MYP Design Virtual Testing and Simulation Notes

Break It On Screen Before You Break It In The Workshop

1. A CAD model already knows its shape, its volume and what material it is set to, which is enough for the software to predict how it would behave.
2. Running that prediction is simulation, and it costs a few minutes instead of a sheet of plywood and a lesson.
3. Fusion 360, SolidWorks and Onshape all include simulation tools, and free browser tools handle simple load cases.
4. The software splits the model into thousands of small cells called a mesh, then solves the forces acting on each one.
5. A finer mesh gives a more trustworthy answer and takes longer, so refine it only around the areas you care about.

Stress Analysis Shows Where It Would Snap

1. You tell the software three things: which faces are held still, where the force pushes, and how big that force is.
2. A bracket holding a 2 kg shelf carries about 20 newtons, since weight in newtons is roughly mass in kilograms times ten.
3. The result comes back as a colour map, with blue for lightly loaded areas and red where the material is closest to failing.
4. Red almost always appears at sharp internal corners, thin sections and the point where a part is bolted down.
5. The safety factor tells you how many times the applied load the part could take, and anything under 1 means it fails.
6. A separate displacement result shows how far it bends, which can matter even when nothing breaks.
   1. A shelf that sags 8 mm without cracking has still failed the person using it.

Motion Studies Check It Actually Moves

1. A motion study drives the joints in an assembly so you can watch the mechanism run through its full travel.
2. Swing a hinged lid through 110 degrees and you find out whether it hits the wall behind before you build the cabinet.
3. It also shows how far a moving part sweeps, which is the space nothing else is allowed to occupy.
4. A motion study only works if the joints are set up honestly, so a lid with no stop will happily rotate 360 degrees on screen.
5. Export the motion as a short video and it doubles as a clear way to explain the mechanism to a client.

Clash Detection Finds Parts Fighting For The Same Space

1. Clash detection, sometimes called interference detection, checks whether any two solids overlap in an assembly.
2. The software lists every clash with its volume, so a 0.2 mm overlap and a 12 mm one are easy to tell apart.
3. A static check catches a screw head sitting inside a panel, which is a mistake you would only spot after drilling.
4. A dynamic check runs the clash test through a motion study and catches the handle that only hits the frame at 80 degrees open.
5. A zero clash result is not the same as a part that fits, since two faces touching with no gap at all cannot be assembled by hand.
6. Leave real clearance, around 0.2 mm for a sliding fit in printed plastic, and check the gap is still there in the model.

The Answer Is Only As Good As What You Fed It

1. Simulation assumes the material is perfect and the same all the way through, which no real plywood or 3D print ever is.
2. A printed part is much weaker across its layer lines, and standard simulation has no idea the layers exist.
3. Set the physical material properly, because a model left on default steel will look indestructible when it is going to be printed in PLA.
4. Guessing the load wrong ruins everything after it, so work the force out from a real mass rather than picking a round number.
5. Fixing the wrong face is the most common mistake, since holding a part everywhere makes almost any design pass.

A Physical Test Still Decides

1. Simulation narrows your options and tells you where to look, while a real prototype tells you what actually happens.
2. Load a printed bracket with a 2 kg weight, leave it for an hour, and see whether it creeps downward as PLA does.
3. Compare the two results directly: the simulation predicted 1.2 mm of bend and the real part bent 2 mm.
4. Explaining that gap, usually layer adhesion or a joint, is the most useful writing in your evaluation.
5. Users also break things in ways no software models, such as sitting on a shelf or yanking a lid sideways.

Putting Simulation In Your Design Folder

1. Screenshot the colour map with the legend visible, since a picture with no scale proves nothing.
2. State the material, the load in newtons and the fixed faces in one line under each image.
3. Show the change you made because of the result, because a simulation that changed nothing was not worth running.
4. Simple and honest beats complicated and decorative, so one clear load case you understand is enough.

Where Virtual Testing Fits In The Design Cycle

1. Simulation belongs in developing ideas, where you are choosing between options and still willing to change the model.
2. Running it after the part is made turns it into decoration rather than a design decision.
3. Use it to compare two of your own designs under identical conditions, which is a fairer comparison than testing two real prototypes.
4. Virtual testing also saves material, which counts towards sustainability in a way a moderator can see.