Reconstruction of Trimmed and Faceted Vehicle Models for Isogeometric Analysis in LS-DYNA

The traditional engineering design-through-analysis process is inadequate for modern needs. In it, an engineering designer will create a model in a computer-aided design (CAD) software, after which an analyst takes this smooth CAD model, defeatures it, cleans up the model, and ultimately approximates the intended shape as a faceted, semi-structured mesh for subsequent engineering analysis. Analysis, thus, no longer operates on the intended object, but instead evaluates physics on a faceted approximation, which may lead to compromised results [1]. Furthermore, while design and analysis are the primary objects of interest in the design-through-analysis process, the intermediary steps of geometry cleanup and meshing consume over 70% of the time spent in the design-through-analysis process [2, 3]. Naturally, this leads to increased associated costs [4].