TUTORIAL: Topology Optimization in Fusion 360 - 3D printing filament spool holder

[@CNCKitchen]

If you want to skip ahead: Design space generation: 1:42 Boundary conditions: 7:22 Non-design areas: 9:50 Meshing: 11:10 Optimization results: 14:20 Creating design from optimization: 15:30 Printing the model: 22:20

[@MitchellGuyon]

Yea it

[@Lidocain777]

Holes can be done in an other way that seems more logicial to me : - add points at the right locations, exit sketch - hit "H", select point(s), "Simple" type, "Simple" tap type, distance "all", enter diameter. Done. You could also fiddle with "clearance" type and choose the screw type that fits in. :)

[@max19970]

The main difference between your channel and other 3D-oriented channels is that you tackle many technical issues, such as this, the one about the infill strength, etc. Thanks for that!

[@freestylekyle]

Seriously one of the best videos 3-D printing related topic videos I have ever seen, also one of the best advanced fusion 360 videos I have ever seen. Thanks!

[@CNCKitchen]

You're welcome and appreciate the feedback.

[@davidkooi4349]

Imagine if you had this for those bridge building competitions in highschool :)

[@chrille_dk]

What a great video. As a very novice Fusion 360 user I never leave the modelling environment - I guess it's time to! Also, the visible highlighting of the shortcut keys makes it much easier to follow along. I wish every youtuber doing Fusion 360 videos would add that

[@android4cg]

Amazing tutorial !!!! Really very useful ... never seen such useful information before.

[@mortensentim511]

Is there a reason why the simulation would put a support asymmetrically when the constraints and forces are all applied along the centerline of the part? It works out nicely for printing but seemed strange.

[@smithe53]

Tim Mortensen he didn't go into it, but there are settings that tell the software how the part will be made - 3d printing, cnc, extrusion, etc. Depending on these selections, the software will change placements of buttress features like this. I'm not sure if fusion has it yet, but other software packages also allow you to specify whether or not you want the part to be symmetric about a given plane as well. Hope this helps.

[@LanceThumping]

I haven't been able to find anything in Fusion 360 to set that it's a 3d printed object for that sort of thing. Do you know where it may be if there is such a setting?

[@Dhsoanw71]

The software generally deploys a generative algorithm, so the initial source of the structure is random. And the algorithm tries to make it better with each iteration.

[@argentosebastian]

@@smithe53 Where is that setting for the output? I normally use a cnc more than the 3d printer.

[@sechr]

Yes - it is a discretisation artefact which occurs because he runs the optimisation on an asymmetric mesh.

[@TarekMidani]

The amount of quality put in your videos is astounding. Quality of information & rigor. Kudos I hope you go far in this

[@danielhahn1606]

this Video is absolutely great, I love it. I'm a mechanical engineer using Catia V5 (sparsely using the integrated FEM Analysis), and it's incredibly interesting to see how FEM Analysis and Shape Optimization is integrated into Fusion!

[@vokatius]

Thank you really much for making such extended tutorials, the topics you choose are really, *really* helpful and the amount of detail you put into them make it super easy to pick up; even if topics are as abstract as this one.

[@Sanjay_JT]

No bs. Straight to the topic. Absolutely loved it!

[@gastondombiak1538]

Yet another AWESOME tutorial from you. I'm new to the 3D modeling and printing world and your videos are very rich in information. Learned so much from you. Keep it up.

[@BlackBeardProjects]

Very interesting! Thank you

[@asderidelp]

i work on a students race car and we used Topology Optimization for nearly every part and these parts look so beautiful. purly functional, nothing there whats not needed

[@MaximilianonMars]

Sounds awesome, did you make any vids or take pictures?

[@AndyTanguay]

Great video...I honestly didn't know F360 had this. What a world we live in when you can do this at home. Wow

[@farn0153]

wow, I didn't even know that! A few weeks ago I was designing a filament holder myself in Fusion 360 and this would've been really handy... Nice video!

[@SebaSera94]

What a pity that shape optimization feature is not free...

[@Олексій-г1в]

Hey man, i have a suggestion that in such build you should set infill at 100% to achieve actual results. Reason for this is that Topology Optimization do not calculate infill. It calculate topology for full-body solid object, and infill will broke equation. What i want to say that with 15% infill there will be totally different optimized shape that without infill 100% and program do not calculate it.

