LISA FEA Program

[rc0213]

Hi,

I am new to the FEA world, and am wanting to learn the basics on some parts I am working on currently. I got hold of LISA FEA, and installed the free version. And, the free version is limited to 1200 nodes. And, the small part, though fairly complex, is around 42000 nodes, so I could not work with it.

So, I have a couple of questions. Has anyone tried LISA FEA? If so, is it a good simple basic free FEA? Or, should I invest in another FEA program to learn from? If I am to go to another FEA program, which one should a newbie like me start with?

Thanks,

Richard

 

[GregLocock]

I have the full version of LISA and it is absolutely fine for learning the fundamentals, or indeed, pretty much any linear analysis. I don't think you'll find a cheaper solution other than the various freeware solutions, which have a significantly steeper learning curve. Bear in mind that of the three main steps in FEA (model prep, solving, post processing) in the real world people will often use products from different vendors for each step. As such you will be expected to be able to pick up different packages quite quickly.

Cheers

Greg Locock


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[msjoey]

Would you consider HyperWorks student version? I use HW a lot for model preparation (I think it's the best for geometry cleaning + meshing, hands down) and it offers Abaqus, Ansys, LS-Dyna, Nastran user profiles with which you can export your decks in these formats.

The limitation is 10,000 nodes. It has its own solvers: RADIOSS and Optistruct. I'm not sure about the price but I'm using the commercial version at work and it is much much cheaper than the other "multi-physics" commercial FEA packages.

Hope this helps,
Jo

 

[rc0213]

Thanks all for the help!! And, I will keep in mind that there are three stages to FEA Analysis. I didn't realize that there are different programs for each step. So, LISA FEA only helps with one step, from what you are saying. I guess I will need to find another program for the model prep.

Jo,

Thanks for suggesting HyperWorks! Sounds like I might use it for model prepping. I think model prep will be the first step to learning FEA. And, so I will be looking at HyperWorks for now.

RC

 

[GregLocock]

LISA does all three steps -in fact most solvers come with pre and post processors, it's just that for various reasons (which don't much interest me) people mix and match.

Cheers

Greg Locock


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[msjoey]

Hi Richard.

Greg is right. Most solvers come as a complete FEA package - pre, solver, post - and LISA, HyperWorks are no different. It's just that people find different functions offered by different software more efficient for their purposes.

Anyway I just had a meeting with Altair guys (supplier of HyperWorks) and inquired about their student edition. They told me that previously it was offered for about USD100/year but recently they decided to release it FOC to students. You have to register at Altair University website with a valid student ID. Check out this link:

http://www.altairuniversity.com/free-hyperworks-13-0-student-edition-3/

I'm kinda excited about this myself! With HyperWorks you get RADIOSS solver, as well as the other user profiles I mention. So you are exposed to more input deck formats (not all keywords are supported though).

Best of luck!
Jo

 

[GregLocock]

Hyperworks is probably a better bet if it is free, as that is a mainstream program. The tutorials are good. You also get access to optistruct, which is much more interesting than linear FEA.

Cheers

Greg Locock


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