Open Source

[TeeAr]

Hello there,

I have been recently informed about an open source code, called salome, to realize fem structural analysis.
Has anybody of you ever heard about this code ? Which are the differences with respect to traditional –and not free- codes ?
Why should one change from a standardized software – I don’t know if I can post the name- to move to a code as this ?
Are these softwares equivalents ?

Many thanks

 

[flash3780]

Heard of it? Yes. Tried it? No.
From what I gathered by looking at it, though, Salome is a pre/post processor. It can be used with many FEA solvers; two popular solvers are Calculix and Code-Aster. I think that you'll find that these tools will work for simpler problems, but you'll probably take substantially longer to arrive at an answer than a commercial package will.
Overall, I think that the Salome project is quite interesting. Hopefully they'll eventually be able to compete with more advanced solvers. Good luck, and let us know what you find out if you try it.

 

[DanStro]

It's included in the linux distro CAELinux, which you can put on a USB key and then boot into so you can give a try and see.

I've tried it but I haven't used it enough to give a thumbs up or down, but as long as you looked at the capabilities and they match up with what you need it is definitely worth a try.

 

[GregLocock]

Quick related question. Is the solve time for a linear FEA code actually of any great importance any more? Even my $500 laptop can run through a DOE with 1000 iterations overnight, with 0.5e6 dof.





Cheers

Greg Locock


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[flash3780]

Greg,
Yeah, solve time matters. As computers get faster, models get bigger and more complex. Contact, radiation, plasticity, and other nonlinear problems used to be avoided at all costs, but now are commonplace. C'est la vie.

Moore's Law = Computing power doubles every 18 months.
Murphy's Law = Everything that can go wrong will go wrong.
Moorphy's Law = In computing, everything goes wrong faster and faster. Within 18 months, your computer will fall apart.

 

[GregLocock]

Which is why i asked about linear.

Cheers

Greg Locock


New here? Try reading these, they might help FAQ731-376

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[johnhors]

As computers get faster, models get bigger and more complex. Contact, radiation, plasticity, and other nonlinear problems used to be avoided at all costs, but now are commonplace. C'est la vie.

Flash, I agree with your statement (unfortunately), but who hand on heart can really say that they fully understand all the physics behind such "multi-disciplinary" analyses?

IMHO running analyses without a "feel" for the results you expect to see and some means of a sanity check is just a recipe for a disaster.

http://www.Roshaz.com