Practical Introduction to FEA

An opportunity to ensure that your organization gets maximum benefit from using Finite Element Analysis

3-Day Training Course - 16th to 18th June : Introduction to FEA Analysis

We've transitioned this previous face to face classroom course to our online platform, to make sure you can still access the training you need.

Get up-close and personal with NAFEMS training using our new virtual classroom delivery. The only thing that's different is that you have to make your own lunch.

FEA has become widely used and universally accepted in many industry sectors. FEA is a powerful technique, able to produce solutions to challenging structural analysis problems. The technology and computational efficiency of the method, together with the rapid increases in computer processing power means that today the scope and size of simulations far exceeds the capabilities of even a few years ago.

However for those engineers embarking on FEA, or companies adopting the technique to improve designs or achieve certification of new products, there is a steep learning curve to overcome.

There are a bewildering array of element types, solution types, meshing methods and pre-post processing options that have to be faced. This is before engineers get down to the engineering physics behind the problem, with the associated classic traps and errors. What is needed is guidance via a thorough but practical assessment of the method and how to use it in the real world.

NAFEMS, the only vendor neutral, not-for-profit organization with the aim of promoting the effective and reliable use of FEA, addresses this requirement by providing this three day example-driven, practical course.

Attendees are shown the background to the FEA methodology, via simple real examples with a minimum of theory. The strength and weaknesses of various FEA techniques are shown and discussed and practical considerations of loadings,boundary conditions and structural details are shown via examples.

The assessment, validation and interpretation of FEA results are vital for delivering safe and effective products. These aspects are discussed so that attendees gain confidence in providing conservative, reliable and qualified results. Attendees build this process themselves during a final class activity and come away with an embryo Procedural Check List that should be useful in their own workplace.Another class workshop addresses report writing.

The course offers excellent guidance on how to assess and plan the task of carrying out a Finite Element Analysis. A clear understanding of the objectives of each analysis is vital and a road map for achieving this is presented. A review of the trade off between available resource and analysis methodology is given.

Interaction is encouraged throughout the course. Real world examples are given at every stage, drawn from the Tutors wide practical experience.Questions and class participation are encouraged, as this is one of the key aspects of making this a unique experience for each attendee. Attendee project examples can often be incorporated into the class if time permits, to benefit all.

The course is completely software independent and attendees are welcome to bring laptops to take notes, but they are not required.

A full set of printed and bound notes will be issued to every attendee.

Who Should Attend?

This course is aimed at practicing engineers who wish to learn more about how to apply finite element techniques to their particular problems in the most effective manner. This course is also very useful for managers (in many cases needing to refresh their knowledge) who review FEA reports and contract suppliers.

The material that is presented is independent of any particular software package, making it ideally suited to current and potential users of all commercial finite element software systems. This course is a must for all engineers aiming to use FEA as a reliable predictive tool for thermal,stiffness and stress analysis.

Companies moving into FEA technology to improve product designs or assess prototype failures or speed the design process will benefit from sending key engineers to this course. If you have sufficient engineers then a tailor made course maybe more suitable and NAFEMS can then work closely with you to cater for your specific industry sector or analysis type.

The course is open to both members and non-members of NAFEMS.

Remarks by Previous Attendees

“Exceeded my initial expectations.
I learnt a lot more than I thought I would and it was genuinely interesting.”

“The practical advice given by the lecturer about FEA was very useful”

"Confident to return to work and actually know what I’m talking about!"

Course Program

Registration will be held on Tuesday morning between 9:00am and 9:30am, with the course starting immediately afterwards. The tutor will aim to commence the course at 9am on Wednesday and Thursday and finish by 5pm each evening. Each day there will be short morning, lunchtime and afternoon breaks, timing dependent on the tutor, venue and class.

This course program contains 5 parts that combine lectures, discussions, workshops and exercises.

