HOW ENGINEERS USE aesthetica

Visualizing the impact of locator strategies and variation stack-up within the assembly

aesthetica is used by engineers to simulate the effects of manufacturing variation, including component shape variation and deformation, and apply these results directly to the position and shape of the components of the digital model.

In addition to providing valuable insight into the effects of variation, the visual presentation of the results also gives engineers a powerful diagnostic capability, enabling the quick identification of aesthetic problems that are not apparent from the numerical tolerance analysis results alone. It also provides an invaluable tool for investigating and communicating the causes and impact of the product variation.

In the early engineering stages the variation may involve only simple tolerances on virtual locator schemes for the A-Class surfaces, but as the process progresses it will involve the stack-up of more complex and detailed tolerances and assembly conditions.

“aesthetica can be used at every stage of the engineering process to analyse and conduct a visual inspection of the impact of variation on the digital model …“

Main Assembly	Interior Trim
Flush & spring-back problems on hood to fender assembly

Key features for visualizing the impact of variation analysis:

• Unique simulation that applies predicted variation directly to the shape and position of the components allowing the rapid visualization of any predicted sample, e.g. worst case, best case, most likely case, etc;
• The CAD geometry is maintained for every component, including the B-Rep topology (vertices, edge curves and surface patches) which can be used as features for the GD&T and assembly models;
• Tolerance analysis capabilities using a Monte Carlo simulation process with full numerical results to back up the visual presentation and useful diagnostic functions including root cause / key contributor analysis;
• Intuitive and easy to use feature-based constraint and GD&T definition tools, supporting both real and virtual feature sets, including slot/pin and point/point fixture conditions;
• Powerful assembly and tolerance management engines support for the ASME Y14.5 GD&T standard;
• Automatic meshing and physical deformation engine for accurate physical simulation of component deformation during the virtual assembly process;
• Simple and intuitive interface enabling rapid preparation of GD&T models, including a unique journaling system for tracking progress in the model preparation process;