Sheet Metal Analysis Using FEMAP For Metal Stamping Tools

[DieMan44]

I was wondering since we use NX3 for our tooling designs if UGS FEMAP is an add-on to NX, and if it is a good tool for sheet metal analysis. Also, I have no experience with any FEA software and also wanted to know if it is easy to learn.

Thanks in advance,

Jeff

 

[dmacx]

You can learn FEMAP in 2 days to the point where building a sheet medal model will not be a problem.

 

[trainguy]

Guys,

This last post is hard to believe, given some issues we've had recently with modeling stiffened sheets and wanting to use midsurfacing and plate elements.

Is there a way to quickly mesh a sheet with stiffening channels and zees, without needing to make separate meshes for the web, flange, etc and then merging coincident nodes at corners?

We are starting from step files of thin solids, but we are a little disappointed at the level of effort required to mesh this type of structure, which is our typical application.

Any tips?

Thanks in advance,

tg

 

[SWComposites]

Femap has a method to mesh the midsurface of solids. You may be able to mesh the stiffener with one command and the skin with another, then shift the stiffener mesh down to be coincident with the skin. Or if the geometry isn't too complex, throw away the worthless solid and build the shell model geometry from scratch starting with a 2D cross section and extruding it down the length of the stiffeners.

And yes, one can learn Femap in two days to generate meshes, but it will take a lot longer to learn to generate a proper FE model that will give appropriate results. If you have no experience with FEA, then you need at least to take a class on FEA fundamentals (not on how to run a pre/prost-processor).