Part 1- Basics

History and Background to FEA
The Origins of FEA
The FEA Process
Workshop – Your Process?
Element Stiffness Matrices
Avoiding ‘Free Motion’
Degrees of Freedom (DOF)
Displacement Shape Functions
Element Types
Workshop –Which Elements?
A Sanity Check on FEA
A Simple Case Study
A Beam Structure Example
Class Exercise

Part 2 - Specifics

Controlling Degrees of Freedom (DOF)
Special Elements
A Check on FEA
Convergence Checking
Local Stress Raisers
Real World Boundary Conditions and Loading
Workshop – What are the Boundary Conditions?
Unit Load Cases

Part 3 - Reality

Making Life Simpler
FE Model Checks
Workshop - Meshes
Understanding the Objective of the Analysis
Looking Critically at the CAD Model
Why Not 20 Million Elements?
Class Exercise

Part 4 - Understanding

Classification of Structures
Free Body Diagrams
Types of Loading
Assessing Stresses
Understanding the Results
Checking the Results

Part 5 - Closing

Workshop – Housing Failure
Workshop – Reporting
Class Exercise
Conclusions
Introduction to Non-linear Analysis

PSE Competencies addressed by this training course

ID	Competence Statement
FEAkn1	List the various steps in the analysis/simulation process.
FEAkn2	Define the meaning of degree of freedom.
FEAkn3	List the nodal degrees of freedom and the associated force actions for common beam, 2D solid, 2D axisymmetric, 3D solid and shell elements, for the Displacement FEM.
FEAkn8	List the requirements for an axisymmetric analysis to be valid.
FEAkn9	List the degrees of freedom to be constrained on a symmetric boundary.
FEAkn11	Sketch problems showing the various form of symmetry.
FEAkn12	List the advantages of using symmetry.
FEAkn14	List the possible advantages of applying material properties, loads and boundary conditions to underlying geometry rather than to finite element entities.
FEAkn15	List 2 common solvers for large sets of simultaneous equations.
FENkn16	List the various forms of element distortion.
FEAkn17	List the various element types commonly used in the analysis of components within your organisation.
FEAco1	Describe the sources of error inherent in finite element analysis, in general terms.
FEAco2	Discuss checks that may be used post-solution to check for the presence of inaccuracy.
FEAco4	Explain the meaning of convergence, including h and p types.
FEAco5	Discuss the difficulties that can arise in using a CAD model as the basis for carrying out analysis and simulation.
FEAco6	Discuss the need for a consistent set of units in any analysis and illustrate possible pitfalls.
FEAco7	Explain why strains and stresses are generally less accurate than displacements for any given mesh of elements, using the Displacement FEM.
FEAco11	Discuss the finite element / spring analogy.
FEAco12	Outline a common method employed to solve the large sets of sparse symmetric common in FEA.
FEAco13	Explain how the structural stiffness matrix is assembled from the individual element matrices.
FEAco14	Discuss the nature of the structural stiffness matrix.
FEAco18	Explain the term Isoparametric Element.
FEAco24	Discuss the relationship between shape function and strain/stress prediction for simple 2D linear and parabolic elements.
FEAco26	Discuss the significance of computer memory to solution elapse time for large models.
FEAco27	Explain how unwanted cracks can be produced in 2D and 3D solid meshes and describe which plot type is useful in detecting these.
FEAco28	Explain why element distortion generally results in poorer results.
FEAco29	Discuss the term Flying Structure or Insufficiently Constrained Structure.
FEAco30	Explain why stress averaging is not appropriate at junctions between elements of different thickness.
FEAco31	Explain why most finite elements do not represent a circular boundary exactly and highlight how this approximation manifests itself.
FEAco35	Discuss the terms Validation and Verification and highlight their importance.
FEAco40	Explain the rationale behind the use of 1-D, 2-D and 3-D elements used in the analysis of components within your organisation.
FEAap1	Employ an analysis system for the determination of stresses and strains in small displacement, linear elastic problems.
FEAap2	Demonstrate effective use of available results presentation facilities.
FEAap3	Illustrate the approximate nature of finite element analysis, through examples chosen from your industry sector.
FEAap4	Illustrate the various steps in the Displacement Finite Element Method from assumed displacement polynomial to determination of stresses.
FEAap5	Illustrate possible applications of 0D, 1D, 2D and 3D elements in your industry sector.
FEAap7	Employ symmetric boundary conditions effectively.
FEAap10	Illustrate various physical situations which will result in a Stress Singularity and explain why it is not appropriate to use finite element results at such locations directly.
FEAap12	Employ a range of post-solution checks to determine the integrity of FEA results.
FEAan1	Analyse the results from small displacement, linear static analyses and determine whether they satisfy inherent assumption
FEAan2	Compare the results from small displacement, linear elastic analyses with allowable values and comment on findings.
FEAev2	Assess the significance of neglecting any feature or detail in any idealisation.