FEA in Solidworks

[dedevo]

When I was in school, I took an FEA course for Pro/E because SW was not offered. They taught me all of the calculations that Pro/E was running, how to tweek the mesh etc.

So I have very little of that experience in SW.

Quick questions:
When I do FEA(Static) on a Weldment part, does it just simplify the calculations to Eulers buckling, and beam analysis? Because my mesh looks like just a bunch of rods.

Is there any way to look at a convergence plot for each test I run?

Better question:
Is there a good book/course(online) offered for SW FEA?

 

[Nella95]

Depending on the complexity of your problem, you might look into COSMOS, an independent FEA program that works well with SolidWorks. There's another forum specifically for that category. The Simulation Xpress that comes with SolidWorks works well for choosing some rough design guidelines for individual parts and gives me a good direction to go in. COSMOS gives me better specific numbers for assemblies.

 

[JMirisola]

Quick questions:
When I do FEA(Static) on a Weldment part, does it just simplify the calculations to Eulers buckling, and beam analysis? Because my mesh looks like just a bunch of rods.

Is there any way to look at a convergence plot for each test I run?

You might want to ask this in

http://eng-tips.com/threadminder.cfm?pid=1183

SolidProfessor offers online training in Simulation:

http://www.solidprofessor.com/view-product.asp?id=162

Jeff Mirisola, CSWP
Design Manager/Senior Designer
M9 Defense
My Blog

 

[gwubs]

COSMOS is now called SolidWorks Simulation, and is owned by SolidWorks. It works very well.

 

[JMirisola]

If I'm not mistaken, SolidWorks Simulation *is* COSMOS, re-branded.

Jeff Mirisola, CSWP
Design Manager/Senior Designer
M9 Defense
My Blog

 

[gwubs]

Jeff, you are right, but back in the early days, it was owned by Structural Research and Analysis Corperation - SRAC.

 

[KevinDeSmet]

Don't underestimate the help file:

http://help.solidworks.com/2011/Eng....html?id=70ee01e3fcb64405a014068156a666da#Pg0

It may not be the most exciting way to learn, but I think it's fairly well written and illustrated. Works will when you have a specific question (as most people use a help file) but it works equally well when you just wanna mowsy a little and read, works real well on a mobile device on the couch with a cup of coco.

What? I liked doing that!

Certified SolidWorks Professional