[@natew.4699]

i guess you could cad the infill and wall thickness as part of the design if you really need but it would be painfull and not a perfect solution

[@TheTranq]

I'm not sure if Fusuon allows for changing element size in areas but you only need the smaller ones near the stress concentration areas. Could get by with way less elements, especially if Fusion has plate elements

[@BStott]

I agree. And with the use case and the static loads he is using. The default mess look entirely adequate. What he did was way too fine.

[@deanallenjones]

I came and subscribed because joel the 3d printer nerd told me to. Your videos look amazing

[@CNCKitchen]

Thanks! You won't be disappointed.

[@Alluvian567]

Why did the FEA show the cross support to be on only one side, the 'bottom' of the model (in fusion)? You made that support only half width as well when you made your design, but in the axis the forces and supports were fully symmetric.

[@amarnatht9911]

keep up the gud work bro.....it helpd me to learn the fusion topology interface within minutes!! 😍

[@Alluvian567]

FEA simulation is going to be off more because of the weak z axis and layer bonds rather than the infill. Infill does not really weaken parts that much, not as much as they are weakened by poor layer bonding. Really nice video, thank you!

[@007superbob]

Ma fai dei video fantastici! Complimenti veramente Your videos are fantastic! Congratulations

[@lionelyork4960]

Bonjour you are a really good teacher, thanks a lot!

[@AthanCondax]

This is an excellent video! Thanks!

[@Phoxtane]

Is there a way to force Fusion 360 to do the analysis locally? I'm not a fan of the 'cloud credits' thing Autodesk has going on and I'm perfectly fine with waiting longer if it's all local to my machine.

[@CNCKitchen]

I'm totally with you. For normal static analyses it's possible to perform the solution locally, topology optimization unfortunately doesn't support that.

[@LanceThumping]

It looks like if you have a Startup/Education license you get unlimited credits at least but I bet they give you lower priority on their simulation servers.

[@daslolo]

Is there a software that does the same thing locally?

[@CNCKitchen]

ansys student can do that.

[@daslolo]

Thanks. What's the easiest to use?

[@barskorkmaz8323]

You wıll reach 100k subs in no time. Great content as always thank you !

[@ozgun228]

Great video. The optimized shape reminds me what you would get using truss analogy method. A video to use at universities.

[@Fundamental444]

Thank you for the tutorial. TO is the essential tool for AM. We are looking forward to see the next one. A couple of comments: - Following your design strategy: in order to keep the original dimmensions of the design you could Project the initial sketch to draw the arc of the holder. - Alternative way: Why you haven't convert the STL to solid and then correct/soften the desire areas?

[@CNCKitchen]

My personal opinion is that "softening" optimized designs is a really bad practice in a lot of cases and especially in the, the redesign is pretty easy.

[@CNCKitchen]

Already more in the pipeline 😉

[@fascinacion3d424]

Suuuper geiles video, vielen vielen Dank!!

[@Mobin92]

The hard edge on the upper mounting bracket is a weak point and should also be modeled organically. Because what's the point in maximizing the rigidity of the body if the attachment is weak..? It's like having a steel part screwed to a cardboard part ._.

[@louisvaught2495]

You usually can't model those parts organically, because the math used to simulate the structure doesn't produce reasonable results around where the loads and the attachment points are. Also, if you ask an optimization program to minimize the stress in your part and give it the ability to modify material around where the stress is applied, the "best" solution is to just not support the load at all, so it will remove 100% of the material from that area.

[@0calvin]

That was super interesting. I never even realized that function was in Fusion 360.

[@HosonZes]

Why did you not fully constrain the lower point? And I always thought that Slic3r is pronounced like slicer.

[@dand8282]

that "slick three are" tripped me up for a second too; I was all "there's another slicer I'm unaware of?" /facepalm

[@jonesy2009]

I think Thomas Sandlander pronounces it the same way, might be a non-native English speaker thing.

[@StevenSSmith]

@@jonesy2009 ​ dand8282 they pronounce it that way as to avoid confusion with other slicing softwares according to Thomas Sandlander.

[@ihavecojones]

And there we have it... at least 1 semester of college in 20 minutes... seriously now, those places are only neccesary to get that piece of caedboard with your picture on it

[@2DragonFreak]

You should use quads instead of triangles for the mesh. Triangles create artificial stiffness

[@Luchsio]

This depends on the selected element order and fourmalism.

[@patrikj]

Regardless of whether the static stress simulation is accurate for the printed material, I still think it would be interesting to run both the original and the optimized shapes and see how much weaker the optimized part is.

[@Mobin92]

Depending on what stress the part has to withstand, the optimized part can be stronger. E.g. a H or T steel bar bends less than a massive piece of steel.

[@Yoggoth]

@@Mobin92 I found your comment interesting and decided to check it. Draw 5 horizontal bars 100mm*100mm*1000mm in FreeCAD. Profiles are: "standing H", "laying H", "solid square", "T", "upsidedown T". Wall thickness is 10mm. I've fixed in one end of each bar and let it bend on its own mass. Results are quite interesting. "Laying H" is the best. "Standing H" is the worst. "Solid" is the second worst. So does that mean that solid bar is not strong? No. It is just heavy and uses own mass in not optimal way, but when you give it an external load, it will be the strongest.

[@System32F]

Great video thank you for this knowledge i just bought a 3D Printer and this will help me alot

[@digitalartsagent1338]

Love your channel! I appreciate the content you provide.

[@RinksRides]

You may be able to shell and then add a "cap" - top layers, maybe join body, hopefully 360 leaves the inner cavity open. Then specify your material and try an FEA?

[@VincentGroenewold]

I looooove these segments! It's such a good basis for further experimentation. Thanks! Nice to see you're using FormFutura recycled petg, I don't see many creators do that (recycling that is). I'm testing it right now but it does seem a bit brittle at any temperature, did you experience that?

[@CNCKitchen]

This is the rPLA I printed with, which works totally fine. Only did some minor tests with the rPETG, so I can't really say much about it.

[@dennisrkb]

Did you at any point select the final material the part is gonna be made out of? Does it matter at all for this optimization? thx!

[@siggyincr7447]

I think it doesn't matter. The simulation assumes homogeneous tensile strength throughout the part and goes from there. This is also why these simulations can only get a reasonable approximation for 3D-printed parts, as they are shells with a small percentage of infill (not at all homogeneous).

[@JustInTime0525]

Really learn something today, thanks! Would you consider showcasing every simulations in Fusion 360 in practical projects?

[@CNCKitchen]

I'll be taking a look at some of the others in the future.

[@TheRealStructurer]

Thanks for sharing. Never though of doing design this way so will give it a try 👍🏻

[@argentosebastian]

I didn't know about this feature until just now!! What is not really clear to me is why did you uncheck the UY axis in the 2nd constraint. Thanks

[@user-qo8js3qk5z]

Really awesome video, thanks Stefan!

[@bobbobson9910]

great video! thank you so much. I have one question/observation: although the load and mounting holes are symetrically placed on the part (mid point), the optimization results in an asymetrcal design with the middle truss member being offset to the right. can anyone explain why this is?

[@TacDyne]

If you are watching this video in Sept. 2020, you know why to never rent software thanks to Autodesk once again fucking over the consumer.

[@AlexKenis]

Good vid! I had been meaning to record a video of this exact process.

[@CNCKitchen]

Please still consider doing that because there isn't a a lot of good information on that topic here on KZbin.

[@cigp]

I always wanted to know this . Thx! More on that will be welcome

[@loopie007]

@9:11 you show the load coming in from a single direction. I would think the load would also be coming in from the sides and front-to-back as a smaller force. In this case, with no side-to-side load, your project will be very floppy, as in a piece of paper. It will be strong in 2 dimensions, but not in 3 dimensions. Possibly I am missing something..

[@doxielain2231]

Wugga, I didn't know f360 did that. Awesomesauce! Thanks for increasing my skill set.

[@CrazySD1993]

Damn, looks like I won't get to try this as simulations will be scrapped for Fusion 360's hobby version. :'( You'll have to do this tutorial under Solidworks!

[@BardhAzizi]

Thanks for the great Tutorial. @ 15:25 you say that you wouldn't recommend to print it as it is, but you don't say the reason why. Could you provide a reason to why one shouldn't print the optimized topology as it is. Thank you.

[@CNCKitchen]

1. The result is rough, so the print wouldn't look nice, but smoothing could be done. 2. The solution doesn't consider any manufacturing constraints. Even though you can theoretically print everything, it is not advisable to print everything. 3. Most importantly: The solution can show un-plausible results, especially at the locations where you added constraints. These result from simplifications you've done with the model (e.g. not simulating pretension or contacts...). So it is the job of the engineer to spot them and design them properly.

