Journal of Theoretical and Applied Information Technology

10th March 2013. Vol. 49 No.1

© 2005 - 2013 JATIT & LLS. All rights reserved.

ISSN: 1992-8645 www.jatit.org E-ISSN: 1817-3195

INTEGRATION DESIGN AND ANALYSIS OF EXCAVATOR

BOOM BASED ON CAD/CAE
*1 AIMIN JI ,2KUN ZHU,3 XINLEI HUANG, 4 XU YIN
1,2,3,4
College of Mechanical & Electrical Engineering, Hohai University, Changzhou, Jiangsu Province
213022,P.R. China
E-mail: jam@ustc.edu, zhukun80074925@126.com,3huangxinlei89@126.com,
1 2

4
hohaiyx@126.com
* Corresponding author

ABSTRACT

According to the existing problems in the development of actual product and working process of excavator
working device’s boom, the method of integrated design and analysis for excavator boom is put forward.
The defects in the process of CAD/CAE integration are summarized, the integrated design and analysis
system including parametric design of boom, database design, detail feature simplification of boom,
mid-surface extraction and structure analysis is studied. The parametric model of boom is established based
on parametric method, the management of model parameter is realized with the help of database technology
and the rapid design of model is reached. Based on the feature of boom’s structure, the simplification rule
of model is determined and detail features of boom are simplified automatically by program. The
mid-surface extraction process and method of model is studied, the dimensions of model are reduced and
precision of mesh is enhanced. With customization technology, the customization analysis platform of
boom is developed by secondary development of ANSYS Workbench code.
Key words: Boom; Parameterization; Model Simplification; Mid-Surface; Customization Analysis

1. INTRODUCTION idealization process. However, at present, only

limited automated capabilities exist, and these
The advanced geometric modeling method of require improvement, some idealization processes
CAD and analysis and calculation ability of CAE are complex application range is restricted.
are combined closely by CAD/CAE integration
In this paper, the integration and analysis process
technology, it also adapts to the dynamic attribute
of boom is realized by CAD/CAE technology in
of modern product design, such as parametric
VC++ environment, the modeling and analysis
design, model modification and requirement of
system of boom’s structure is developed. The
reanalysis.
system includes five modules:(1) Parametric
A variety of CAD/CAE integration methods have modeling of boom, (2) Design of database, (3)
been proposed so far[1-6]. They made a lot of Simplification of detail features, (4) Mid-surface
efforts to integrate CAD and CAE closely, ideally extraction, (5) Customizing design. Users can build
and seamlessly, whether CAD and CAE application the parametric models rapidly and conveniently, by
can be closely integrated and automated depends modifying geometric parameter values, the fast
upon the following factors: the scale, scope, and modeling process of boom’s structure is realized.
purpose of the CAE analysis; the nature and Via database access interface compiled with
dimensionality of the CAD model; and the amount database technology, the modeling system can
of detail required for the CAE application. access geometric parameters and also can edit them
Sometimes, design models created by CAD system in database, it establishes the data sources for
is often unsuitable for finite element analysis, so parametric design and series modeling of parts.
an appropriate idealization process including detail Besides, this paper uses feature simplified method
removal and dimensional reduction[7-14] is to delete detail features that have a little or no effect
indispensable for analysis models in CAD/CAE to finite element analysis result, such as chamfer,
integration. They have made many research efforts fillet, boss and so on, by mid-surface extraction
and provide some methods to achieve the technology, the mid-surface structure of boom is got,

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 Journal of Theoretical and Applied Information Technology
10th March 2013. Vol. 49 No.1
© 2005 - 2013 JATIT & LLS. All rights reserved.

ISSN: 1992-8645 www.jatit.org E-ISSN: 1817-3195

it will enhance the precision of grid and analysis model, determining the design rule, that is the
efficiency. Firstly, the CAD/CAE integration system design scheme of boom, for example, in the
will builds parametric model of boom with standard boom structure, the proportion between
parametric design module, after detail feature up-boom and down-boom is 1.1～1.3, the bend
simplification and mid-surface extraction process, angle of boom is about between 110°and 140°, the
the model will be imported into CAE software total angle of bucket is about 180°, moreover, it also
ANSYS Workbench by CAD/CAE interface needs to determine the expansion ratio of hydraulic
technology, then, the model is analyzed cylinder and other parameters
automatically in ANSYS Workbench, thus ， the
CAD system and ANSYS analysis system are
integrated by the way of data sharing. Stress Start
Open
distribution of part in actual working condition is
displayed by inputting stress values, and the New
distribution of stress of model will also be displayed
by cloud picture. Users can determine whether there
is design flaw according to the result, Finally, the Name Project attributes
ideal model will be got after modification.
In this paper, section 2 presents the parametric
design process of boom. In section 3, we propose a Select design model
method of model simplification. Section 4 is the
customization design of boom with ANSYS
Workbench. Section 5 gives a conclusion to the
whole paper.
Value Database
2. PARAMETERIC DESIGN OF BOOM param

