k t factor.
  6. Click OK.

Define Surface Finishes Based on a Predefined Roughness Setting

  1. From the Durability section of the action bar, click either Surface Finish or Base Surface Finish .
  2. Optional: Enter a descriptive Name.
  3. Specify a Support for the surface finish.
  4. Select one of the following surface finish libraries:
    • Uni7670 1988 (steel) surface finishes
    • Juvinaall 1967 (steel) surface finishes
    • Rcjohnson 1973 (steel) surface finishes
  5. From the Finish quality list, select the specific finish quality you want to apply.

    Surface finishes are presented from smoothest to roughest. Choosing Mirror polished, the default surface finish, effectively means that the effects of surface finish should not factor into calculations of fatigue for the selected surfaces.

  6. Click OK.

Define Surface Finishes Based on UTS and Rz Values

  1. From the Durability section of the action bar, click either Surface Finish or Base Surface Finish .
  2. Optional: Enter a descriptive Name.
  3. Specify a Support for the surface finish.
  4. Select Surface finish value.
  5. From the Definitions list, select the graphite definition with a suitable UTS and R z range of values.
  6. In the Rz field, specify the R z value for the surface finish.
  7. Click OK.

Define Surface Finishes Based on Rz Values in a Saved Surface Finish File

Before you begin: The surface finish file must be available in the database before you can use one of its values as a surface finish in a simulation. You can import a surface finish file by doing the following:
  1. From the top bar, click Add > Import.
  2. From the Format options, select Surface_Finish_Properties (*.sfprop).
  3. Click Open , then select the file you want to import.
  4. Click OK.
  1. From the Durability section of the action bar, click either Surface Finish or Base Surface Finish .
  2. Optional: Enter a descriptive Name.
  3. Specify a Support for the surface finish.
  4. Select Surface finish file.
  5. Click Search , and select a surface finish file (.sfprop) from the database.
  6. Depending on the contents of the surface finish file, enter either the R a or R z factor in the field that appears.
  7. Click OK.