A Comparative Study of the Application of Different Commercial Software for Topology Optimization

Topology optimization (TO) has been a popular design method among CAD designers in the last decades. This method optimizes the given design domain by minimizing/maximizing one or more objective functions, such as the structure’s stiffness, and at the same time, respecting the given constraints like the volume or the weight reduction. For this reason, the companies providing the commercial CAD/FEM platforms have taken this design trend into account and, thus, have included TO in their products over the last years. However, it is not clear which features, algorithms, or, in other words, possibilities the CAD designers do have using these software platforms. A comparative study among the most applied topology optimization software was conducted for this research paper. First, the authors developed an online database of the identified TO software in the form of a table. Interested CAD designers can access and edit its content, contributing in this way to the creation of an updated library of the available TO software. In addition, a deeper comparison among three commercial software platforms—SolidWorks, ANSYS Mechanical, and ABAQUS—was implemented using three common case studies—(1) a bell crank lever, (2) a pillow bracket, and (3) a small bridge. These models were designed, optimized, and validated numerically, as well as compared for their strength. Finally, the above software was evaluated with respect to optimization time, optimized designs, and TO possibilities and features.

Finite Element Modelling for Structural Performance of Slim Floors in Fire and Influence of Protection Materials

Slim floor systems are very common nowadays and various types are currently being used for the construction of high-rise buildings and car parks. Concrete in slim floor beams encases the steel beam section which helps to improve their fire resistance. Despite their higher fire resistance, several fire protection materials like intumescent coatings are often used to achieve a higher fire resistance where desired. The thermal properties and behaviour of various intumescent coating materials were previously studied through experimental investigations. This paper presents finite element analyses to simulate the response of unprotected and protected slim floor beams in fire using different simulation tools. For this purpose, fire tests conducted on unprotected slim floor beams and intumescent coating materials are modelled using research and commercial software. Results from the analyses are compared and verified with the available test data. These validated models are later combined to study the behaviour of protected slim floor beams in fire. Results from the study show that the research and the commercial software replicate the behaviour of slim floor beams and protection materials with good accuracy. Due to the presence of the intumescent coating, the protected slim floor beams displayed a better fire resistance as the temperature of the steel part remained below 400 °C even after 60-min of standard heating. The protected slim floor beams continued to support the external loads even after 120 min of heating.

Effect of Cut-Out Shape on the Stresses in Aircraft Wing Ribs under Aerodynamic Load

Ribs in aircraft wings maintain the airfoil shape of the wing under aerodynamic loads and also support the resulting bending and shear loads that act on the wing. Aircrafts are designed for least weight and hence the wings are made of hollow torsion box and the ribs are designed with cut-outs to reduce the weight of the aircraft structure. These cut-outs on the ribs will lead to higher stresses and stress concentration that can lead to failure of the aircraft structures. The stresses depend on the shape of the cut-outs in the ribs and thus in the present work, the commercial software ANSYS was used to evaluate the stresses on the ribs with different shapes of cut-outs. Four different shapes of cut-out were considered to study the effect of cut-out shape on the stresses in the ribs. It was found that the best shape for the cut-outs on the ribs of wings to reduce weight is elliptical.

An Introductory Overview of Open-Source and Commercial Software Options for the Analysis of Forensic Sequencing Data

The top challenges of adopting new methods to forensic DNA analysis in routine laboratories are often the capital investment and the expertise required to implement and validate such methods locally. In the case of next-generation sequencing, in the last decade, several specifically forensic commercial options became available, offering reliable and validated solutions. Despite this, the readily available expertise to analyze, interpret and understand such data is still perceived to be lagging behind. This review gives an introductory overview for the forensic scientists who are at the beginning of their journey with implementing next-generation sequencing locally and because most in the field do not have a bioinformatics background may find it difficult to navigate the new terms and analysis options available. The currently available open-source and commercial software for forensic sequencing data analysis are summarized here to provide an accessible starting point for those fairly new to the forensic application of massively parallel sequencing.

