Hi everyone,
As a simple FEA experiment I would like to analyze a bolt-lug connection. To do this I’ve created an assembly in 123D Design (Autodesk) and exported it as an STL file. Unfortunately, after importing the file into SimScale the bolt and lug are disconnected again. Does anyone maybe know how I can make sure that the assembly is imported properly in SimScale? When creating the assembly in 123D Design I’ve used the “align” method, not sure whether this is the proper way of assembling components?
Cheers
1 Like
Hi Jurrien (@jvarkevisser),
have you tried uploading your geometry as .igs or .stp already? If not give it a try and tell me how it worked.
Cheers,
Jousef
Well, that went easy 
Saving/Importing .stp file works perfectly!
Many thanks Jousef!
1 Like
In general, I would stay away from using stl files for analysis. Using iges/step will get you the actual geometry (not a surface mesh like STL), and then you have much more control over the surfaces when you mesh it in Simscale.
Also, if you are interested in using Simscale along with a free online CAD tool, may I recommend Onshape? Simscale can connect with it directly, so you don’t need to worry about translating to a third party format like iges/stp/stl.
2 Likes
@fastwayjim, I agree with you completely here - great advice
