Pocketing Gearbox Sideplates

[Adam.garcia]

Originally Posted by Joe G.

I would suggest picking a value that looks "about right," and performing finite element analysis on your model to identify trouble spots and locations where you have more material than you need. Take this information, and iterate to an acceptable solution, keeping in mind that you'll eventually reach a point where gains from this type of pocketing become pretty trivial.

Just for curiosity's sake, are there any resources on the internet that neatly describe how to effectively use FEA on a model? I've tinkered around with it a bit in Solidworks, but it's hard to estimate the applied forces that will be experienced by this gearbox.