FEA hardware and software for very large models 2

[chris9]

Hello,

I'm currently running into memory issues with my present hardware and FEA software which is IDEAS. I am only allowed 2GB of memory because it runs on a 32 bit operating system (Windows XP). What I need is about 8 GB of RAM so that I can build very large models.

Most of the geometry (cast iron housings) is tet meshed because of its complexity. I carry out linear, contact, material non-linear, forced frequency response, thermal etc and I would also like some fatigue tools.

Can you suggest a software bundle and suitable hardware that would meet my needs and what would be the approximate cost?

 

[chris9]

ahad,

I've used Pro Mechanica a few years back and and I ran into memory issues with that as well. Yes p elements are more accurate than h elements.

If you need to supress a feature just to get the thing to mesh and solve then the software can't work out the stress in that feature no matter how accurate p elements are.

 

[mechengr1313]

Like everything in engineering, there is always a trade off. With Pro/Mechanica a low number of elements doesn't always mean short solution times. The higher the p-order the more time and memory it takes to solve. Chris, if the model is easy to send out why don't you send the model to an FEA company have them run a initial check on the model and have them tell you how much memory their program would require to run the model. I can't see why they would have a problem with that. Also, if this model is just more complicated to run than most you work with, why not have one of the FEA companies run it for you. It doesn't sound like they would have much consulting time into it. The company we bought our last program from has Itanium computers to run consulting projects on.