Von Mises stress is a value used to determine if a given material will yield or fracture. The von Mises yield criterion states that if the von Mises stress of a material under load is equal or greater than the yield limit of the same material under simple tension then the material will yield.

Maximum principal stress theory: This theory states that failure in any material occurs when the principal stress in that material due to any loading exceeds the principal stress at which failure occurs in the 1 dimensional loading test (universal tensile test in case of mild steel).

Principal Stress tell you what the maximum normal stress is. So, you know exactly how much stress the object can experience and at what angle. You can compare this against your allowable criteria to see how the material is going to perform at a given condition.

Use Solidworks in Stress Analysis – Measure Stresses, Strains and Displacements. If you are taking a course in Stress Analysis, you will encounter problems that require you to calculate deflections that occur when certain forces/moments/loads are applied. You can use Solidworks Simulation to verify your answers.

Solidworks Simulation uses FEA (Finite Element Analysis) methods to identify the behavior of parts or assemblies/parts when a load is applied. The load can be pressure, force, temperature, gravity, centrifugal or even loads imported from previous simulation studies.

To apply a force:

1. Click Add a force. The Force PropertyManager appears.
2. In the graphics area, select the desired faces.
3. Select: Normal to apply the force in the direction normal to each selected face.
4. Select the force units first, then enter the force value.
5. Click .
6. Click Next.

Solidworks Simulation is great for novice finite element analysts as well as more advanced users. It is very easy to learn if you have a good understanding of the basics of FEA. I would argue that Solidworks simulation is the best FEA software to use for this type of problem because of its ease of use and simplicity.

Good work and best regards! Solidworks is specified as CAD software and is known for designing geometry such as part, surface, etc. As Ravi Kumar mentioned, Ansys is dedicated to simulation. You can design the geometry in Solidworks and import it into Ansys. You should consider the cost of Softwares.

SOLIDWORKS Simulation Professional enables you to optimize your design, determine product mechanical resistance, product durability, topology, natural frequencies, and test heat transfer and buckling instabilities. It can also perform sequential multi-physics simulations.

Here are four important parameters that must follow to generate a suitable mesh:

1. Cell aspect ratio: The aspect ratio is the ratio of longest edge length to shortest edge length.
2. Skewness: It is one of the primary quality measures for a mesh.
3. Orthogonality :
4. smoothness:

5 Tips on How To Create a Better Mesh

1. A Simplified and Clean Watertight Geometry.
2. Deciding and Maintaining a Good General Grid Size.
3. Increasing Mesh Fineness at Critical Areas.
4. Boundary-Layer Refinement and Y+
5. Mesh Convergence Study.

You can check your mesh quality by using three ways:

1. Make it converge for better response using suitable tolerance limit.
2. Check the energy error (PRERR) and if the error is less than 15% then your model is up to the mark.
3. Check the element shape quality (SHPP, SUMMARY).