[@smithe53]

The mesh from the optimization is also very coarse - depending on the mesh you specify in the FE settings. Normally, 3D printing uses a much finer mesh; unless you're ok with a rough looking part, in which case the mesh from optimization is perfectly useable.

[@neiracorominas]

As 3D parts’ strength comes mainly from the perimeters, would you be able to approximate the analysis a little more if you made a hollow version of the part? Excuse my grammar 😅 Ps: Your content is awesome

[@hiddenlawyer]

Mind blown, great video!!!

[@fr3tles5]

Loved it. Would love to see similar sorts of modelling, and in other free to use cad software too such as Onshape/openscad/etc.

[@hans-dieterjung4026]

Thanks for this informativ video. My Question is, is there a way to get the Model in a sliser generate an infill generat an .slt, put it back to fusion and run a simulation

[@wildin13]

Interesting thought, there might be softwares out there. But I would say that the strength of a 3d print practically only come from 3 key elements, thickness/number of perimeters, orientation of the layers and the quality of the bond between layers. Even with an accurate STL of the sliced model only the thickness of the walls could be accounted for in a simulation on fusion. Simulations are all theoretical and used mostly to speed up human analysis. Meaning let the computer do calculations and then use humans to look and decide if results are appropriate or if a revision is needed. Humans still out think computers, machines are just quicker not better.

[@amerdabbagh4592]

Hallo Stefan, Vielen Dank für das perfekt geklärte Video. Ist das möglich die Topologieoptimierungs-Ergebnisse im offline-Modus zu öffnen. Wie und in welchem Format sollte das gespeichert werden? Danke im Voraus. Amer

[@gustavogrullon5822]

Ese es el perfil optimizado para un punto en la horizontal que recibe la fuerza. La fuerza la recibe la barra, y la reparte entre dos elementos. Tal vez la forma sea un tetraedro.

[@caddyguy5369]

Very well put together!

[@4funrc11]

Hey! Very interesting, indeed. I'll definitely look into this. Thx and thumbs-up! PS - Nice color change in 360.

[@McPcholkin]

Fuson 360 is powerful... thank you for video.

[@sospedra0r]

At which point the simulation takes into account the material? Maybe I missed it in the video. But I guess the reaction to 100 N it's not the same on a 10mm steel beam or a 10mm crystal bar.

[@dennisrkb]

thx for the informative video. could you elaborate wny you unchecked y from the constraint of the bottom hole? thx!

[@danielcortes-ql3bn]

So aweome! Will look for a way to get similar results using solidworks

[@avejst]

Thanks for sharing Interesting stuff, I would like to see more of this, Love it :-)

[@ArneSchwarck]

If you changed the design so that the spool is supported not in the middle but more in line with the top hole. Would it save more material?

[@LaurentLaborde]

Not running a simulation on the part you created ?

[@mairmatt]

Servus Stefan - Merci, great video as always! A learning question from the engineer who installed Fusion360, but always uses the software he has been using for 20 years when something needs to be constructed. It's a shame, I know. But it is what it is. However, when I see something like this, it motivates me to make the switch, however: At what point in this FEM process do the material properties such as weights or stress tensors actually come into play? Are they hidden somewhere in the settings or is it all based on the freely chosen percentage of material savings, which would not be so tingling after all. I assume that the answer here will be more concise than the question, or could give rise to a separate video, because you have mentioned the imponderabilities of FDM printing. I pull the crippled strut inside in this form (quite constructively) a bit in doubt, but it is also very funny - so why not follow the software. :-) Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator

[@CNCKitchen]

So if you do these simple topology optimizations, with only one part, then the material is negligible because you maximize stiffness (here the norm of the strain energy is used) and are only looking for a mass percentage. You could actually replace mass by volume. Actually even the magnitude of load doesn't play a role if you only have one load case. You could set materials but if you work with isotropic materials (with no crazy Poisson's ratio) the result wouldn't change a bit. If you go more advanced (assemblies, orthotropic materials, numerous load cases) then these things come into play, but then the problem gets really complicated. There is a reason why I said, that this takes years or even decades to master.

