Scan&Solve Pro Documentation

Materials

• Will a custom material added in one file be available for use in other files? Yes, a custom Scan&Solve™ material added in one Rhino file will be accessible in other Rhino files.
• Are orthotropic materials, such as wood or composites, supported in Scan&Solve™? Scan&Solve Pro presently works with orthotropic materials, such as wood. A recent update allows for the analysis of wood with changing grain directions i.e. curved wood.
• Can Scan&Solve Pro simulate composite structures?
  Scan&Solve Pro can simulate basic composite structures by having multiple Rhino solids added as separate components in Scan&Solve. The separate components can have their own material assigned. For more detailed instructions, see Adding Components.

Input and Geometry

• Can Scan&Solve Pro simulate structural foams? Yes, since structural foams are just a type of geometry.
• If a Rhino object is hollow, will using Scan&Solve Pro on the object force it to become solid mass, or will it remain a hollow or shell-like object? Scan&Solve Pro works on all Rhino solids. If a hollow object is modeled as a solid in Rhino, then Scan&Solve Pro will treat it as a hollow object. Note that in Rhino, a solid must consist of a single connected surface, with the interior surface connected in some way to the exterior surface.
• Can Scan&Solve Pro perform thin shell analysis, say for very thin plastics? The answer depends on the available resolution. Scan&Solve Pro uses "solid" elements to model the physical behavior of the models undergoing analysis. Large thin structures such as thin plates and membranes will generally show qualitatively correct behavior; however, limits on available memory and computation time will hinder detailed analysis in Scan&Solve Pro.

Loads and Restraints

• Can I restrain the edges and vertices of the solid? Scan&Solve Pro currently has the ability to restrain edges but not vertices. However, since restraints of this type are non-physical, the stress results in their neighborhoood will be questionable.
• Can I apply a combination of different loads to a face? Any number or combination of loads may be applied to any faces in the solid.
• Are climatic loads such as rain, snow, or wind supported? Presently, there is no way to input these specific types of loads. However, it is possible to simulate the effects of such weather events using directional loads or pressures. For example, wind loads may be simulated using pressure, and snow loads may be simulated using a vector force equivalent to a certain depth of snow. However, this only simulates the forces, not the climatic effects on materials.
• Can loads be applied over time with time history or ramp functions? Scan&Solve Pro is designed to perform linear static stress analysis, and therefore loads may not be varied over time. It is, however, simple to vary the loads manually.

Viewing and Reporting Results

• How can I export my results? The analysis results can be exported in HTML format only by pressing the "Report" button in the View Tab. See the documentation on Reporting for more information.
• What formats are available for exporting the geometry? The geometry can be exported to a Rhino mesh file, a VRML 2.0 file, an STL file, or a PLY file. The geometry can be exported in its original form, or in its deformed state. You can also export a textured geometry which shows the results of the analysis to a VRML 2.0 file, or a Rhino mesh file. See the documentation on Baking for more information.

Visualization

• Does using the Deflection Slider in the View Tab show what would really happen to the solid under the conditions specified? The Deflection Slider dramatically magnifies the actual deformation, and is used for visualization purposes only. The numbers and colors reflect the real results.
• Is there a way to visualize the "mesh of space" that encloses the solid for analysis? Yes, Scan&Solve Pro allows you to visualize the solution grid by selecting the checkbox Show Grid in the Specify tab. The color of the displayed grid can also be specified. Note that changing the resolution of the solution grid while Show Grid is selected can be performance intensive.
• What is the relationship between Rhino model accuracy and the size of a single mesh element in Scan&Solve Pro? The size of mesh elements in the Scan&Solve™ "mesh of space" has nothing to do with the "mesh of boundary" in Rhino, which is used for visualization purposes only. Generally speaking, the resolutions have nothing to do with each other, but geometric resolution is several orders of magnitude higher than the analysis resolution. This is to be expected since geometric computations are needed to perform numerical computations on the analysis mesh.

Purchasing and Upgrading Scan&Solve Pro

• What types of Scan&Solve Pro licenses are available for purchase? Scan&Solve Pro will work with any valid Scan&Solve license. However, a Scan&Solve Pro installation is only valid for the 40 day period following the build date listed in the installation file name (as Year.Month.Day).

General

• I would like to see a demonstration of the entire process of analyzing an imported mesh using Scan&Solve Pro. Scan&Solve Pro supports direct analysis of imported meshes. No special processing is required.
• How can I keep abreast of the latest developments and releases of Scan&Solve Pro? The best way to keep track of new developments is to download and try the evaluation version, available here. This will add your email to our mailing list. You can also keep track of developments at the Scan&Solve Pro website.