Widely accepted in most engineering disciplines, FEA is often an alternative to experimental testing set out in many standards.  It uses a computer based numerical method of simulating and analysing the behaviour of structures, components and other, under a variety of conditions.

The technique is based on the idea that a solution to any complex engineering problem can be reached by subdividing the geometry into smaller more manageable “finite” elements.  Validation (where possible) is then achieved by comparing the results with measured test data or values obtained by other independent means.

Where analytical solutions don’t exist, the finite element model is analysed with an inherently greater precision than possible when using conventional hand calculations and approximations. This is because the actual shape, loads, constraints and material properties can be specified with much greater accuracy.

Finite element simulations of different models and physical events are also generally performed easier and faster than experimental testing.

Put simply, FEA has three key stages:

1. Pre-processing: the geometry of the parts is received from a client or developed in-house. Material properties, sections (such as the beam, truss, shell, membrane or solid), boundary conditions, loads, interactions, constraints, etc are then applied to the geometry or mesh. The linear or non-linear analysis procedures are also set at this stage, which describes what is happening to the structure (i.e., assembly from many parts) in chronological order.
2. Solution: solving the engineering problem is significantly influenced by its size, complexity, available hardware resources and other metrics. Implicit and/or explicit solvers are used depending on the type of problem and analysis procedures specified. The time required to obtain the solution can vary from minutes to weeks or even more. That’s why a tailored, smart FEA approach is required, which is often obtained through years of experience. Detailed data checking is carried out prior to submitting the FEA job to “run”.
3. Post-processing: this begins with checking the solution and extracting the results. This could be the deformed/buckled shape at different levels of loading, or change in boundary conditions; contour plots of displacement, velocity, acceleration, stress, strain, contact pressure, temperature, freebody forces, eigenfrequency and eigenmode – just to name a few.

Abaqus/CAE, Abaqus/Standard (implicit solver), Abaqus/Explicit and Abaqus/Viewer are used respectively for those three stages here at HERA, and a detailed or concise report is issued as a record of this work.

Can your structure withstand all working loads or accidents safely? How does it behave in a fire? Will permanent deformations, buckling or uncontrollable vibrations occur under certain conditions? Can you reduce the material content or find alternative and less expensive material used?

If you have any complicated structural questions or uncertainty in your project, often FEA is the answer.

Most of the time we use FEA in structural engineering design, product development, manufacturing process, improving the performance of existing products and failure analysis investigations. Armed with FEA there are many ways that we can contribute.

Like any numerical method, the solution produced by FEA contains a certain amount of error. This can be dependent on the software capabilities for realistic simulation, type, size, meshing and accuracy of the model used – and of course the analyst carrying out the simulation and evaluating the results.