CHAPTER 01

Introduction
Part 1 : CAE Part 2 : FEM Part 3 : FEM Application

MAH 2012

Part 1: Introduction to CAE

Part 1: CAE

What is CAE??

Stress analysis of a beam

Fluid flow around an F1 car using a CFD software

Part 1: CAE
CAE is
Computer Aided Engineering

Use of computer software to aid engineering tasks :- Design Analysis - Material Analysis - Process Simulation CAE examples :- CAD (Computer Aided Design) Autocad, Solidworks

- CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) Fluent, Ansys

- FSI (Fluid Structure Interaction ) Adina-FSI - FEM (Finite Element Method) Algor, Nastran Patran

Part 1: CAE
Why is CAE important?
Predict possible design problems - try and error is not acceptable for designs that concern safety e.g. stadium, high rise buildings - reduce cost by reducing error, reducing scrap material, shorter manufacturing time

Simulate conditions experimentally

that

are

impossible

to

achieve

- extreme conditions can be simulated using CAE - e.g. high velocity high temperature wind tunnel were not available in the past; no possible way to test aerospace plane except CFD

Part 1: CAE
What are major CAE components?
Computational Fluid Dynamics

- Thermal and fluid flow analysis

Computer Aided Design - Drafting and tooling design

Finite Element Analysis - Stress & Strain analysis

Part 1: CAE
Application of CAE in industries

STRUCTURE AND BUILDING : Stress analysis of a building

Part 1: CAE
Application of CAE in industries

MANUFACTURING : Plastic foam flow analysis for plastic molding

Part 1: CAE
Application of CAE in industries

POWERPLANT: Heat flow simulation of a heat exchanger

Part 1: CAE
Application of CAE in industries

AEROSPACE : Pressure simulation of space shuttle

Part 2: Introduction to FEM

Part 2: FEM
What is FEM?
Finite Element Method

most common method used in Finite Element Analysis (FEA)

numerical method for solving engineering and physics problems - usually, engineering problems are described by differential equations, or by integral expressions - FEM formulates these differential equations and integral expressions into numerical solutions

Part 2: FEM
Mathematical solution:
consider this object with thickness t thickness constant; two dimensional problem for mathematical solution, we consider the red dots differential equation, and we have to consider each dot on the whole area of the object the dot of the size dxdy is considered infinitesimal (very very very small), so if we consider these elements, the number will be infinite so, it is impossible for a human to calculate all these solutions!

Part 2: FEM
FEM solution:
substitute the red dots with larger elements the new elements are not of the size dxdy, so they are not infinite, they are finite the blue dots with the number 1,2,3 are called nodes
. node and element

the triangle made by the dots is the element

that is why this method is called Finite Element Method

the values that have to be calculated for this method are only the node values and the values between nodes are then approximated

. basic idea of FEM

Part 2: FEM

Comparison of FEM and Mathematical solution

1. compare the elongation and stress of a tapered cylinder when pulled by a load 2. understand that the solution of FEM is just the approximation of the real solution 3. understand methods to improve the accuracy of FEM approximation

Part 2: FEM
Comparison of FEM and Mathematical solution

element 1

element 2

element 3

element 4

(a) Tapered cylinder

(b). Tapered cylinder modeled with 4 elements

Compare the elongation of a tapered cylinder when pulled by load F

Part 2: FEM

- slight difference between exact and four elements solutions - the modeled solution can be improved if the number of elements increased

- modeled solution is just an approximation of the exact solution

graph of the elongation of the tapered cylinder

Part 2: FEM

Conclusion from the comparison:

I. understand that the solution of FEM is just the approximation of the real solution II. understand methods to improve the accuracy of FEM approximation III. the example given is just a simple problem; FEM is usually used for much more complicated structures and problems

IV. for most cases, the exact solutions are not needed, the estimations are sufficient

Part 3: Application of FEM

Part 3: Application of FEM

General procedure of FEM:

1. