1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a design system, a design method, and a storage medium storing a design program for a structural analysis after amending the form of a model.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, when a desirable model form is obtained to minimize the weight while maintaining the strength in analyzing a structure, a plurality of candidates for a desirable form (basis vector) are defined, and then the form (a) is divided into mesh units as shown in FIG. 1 into the form (b). Then, in a manual operation, as indicated by the form (c), the coordinate indicated by a small circle (∘) of a node on each of the edges (sides) of the divided mesh units is manually input (by specifying the x, y, and Z coordinates) and amended. A structural analysis is made on a model formed based on the amended edge according to the well-known boundary conditions and the attribute (strength, weight, etc.) of a material to obtain the optimum solution satisfying a predetermined strength, for example, a model form lightest in weight.
When the above described optimization is performed, it is necessary to divide a model into mesh units, and manually associate a node on each edge (side) with a coordinate value as shown by (c) in FIG. 1. If the number of nodes is large, then a great number of manual operations are required, thereby preventing a quick structural analysis.
To solve the above described problems, the present invention aims at quickly performing a structural analysis in a simple operation by dividing a model into mesh units, specifying a child edge of an optional curve in a parent edge, projecting the parent edge into the child edge, automatically computing the coordinates, and obtaining the optimum solution in a structural analysis based on the computation.
According to the first aspect of the present invention, the design system which analyzes a structure by amending the form of a model includes: a mesh division unit for dividing the model into mesh units; a child edge generation and display unit for generating and displaying a child edge, which is newer than a parent edge divided into mesh units; an amendment unit for amending the displayed child edge into an optional form, an association unit for obtaining the correspondence between the above described parent unit and the amended child unit; and a structural analysis unit for analyzing the structure of the amended model form depending on the obtained correspondence.