Atomizer/studies/bracket_displacement_maximizing/README.md

Bracket Displacement Maximization Study

Study Name: bracket_displacement_maximizing Created: 2025-11-16 Phase: 3.3 - Optimization Setup Wizard

Overview

This study demonstrates the complete Phase 3.3 workflow for optimizing a bracket design to maximize displacement while maintaining structural safety.

Problem Statement

Objective: Maximize the displacement of a bracket under load

Constraints:

• Safety factor ≥ 4.0
• Material: Aluminum 6061-T6 (Yield strength = 276 MPa)
• Allowable stress: 69 MPa (276/4)

Design Variables:

• tip_thickness: 15-25 mm (baseline: 17 mm)
• support_angle: 20-40° (baseline: 38°)

Model Information

• Geometry: Bracket part with tip and support features
• Mesh: 585 nodes, 316 elements (CHEXA, CPENTA)
• Load: Applied force at tip
• Boundary Conditions: Fixed support at base

Optimization Setup

Phase 3.3 Wizard Workflow

1. Model Introspection - Read NX expressions from .prt file
2. Baseline Simulation - Run initial simulation to validate setup
3. OP2 Introspection - Auto-detect element types (CHEXA, CPENTA)
4. Workflow Configuration - Build LLM workflow with detected element types
5. Pipeline Validation - Dry-run test of all components
6. Optimization - Run 20-trial TPE optimization

Extractors

• Displacement: Extract max displacement from OP2 file
• Stress: Extract von Mises stress from solid elements (auto-detected: CHEXA)

Calculations

• Safety Factor: SF = 276.0 / max_von_mises
• Objective: neg_displacement = -max_displacement (minimize for maximization)

Constraints

• Safety Factor Hook: Enforces SF ≥ 4.0 with penalty

Directory Structure

bracket_displacement_maximizing/
├── model/                    # NX model files (isolated from tests/)
│   ├── Bracket.prt          # Part geometry
│   ├── Bracket_fem1.fem     # FE model
│   └── Bracket_sim1.sim     # Simulation setup
├── results/                  # Optimization results
│   ├── optimization_history.json
│   ├── best_design.json
│   └── trial_*.op2          # OP2 files for each trial
├── config/                   # Study configuration
│   └── study_config.json    # Complete study setup
├── run_optimization.py       # Main optimization script
├── optimization_log.txt      # Execution log
└── README.md                # This file

Running the Study

cd studies/bracket_displacement_maximizing
python run_optimization.py

The script will:

1. Initialize the Phase 3.3 wizard
2. Validate the complete pipeline
3. Run 20 optimization trials
4. Save results to results/ directory
5. Generate comprehensive report

Results

Results are saved in the results/ directory:

• optimization_history.json: Complete trial history
• best_design.json: Best design parameters and performance
• optimization_report.md: Human-readable summary

Key Features Demonstrated

✅ Phase 3.3 Wizard - Automated validation before optimization ✅ Dynamic Element Detection - Auto-detects all element types from OP2 ✅ Self-Contained Study - Isolated model files prevent conflicts ✅ Complete Logging - Full execution trace for debugging ✅ Reproducible - Configuration files enable exact reproduction

Notes

• All simulations run in the model/ directory to isolate from test files
• OP2 files are regenerated for each trial (no caching issues)
• Study can be re-run without affecting other tests or studies
• Configuration is fully documented in config/study_config.json

References

• Phase 3.3 Wizard Documentation
• Hook Architecture
• LLM Integration