![]() However, FEA provides a tool to expose any catastrophic issues early – even before manufacturing has begun. Instead of the weeks that it might take to have parts of new materials or dimensions completely remanufactured.At this point in a regular manufacturing process, a customer whose parts are being made for someone else might be in an awkward position of having to go back and explain that the part cannot be made. Key Benefits of the FEA Process Increased AccuracyIn the past, ideas were sketched up, prototypes were developed and manufactured and then, during testing, it was found that key parameters were possibly overlooked. By adding and subtracting nodes in key regions, the operator can also assist the computer in achieving convergence. ![]() It is practical to program a high density of nodes only in regions receiving large amounts of stress or other critical points of interest, while maintaining a minimum number of nodes throughout the bulk material that will see less complex stressors. Regions of higher node density will return a more accurate result for that region.However, the more nodes in a region, the more computations that must take place to get a converging result, extending the run-time and memory usage of the system. This density is what defines the precision of the response of the local region. The nodes can be programmed with any amount of density. The solution is compared to the tolerances of the system to determine if the structure is strong enough for the application, even before the part is manufactured.Programming the location of the individual nodes is critical. It is widely available and ordinary desktop, laptop, and even tablet computers can run these highly computing intensive simulators. The tools are so much more accessible and easier to learn that it is no longer tucked away inside research facilities or housed on massive servers. However, due to great advances in the capability of software, faster computers and improved graphic user interfaces, also referred to as GUIs, FEA is now reaching more audiences. Due to this characterization of the process, until the 1990’s, FEA analysis was limited almost entirely to the aeronautics, automotive, defense and nuclear industries.It was designated somewhat of a ‘dark art’ with respect to the more conventional manufacturing and design environment of CAD/CAM. Scientists in labs huddled over mainframe servers late at night, writing and re-writing simulations that required the dedicated time of powerful computer servers. ![]() IntroductionFinite Element Analysis (FEA) has been, for many decades, the domain of high tech engineers, PhD’s and specialists. ![]()
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