Metaheuristics for the Minimum Time Cut Path Problem with Different Cutting and Sliding Speeds

The problem of efficiently cutting smaller two-dimensional pieces from a larger surface is recurrent in several manufacturing settings. This problem belongs to the domain of cutting and packing (C&P) problems. This study approached a category of C&P problems called the minimum time cut path (MTCP) problem, which aims to identify a sequence of cutting and sliding movements for the head device to minimize manufacturing time. Both cutting and slide speeds (just moving the head) vary according to equipment, despite their relevance in real-world scenarios. This study applied the MTCP problem on the practical scope and presents two metaheuristics for tackling more significant instances that resemble real-world requirements. The experiments presented in this study utilized parameter values from typical laser cutting machines to assess the feasibility of the proposed methods compared to existing commercial software. The results show that metaheuristic-based solutions are competitive when addressing practical problems, achieving increased performance regarding the processing time for 94% of the instances.

A Retrospective Study of Commercial Software System EDose in QA Application based on the Electronic Portal Imaging Device

Purpose: To evaluate the functions about the pre-treatment dose verification and, the in vivo dose verification for the commercial software EDose system based on Electronic Portal Imaging Device (EPID) retrospectively and establish the action limit level. Methods: The results of pre-treatment dose verification were compared with 2D array Seven29 and 3Dmap for 50 randomly selected IMRT plans of different lesions. A retrospective analysis was conducted for 287 radiotherapy plans using the EDose in pre-treatment dose verification, including 53 IMRT and 247 RapidArc plans, to establish the action limit level with statistical significance evaluation. 28 head and neck patients with different lesions were selected randomly for studying 3D online dose verification preliminary.Results: For pre-treatment dose verification, 50 plans’ average γ passing rates of the 3%/3mm criterion were > 98% for EDose, Seven29, 3Dmap, and 3%/2mm, 2%/2mm criteria were > 95%, 90%. The average γmean of the three verification methods were similar for the 3%/3mm criterion (0.35, 0.38, 0.35). Based on the 287 patients’ clinical data, the average γ passing rate was 97.5%, and the recommend clinical action level was established at 92% with a 95% confidence limit. The in vivo results showed that the γ pass rate had a decreasing trend as the 33 treatment fractions progressed. The γ passing rates means±SD of the first fraction was (91.92±3.31)% while the 33th fraction was (85.73±8.75)%. In addition, the standard deviation between the TPS calculations and the EDose measurement results indicated a higher value of the thirty-third treatment for PTVs and organ at risk compared to the first treatment.Conclusions: This study demonstrated that the EDose system is an accurate, efficient method for quality assurance of patient’ radiotherapy plans with remarkable consistency of treatment planning system (TPS).

Development and Implementation of an Automated ESP Failure Database and Reliability Analysis Platform

Identifying and prioritizing reliability improvement opportunities for ESPs, requires proper consideration of hundreds of parameters that include equipment characteristics, operational conditions, and root cause analyses results (Brookbank, E. B., 1997). One of the main challenges is that this data typically resides in a variety of commercial software products used internally by ConocoPhillips Canada as well as various other repositories such as spreadsheets, PDFs and numerous other internal databases and usually needs to be manually integrated for analysis. A second challenge is how to easily and consistently data mine such an extensive dataset. This paper presents the approach taken, hurdles faced, and results obtained to effectively address both challenges above. First, a failure database was designed to automatically capture time continuous data flows from various data streams, many of them flowing from commercial software tools but also some via email. To address the second challenge, an advanced visualizations and data analytics layer was developed to mine the database, in order to estimate various reliability and optimization metrics, uncover trends and generate forecasts instantaneously. Our solution was to create a unique cradle to grave ESP tracking and visualization integrated system, supporting the complete ESP reliability engineering workflow. It includes vendor to operator ESP equipment data transfer, database and nomenclature structure, operational data capture during the life of the ESP and RCA results data capturing via a 3rdparty low-code application development platform (LCADP). A visualization layer for data analytics and reliability metrics was seamlessly integrated through the use of a commercial software analytics and visualization platform (AVP). Results to date are very encouraging, both in terms of efficiency gains and quality of analysis and results. Consistent use of reliability metrics when used by different members of the production team have been achieved. Lessons learned during the development and specific examples on how the system is being used are presented, including AVP based trend visualization and failure forecast estimations. Key examples of the value captured with this Failure Database and Visualization Platform are also presented, including improved data quality, increased analytical capabilities and enhanced understanding of reliability improving options. The overall net benefit being optimized ESP life cycle costs. This development has the potential to be easily extended to other downhole production equipment such as fiber optic strings, liners, flow control devices, steam splitters and other artificial lift methods utilized in SAGD such as progressing cavity pumps.