Inexpensive FEA software 1

[gurmeet2003]

Hello,
I recently lost my job and would like to start doing FEA consulting. I would like to start with an inexpensive FEA software. I am thinking of linear, some linear (material) and dynamic analysis. Could some body suggest a commercial softwre? I have used ANSYS and ABAQUS in past.



Gurmeet
Time is an illusion. Now is the only thing there is.

 

[mechfeeney]

^ lawyered

(A How I Met Your Mother reference)

 

[gurmeet2003]

ESPcomposites, I accept your point. The word 'inexpensive' was a wrong choice. I should have said 'less expensive'. To answer your question about my background, I have an MS degree in mechanical engineering and I have a PEs license. I have lot of experience in design, R & D and testing. So what I am saying is I am not a green engineer and I do not believe that I am a button pusher. Though if using ABAQUS CAE makes one a button pusher then I probably am one.

I did not start FEA in automotive or aerospace industries. I worked in reciprocating compressor manufacturing industry where FEA is relatively a late entrant. I say 'relatively', so it means about 13 years old instead of 35 years old. When I started doing FEA (12 years ago) ABAQUS CAE was already available. Therefore I did not see the point of writing input files. Though I understand the structure of ABAQUS input files and have modified these files at times. I have been member of NAFEMS for a long time and have read lot of their publications.

I try to take adequate care in balancing the loads and checking mesh convergence. I have used contacts quite often. I have done strain gage testing a number of times to check the results. I have been reading the comments on this group for 8 years.

In terms of business, this is still in a preliminary stage. I have not identified any potential customers. I live in the Bay area. It is possible that my question is premature and I am putting the horse before the cart.

Thanks,

Gurmeet
Time is an illusion. Now is the only thing there is.

 

[ESPcomposites]

You seem to be focusing on FEM based knowledge. How are you skills as a classical analyst? That will better dictate the type of consulting you may wish to provide. You might want to take a step back and ask yourself what your skill set is and how it could be used to consult. I know a few PhD's who are great with ABAQUS who would not be qualified to consult as a stress analyst.

A stress analyst will rely on classical solutions (70-90%), augmented with FEM (10-30%). In that case, you don't necessary need expensive software. As said, consultants have even used free software.

If you want to advertise your skill with a particular software, then your classical knowledge is less important. But you may need to have a specialized knowledge in an area where there is a need. In that case, you may need to use the client's software, making the whole "less expensive" question moot. I don't think you will get too many clients who want someone who has a lot of FEM experience, but is not a master at classical solutions...no matter how expensive your software is.

You may be better served to put a price range on the software. Some of the list is comparably priced to ABAQUS so I don't see how that fits your need for "less expensive".

Brian

http://www.espcomposites.com

 

[corus]

If you're going to do consultancy work then I suggest you first find out what your market is. My guess is that 90% of the work required would be basic linear analysis for design purposes. So buying packages that only do linear analysis would be a cheaper option.

Tara

http://tinyurl.com/4ydjg7m

 

[kellnerp]

Back to Calculix, there is a great email support forum for it and there is a Windows version that is supported in the US. It has been compiled for both Windows and Linux and will support multiple cores.

While the GUI is a bit arcane, it can interface with other GUIs. In fact one would think that Femap could deal with writing and perhaps be made to post process for it. Calculix is actually two parts, a GUI and a solver (Crunchix).


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[dik]

Since you have time on your hands... take a gander at Lisa7_FET... I tinker with it in my spare time...

Dik

 

[gurmeet2003]

Dik,
I have installed LISA7 and will play with it.
Thanks,


Gurmeet
Time is an illusion. Now is the only thing there is.

 

[zippity]

A Google search for "inexpensive FEA" turns up LISA (

http://www.lisa-fet.com),

mentioned above, and FEMdesigner (

http://www.femdesigner.com).