The Application of Knowledge Based Engineering Techniques to the Finite Element Mesh Generation of an Automotive Body-in-white Structure

The current design analysis process used by the automotive industry for the body-in-white structure lends itself ideally to the application of a Knowledge Based Engineering (KBE) approach. Currently, any geometry of such a structure provided by a computer-aided design system to an analyst has to be simplified before the creation of a finite element mesh and subsequent structural analysis. This simplification and mesh creation process can be very time consuming. However, as the same generic problem is faced repeatedly, this process can be automated with the use of a KBE system. The KBE system described here can first automatically simplify the geometry and then create the finite element mesh. The material properties and boundary conditions can also be applied at this stage, and the elements grouped in such a manner as to facilitate ease of manipulation by the analysis system.