[@Filipp_M]

Can you give me advice about how I should do? I made a form of a planter from thin cardboard. I want to make it more rigid to avoid shape-changing when I will pour concrete into it. I made a 3d model of my planter in 3ds max before. How I should do constraints and loads in Fusion 360?

[@jan-heinzwiers581]

Hollow the part for the fillament space which doesnt contribute .And you can do the fea And do the shape op with a hollow part too 😁

[@mikepennie]

Could you include the generated model stl on thingiverse? I love the organic look.

[@RFi731]

Is it just me or this feature is no longer free on the new personal license?

[@theeclecticengineer1860]

How do I mirror the part to allow for the other side? Thank you for the great tutorial.

[@CNCKitchen]

You can mirror it on any slicer.

[@dharamkarsaiabhishek4561]

hi can u post how a topology optimization is done to obtain compliant gripper using hypermesh software or fusion 360

[@polycrystallinecandy]

Can someone please explain to me why that truss was offset to one side, instead of spanning the entire thickness of the structure? Shouldn't the solution be symmetric in that axis since the load was given to be straight downward?

[@ABaumstumpf]

The last time i worked with finite elements was helping somebody optimising some old code for calculating chemical penetration depth. 3 mm grain size - that is ginormous XD I think we were working on something like 20 nm. of course that was not running on a normal home computer.

[@OwenBuckingham11]

Awesome job, but I'm wondering why you don't need to set a material before doing the optimization? Because wouldn't different materials require different structures to support the 100N force?

[@CNCKitchen]

Read some of the other comments where I explained the reason.

[@BCblackchicken]

This is really informative videos. Great work.

[@forloop7713]

is it possible to only optimise a part in 2d in this program because I want to make my part out of an aluminium sheet

[@KiR_3d]

Would be cool if a slicer program could generate an "ideal 3dp mesh" to test on loads virtually!

[@dand8282]

You've got good videos and descriptions, well done. The one thing that drives me nuts is how slowly your intros wrap-up, the "I'm Stefen and welcome to CNC Kitchen!" part seems to take F-O-R-E-V-E-R. It was amusing the first video, but made me want to jump out the window (or just click away) by the third time I heard it. 2-3 seconds max, not 5. I know it seems trivial, but when you have quality editing and planning (which clearly you do) such rough edges stand out.

[@kurtronhovde2184]

Will be using this! Thanks!

[@yuanheli307]

Really nice and interesting tutorial!

[@1w5k]

Kann es sein das es nur in der Ultimate Version verfügbar ist?

[@yuanz210]

awesome video, thanks!

[@swengross46]

Wow. Very nice function. Thanks.

[@NicksStuff]

Don't you have to specify the material, the infil, the process for making it and so on to have a simulation?

[@gabeh7655]

What would we do without the fillet!

[@insafbahnini928]

a very very useful video! thank you so much. but I have a question about the FE analysis of the finished Piece. is there any possibility to simulate it with anisotropic material (like the 3D printing do)?

[@CNCKitchen]

I'm quite sure that it's not possible in Fusion 360, but any other descend FEA software should allow that.

[@adrianogoto4904]

Thank you for sharing this amazing knowledge

[@johndoe9536]

Hi, Thanks for the video. I've only recently heard about topology optimization and am wondering about impact simulation ! If i use this video as an example you have defined the load point and added a couple of constraints for the mounting holes. The finite analysis includes these points into the analisys before you run the topology optimization. My question is how do you add extra loads to the model ? For instance of something knocks into thee side of the bracket adding an unexpected force if this was not defined then the bracket could fail !. Would this need to be considered at the modeling stage, the topology optimization stage or integrated into both ?

[@Sensaatioko86]

Only for fusion ultimate users?

[@AngriestEwok]

I've got Fusion 360 but it's asking me to buy cloud credits to do this. Is that normal or am I missing something?

[@vladimirsever334]

Very good and interesting tutorial,

[@siriusyou7178]

that is very clear, thank you very much

[@trolling4dollars816]

Now it needs to be tested for the weight it can hold until destruction. (Joel Telling)

[@StevenSSmith]

@3dprintingnerd

[@Hephera]

dont you also need to add another constraint to tell the simulation that it's pressed flat against a wall? currently the simulation thinks that it's just suspended in a void by the two screw holes but in reality it is braced against the wall along the entire left edge as well.

[@saschaschwarz5850]

Great tutorial!!