Computer Aided Engineering (CAE)

Finite Element Analysis

FEA technology provides accurate simulation-based decision support and best practices selection for products. It gives engineers confidence that the final design will meet requirements before the physical product is built.

Creating, better, safer and more ambitious designs require simulation and analysis tools that help you reduce physical prototypes, iterate more quickly and ensure the stability of designs. Having the skills to perform Finite Element Analysis (FEA) offers huge opportunities to both seasoned engineers and career entrants. The ability to perform FE analysis and use CAE software to optimize designs based on the results of that analysis is an essential skill in today’s competitive and dynamic engineering landscape.

Are you a beginner learning the principles or a seasoned expert applying advanced simulations? Either way, it can be tough to apply what you know in an entirely new software environment. Luckily, as Computer-Aided Engineering (CAE) software democratizes FEA it’s possible to simulate and analyze designs in a user-friendly interface that can considerably speed up the time it takes to master new FEA tools.

Saving time and effort with CAE software

There are many steps necessary to prepare models in the pre-processer and a difficult-to-navigate user interface can make this process tedious and time-consuming. CAD models don’t generally provide a solver-ready mesh, and efficiently preparing models for analysis requires either high levels of expertise or sophisticated tools. Having the capability to directly modify your models in pre-processing, validate them before analysis and make generative changes as you iterate on designs can save hundreds of hours and reduce the number of physical prototypes you need.

The performance of your solver can also make a big difference in how quickly you can move from importing a model to seeing the results of your analysis in the post-processor. High-performance solvers perform calculations more quickly and potentially save dozens of hours in downtime.

Another way to save time is by choosing CAE software that integrates a pre-processor, a high-performance solver and a post-processor all in one environment. This makes it easier to run incremental checks with the solver and prevents you from having to move back and forth between different software to work on a single design.