Analysis of buckling phenomena in cyclonic separator stand with stiffener

AIM AND OBJECTIVES:

The main objective is to carry out a buckling analysis on a Cyclonic separator stand.

After the initial analysis, a metallic stiffener will be sketched and added to the stand and another buckling analysis will be simulated to find the change in the buckling Factor of Safety. Finally, a design study will be conducted to find the optimum position of the stiffener.

INTRODUCTION:

Buckling is the failure mode of a structural member experiencing high compressive stresses that cause a sudden sideways deflection. Columns are usually subjected to buckling checks because compressive or axial forces are responsible for buckling and these are common in columns rather than beams.

In many design projects, engineers must calculate the factor of safety (FOS) to ensure the design will withstand the expected loadings. this is a difficult task since the calculations require the exact values and mechanisms of failure. This is why engineers use an FEA technique known as Buckling analysis.

To begin the project, a Cyclonic Separator Stand was provided, Figure 2 shows the provided model.

The provided model of the stand

Since we are only analysing the stand, the cyclonic separator will be suppressed.

PROCEDURE:

A metallic stiffener was added to the stand that was used for Procedure 1, then the procedure is the same as the one used for Procedure 1 except a design study will also be conducted to determine the optimum position of the newly added stiffener. Figure 9 shows the added stiffener.

Three dimensional model of the stand with the stiffener added

ANALYSIS:

The mesh size was made very fine for accurate results.

The fixtures were placed below the legs for support and a load of 135,000N was placed on the stand as shown in Figure 10.

After adding the fixtures and loads, the new stand will undergo a mesh.

The meshed model of the new stand

After meshing the model, the study was run and the results are shown below.

The final results for the second study

The buckling Factor of Safety is 12.463

DESIGN STUDY:

A design study was conducted to determine the optimum position of the stiffener in the stand. The studies were optimized to get the best results possible, to perform optimization the design variables must be defined. table 1 shows the defined variables.

Table 1: Variables of the design study

Name	Type	Values
Offset distance	Range with Step	Min: 150 mm,Max: 1750 mm, Step: 125 mm

The next step for the design study is to define the constraints so that we can specify the conditions that your design must satisfy. The constraints can be driven by global variables or sensors for mass properties, dimensions, and simulation data. table 2 shows the defined constraints.

Table 2: Constraints of the designed study

Name	Type	Value
Buckling Factor of Safety	is greater than	Min: 25.000000

The last step for specifying the parameters is to define the goals. Defining goals helps to specify your objective functions for the Optimization Design Study.

Table 3: Goals of the designed study

Name	Goal
Buckling Factor of Safety	Maximize

After defining all the parameters, the number of scenarios (iterations) was 14, since SolidWorks starts with a "Current and Initial " study, the total amount of scenarios SolidWorks did was 16.

RESULTS:

The optimized design and values are shown below in figure.

CONCLUSION:

The buckling FOS of the stand without the stiffener is 12.463, this is approximately 1.86 times lower than the FOS value of the stand with the stiffener which is 23.1837, this means that the stiffener added additional strength and rigidity to the stand making it more reliable to be used in the industry.