There are two main parts included in the

parametric design process of excavator working Library Parametric model
device: (1) Building the 3D model of excavator’s
boom, and extracting the parameters of the model,
in the process of modeling, the model should be
Assembly model
restrained necessarily. (2) Designing the user
interface with VC++, including menus and dialog,
then developing the geometric parameter database
of boom with database technology, and the editing Interference ?
of geometric parameters is realized, meanwhile the
secondary development functions of UG software is Y
called in VC++ environment to achieve N
transformation of parameters, the main idea is
shown in Fig.1. Save & Exit
Firstly, building a new project or opening the
existing project, and selecting the model needs to
build according to user’s requirement, then Figure 1 Parametric Design Process
inputting the parameter values or calling the values In the process of parameter extraction,
from database, the fast modeling is realized after parameters that can ensure the basic outline of
finishing above procedures, finally, assembling the boom will be extracted, such as diameter of reaming,
models and building the 3D model of whole thickness of plate and so on, three factors should be
machine. In the process of selecting design model, considered in selecting the main parameters: (1)
the reference model should be built, it includes Ensuring the hydraulic cylinder can generate
determination of the design rules, extraction of enough bucket digging force, (2) Ensuring the
main parameters, restraint of model, the main hydraulic cylinder has enough self-lock force, (3)
contents are as following statement. Ensuring each part has enough angle range.
2.1 The Establishment of Reference Model Parameter constraint model is the geometric
It needs to analyze the structure feature of model with constraint relations, and the constraint
excavator’s boom in the process of selecting design
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 Journal of Theoretical and Applied Information Technology
10th March 2013. Vol. 49 No.1
© 2005 - 2013 JATIT & LLS. All rights reserved.

ISSN: 1992-8645 www.jatit.org E-ISSN: 1817-3195

relations can be modified by program in order to According to the process shown in Fig.2, the
build new model. This paper takes modeling design of database is realized, operations like
method based on draft, the addition of geometric querying, inputting, deleting of parameters will be
parameters is realized in expression dialog of UG achieved. Parameter query is completed by the
software, parameters and initial values will be input relationships between parameters, firstly, selecting a
into the dialog while modeling, it is convenient to attribute, then inputting a relation of “>”、“<”、
manage the parameters. “=”and value, finally, the parameters match
2.2 Submodules Of Parametric Modeling condition will be got, if not, we can add new
System parameters into database and save them, we also
can modify or delete them according to real
The specific content of parametric modeling condition.
system is shown in Fig.2, five sub-modules are
included: (1) Foundation design, user interface, 3 MODEL SIMPLIFICATION
menus, and dialog are designed with VC++ in this
process. (2) Reference model, including the Model simplification is divided into detail feature
determination of design rule, extraction of simplification and mid-surface extraction
parameters, addition of constraints. (3) Database 3.1 Detail Feature Simplification
design, functions like design of data sheet, edit or
query of parameters and so on need to be realized in Input a CAD model
this process. (4) Engineering maintenance, this
module is used to manage models and components.
(5) User management, it is convenient to operate
Obtain the number(N) of features by
and control the system.
program and nodes information
2.3 Dada Management and Database Design
Because the parameters of boom model are too
much, if they are input into dialog manually, the
procedures are tedious and time waste, so the Create a empty list and define a cycle variable I=0
parameters are saved in a table with database
technology, thus the parameter values will be called
directly in this system, and the design efficiency is
enhanced, the main idea of database is shown in I<N ? I=I+1
Fig.3. Y

Data base Access database

Extract the node I
Put the nodes
into list

Fillet ? radius<R？
Query the case according Save
to “attribute”, “relation”,
Y
and “value” N N
Input parameter

Delete all the nodes of list

Match ？

N Save
Y
Figure3 Simplification Process of Fillet Feature
Passing geometric parameter Detail features are about small structures in the
model(like hole, slot, cavity, boss, fillet and so on),
Figure2 Design Idea of Database these features have a little or no influence to

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 Journal of Theoretical and Applied Information Technology
10th March 2013. Vol. 49 No.1
© 2005 - 2013 JATIT & LLS. All rights reserved.

