Mesh Deformation
Menu: ALF > Content Creation > Mesh Deformation
Builds a bending lab for materials science lessons. A beam (the specimen) lies on supports and is loaded, as in a three-point or four-point bending test. Learners see how it bends and where it's under tension or compression, shown as stress colours, and can look inside it with a cut-away or a section plane.
The lab can show:
- a calculated beam: learners change the load, the dimensions and the material and see the result straight away;
- measured curves from a real testing machine, imported from a CSV file;
- simulation results from a finite element program, such as ANSYS;
- in AR, a digital twin that lies over a real testing machine and runs alongside the real test.
Work in progress
The materials are provisional, and the stress values haven't been checked by an expert yet. The lab doesn't predict cracking or permanent bending. Check results before presenting them as real material behaviour, and test on the headset before a lesson.
The menu entries
| Menu entry | What it does |
|---|---|
| Author Bending Apparatus | Adds the bending lab to a scene and sets it up. Start here. |
| Import Bending CSV Series (3-Point or 4-Point) | Imports measured force and travel from a testing machine's CSV file. |
| Import Four-Point CSV Series | The same importer, set to four-point bending. |
| Import Simulation JSON | Imports prepared simulation results. |
| Author AR Simulation Scenario | Builds an AR scene that lies over a real testing machine. |
Quick start
- Make a lesson scene with Scene Generation.
- Open ALF > Content Creation > Mesh Deformation > Author Bending Apparatus.
- In step 1 Apparatus, press Add apparatus to active scene.
- Optional: in step 2 Simulation data, add measured or simulated data.
- In step 3 Placement & save, place the lab and save the scene.