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FEA Day-to-Day

This training course has been accredited by the NAFEMS Education & Training Working Group

FEA Day-to-Day

 

Duration:2 days
Delivery:Onsite Classroom
Public Classroom
Language:English
Level:Introductory
Availability:Worldwide
Tutor(s):Gino Duffett
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Practical, real-world guidance you can rely on.

There are a bewildering array of element types, solution types, meshing methods and pre-post processing options that have to be faced when engineers embark on FEA or companies adopt the technique. This is before engineers even get down to the engineering physics behind the problem, with the associated 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.

Attendees on this course 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, effective products are discussed to provide confidence in the results obtained aiming to provide conservative, reliable and qualified results. The attendees join in the activity of building this process themselves and come away with an embryo Procedural Check List. Report writing is also addressed as a class workshop.

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.

Course Program

This course program contains 5 or 6 parts that combine lectures, discussions, workshops and exercises. These may not be provided in the order presented and timing may vary depending on availability.

Part 1- Basics

  • 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 Check on FEA
  • A Simple Case Study
  • A Beam Structure Example

Part 2 - Specifics

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

Part 3 - Reality

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

Part 4 - Understanding

  • Extracting Stresses from the FE Model
  • Checking the Results

Part 5 – Closing (detail depends on timing)

  • Workshop - Reporting
  • Class Exercise - Check List using Housing Failure
  • Best practices
  • Conclusions

Part 6 – Interest (ONLY for classroom courses)

  • History and Background to FEA
  • Introduction to Non-linear Analysis
  • Introduction to Verification & Validation

Who Should Attend?

Practicing engineers who wish to learn more about how to apply finite element techniques to their particular problems in the most effective manner.

Engineers who have started using FEA but have discovered problems and issues (cannot be used as a 'black box'.

Managers (in many cases needing to refresh their knowledge) who review internal or external FEA reports and contract suppliers.

Interested?

Get in touch to discuss your next steps with our experienced training team. We can work closely with you to understand your specific requirements, cater for your specific industry sector or analysis type, and produce a truly personalised training solution for your organisation.

All NAFEMS training courses are entirely code independent, meaning they are suitable for users of any software package.

Courses are available to both members and non-members of NAFEMS, although member organisations will enjoy a significant discount on all fees.

NAFEMS course tutors enjoy a world-class reputation in the engineering analysis community, and with decades of experience between them, will deliver tangible benefits to you, your analysis team, and your wider organisation.

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PSE Competencies addressed by this training course

IDCompetence Statement
FEAkn1List the various steps in the analysis/simulation process.
FEAkn2Define the meaning of degree of freedom.
FEAkn3List 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.
FEAkn8List the requirements for an axisymmetric analysis to be valid.
FEAkn9List the degrees of freedom to be constrained on a symmetric boundary.
FEAkn11Sketch problems showing the various form of symmetry.
FEAkn12List the advantages of using symmetry.
FEAkn14List the possible advantages of applying material properties, loads and boundary conditions to underlying geometry rather than to finite element entities.
FEAkn15List 2 common solvers for large sets of simultaneous equations.
FENkn16List the various forms of element distortion.
FEAkn17List the various element types commonly used in the analysis of components within your organisation.
FEAco1Describe the sources of error inherent in finite element analysis, in general terms.
FEAco2Discuss checks that may be used post-solution to check for the presence of inaccuracy.
FEAco4Explain the meaning of convergence, including h and p types.
FEAco5Discuss the difficulties that can arise in using a CAD model as the basis for carrying out analysis and simulation.
FEAco6Discuss the need for a consistent set of units in any analysis and illustrate possible pitfalls.
FEAco7Explain why strains and stresses are generally less accurate than displacements for any given mesh of elements, using the Displacement FEM.
FEAco11Discuss the finite element / spring analogy.
FEAco12Outline a common method employed to solve the large sets of sparse symmetric common in FEA.
FEAco13Explain how the structural stiffness matrix is assembled from the individual element matrices.
FEAco14Discuss the nature of the structural stiffness matrix.
FEAco18Explain the term Isoparametric Element.
FEAco24Discuss the relationship between shape function and strain/stress prediction for simple 2D linear and parabolic elements.
FEAco26Discuss the significance of computer memory to solution elapse time for large models.
FEAco27Explain how unwanted cracks can be produced in 2D and 3D solid meshes and describe which plot type is useful in detecting these.
FEAco28Explain why element distortion generally results in poorer results.
FEAco29Discuss the term Flying Structure or Insufficiently Constrained Structure.
FEAco30Explain why stress averaging is not appropriate at junctions between elements of different thickness.
FEAco31Explain why most finite elements do not represent a circular boundary exactly and highlight how this approximation manifests itself.
FEAco35Discuss the terms Validation and Verification and highlight their importance.
FEAco40Explain the rationale behind the use of 1-D, 2-D and 3-D elements used in the analysis of components within your organisation.
FEAap1Employ an analysis system for the determination of stresses and strains in small displacement, linear elastic problems.
FEAap2Demonstrate effective use of available results presentation facilities.
FEAap3Illustrate the approximate nature of finite element analysis, through examples chosen from your industry sector.
FEAap4Illustrate the various steps in the Displacement Finite Element Method from assumed displacement polynomial to determination of stresses.
FEAap5Illustrate possible applications of 0D, 1D, 2D and 3D elements in your industry sector.
FEAap7Employ symmetric boundary conditions effectively.
FEAap10Illustrate 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.
FEAap12Employ a range of post-solution checks to determine the integrity of FEA results.
FEAan1Analyse the results from small displacement, linear static analyses and determine whether they satisfy inherent assumption
FEAan2Compare the results from small displacement, linear elastic analyses with allowable values and comment on findings.
FEAev2Assess the significance of neglecting any feature or detail in any idealisation.