ISSN: 1992-8645 www.jatit.org E-ISSN: 1817-3195

analysis result in FEA, so they can be deleted or projected to another face, they should overlap or
controlled. Before the simplification, it needs to some overlap with each other.
distinguish the features of model, and find out the
features which need to be simplified, this process is
achieved by the secondary development functions
of UG/Open API, the nature of feature distinguish is
accessing model’s geometric parameters. Taking
fillet feature for example, first, we need to set a
radius value R, through judging condition(>or<),
features with the value is greater than R will be
deleted, others will be saved, radius value R is set
by user according to model’s characteristic, Figure 5 Judgment of Parallel Condition
simplification principle, and practical experience, （3） Distance condition: the distance between
the specific simplification process is shown in Fig.3 two faces should be less than user defined value
3.2 Mid-surface Abstraction t max （d< t max ）.
After feature simplification, it needs to extract
mid-surface of the model, that is transforming the When the mid-surface is extracted, the some
3D model into low dimensional structure feature, facets will be crossed or disconnected, so it needs to
and make it to analysis ideally. For example, a long trim and seam them, and the ideal mid-surface will
and thin cylinder structure can be substituted by a be got after theses operation. As shown in Fig.6
one-dimensional bar element or beam element,
some plate and shell structures can be substituted by
mid-surface. The structure of excavator working
device is constituted by plate, so it is convenient to
extract the mid-surface of model. The main idea is
shown in Fig.4.
Determination of faces should follow the
condition of parallel, distance, overlap. Supposing Figure 6 Process of Trimming and Seaming
there are two faces named F1 , F2 , the normal 4. CUNTOMIZATION DESIGN BASED ON
vector of them are N 1 , N 2 , the distance between ANSYSY WORKBENCH
them is d, the method of judgment is shown as Usually the products user faced are limited,
following[12] [13]: sometimes it only needs to modify the exist product
locally, if the model is analyzed directly every time,
operations like adding constraint, loads, meshing
will take too much time. So it is better to develop a
program used to design the specific model, the
analysis process will be realized by only inputting
some values of geometric parameter and stress, this
process is also called customization

configurat
Figure 4 Process of Mid-Surface Abstraction pretreatme ion
nt
（1） Parallel condition: there are two
situations, one is the two faces’ normal vector Customiza
direction (N1,N2) of model must be the same or men tion solver
opposite, that is N1 • N 2 = ±1 , the other is that u platform
the two planes are approximate parallel, the angle dialog
should be less than the user defined angle ( θ max ) , user
box
that is 1800 − angle( N1，N 2 ) < 2θ max . Shown Figure7 Content of Customization Design
in Fig.5 The content of customization design is shown in
Fig.7, pretreatment of model is saving the
（2） Overlap condition: when a face is mid-surface model of boom in the form of *.agdb

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 Journal of Theoretical and Applied Information Technology
10th March 2013. Vol. 49 No.1
© 2005 - 2013 JATIT & LLS. All rights reserved.

ISSN: 1992-8645 www.jatit.org E-ISSN: 1817-3195

and *.dsdb, *.agdb has information of geometric analyzed after selecting AWE solver, as shown in
parameters, and *.dsdb contains messages like Fig. 10-12
material, meshing, constraint, load, they are used as
reference models, design of solver is setting the
type of solver and select reasonable compute
method, the configuration of system environment is
adding user defined functions, it is used to load the
custom programs
The design of menus, interface, and parameters
editor dialog is realized by the languages of
XML(Extensible Markup Language),
HTML(Hypertext Markup Language), Jscript. XML
is used to design system interface, as shown in Fig.
8. Jscript is used to design menus, and HTML is Figure10 Solution
used to design the dialog.

Figure 8 Main Interface Figure11 Stress Contour of Boom

Figure 9 Interactive Interface Figure 12 Deformation Contour of Boom

In the simulation platform of excavator’s boom, 5. CONCLUSION
the parameterization of model is achieved through
interactive interface of HTML as shown in Fig. 9. In the paper, the process of CAD/CAE
This interface is generated based on web and script integration system of excavator’s boom is put
language, users can input parameter values forward, according to the problem in integration
according to actual situation, then these values are process, parametric model of boom is built, with
transmitted to the model by Workbench and update database technology, rapid modeling process is
it. In this paper, all the CAD parameters are realized, and the detail feature simplification and
enumerated in script file, each parameter and its mid-surface extraction method are used in the
value is input into the corresponding form system, it will helps to enhance the precision of
automatically. In the interactive interface, users can model’s grid and avoid messages missing in the
also modify values through dialog, when the values transformation between CAD and CAE, meanwhile,
are determined, all the parameters are submitted to with customization design method, analysis
the simulation platform, finally, the model will be efficiency is greatly improved. This technology

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 Journal of Theoretical and Applied Information Technology
10th March 2013. Vol. 49 No.1
© 2005 - 2013 JATIT & LLS. All rights reserved.

ISSN: 1992-8645 www.jatit.org E-ISSN: 1817-3195

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
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