Engineering Design with a ‘User-fluent’ Finite Element Package: MECHANICA/Applied Structure

Abstract

Low cost computing and ‘user-fluent’ (what used to be termed user-friendly) computer packages have led to widespread use of computer aids in engineering design. In stress or strain-limited design of engineering components with relatively complex geometries, finite element methods (FEMs) have been widely used. Older and more conventional FEM packages required careful formulation of the problem and considerable expertise in interpreting the results of stress or strain analyses. User-fluent FEM packages have attempted to de-skill the process, so to making FEM packages more accessible to a broader range of designers and applications. However, there are some dangers in de-skilling FEM technology, because of some of the special application-dependent constraints often not apparent to the novice user. This paper presents a comparative evaluation of a user-fluent FEM package, i.e. MECHANICA/Applied Structure, and compares some of its benchmark performances with theory and a more conventional FEM package, i.e. PAFEC. The key result of our comparative study is that user-fluent packages offer considerable advantages for non-expert or first-time FEM users, as long as the user is made aware of the hidden constraints of the package. Two important case examples are reviewed, i.e. a uniformly loaded plate with a hole and a simply supported beam with point loads.