Acrobat 3D Corner

CASE STUDY

Atrus Inc.

A single PDF with an embedded FEA 3D contour plot drastically reduces review time, replacing the need for multiple 2D screenshots

Challenge

Atrus Inc. performs Finite Element Analysis (FEA) of mechanical components for a variety of industries including aerospace, medical, business machines, manufacturing, and appliance. The results from a structural FEA typically display stresses and displacements which help determine if a proposed design will be able to perform to the functional specifications prior to releasing for manufacturing or production. FEA is used routinely in high volume production and manufacturing industries.

The results from an analysis include tabular data and 3D contour plots which graphically display results values using color variations. Since customers do not typically have FEA software, Atrus would send a report with many 2D screen captures to convey the results for all the locations of significance. Customers typically request more information and additional 2D screen captures to further review problematic areas. Atrus wanted to streamline this process and efficiently transfer the results to their clients for review.

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Solution

Using Acrobat 3D Capture, Atrus is able to capture the full 3D contour plot from any of their FEA post-processing programs. Then they distribute the 3D PDF to their clients' engineering team for review. Their client may now view the entire contoured 3D FEA results via a single 3D PDF file. The review process time and effort is drastically reduced for both Atrus and their client. Instead of spending time creating 2D screenshots and formatting them into a printable document, Atrus adds comments directly to the 3D PDF to point out areas of significant interest. Additionally they use the commenting functionality to state how the FEA model was set up, i.e. boundary conditions and loads.

Their clients may also view the complete analysis in one file, versus piecing together the results of multiple 2D screenshots. They may also manipulate the FEA model to interrogate the areas of significant importance. The cross-sectioning functionality may be used to facilitate the viewing of internal stress patterns for further interrogation. The Acrobat 3D PDF also allows Atrus' clients to easily share the analysis results within their own organization as well as external groups such as manufacturing suppliers.

View the 3D PDF in action, noting the impact of commenting.
Download [PDF: 1.8 MB]  

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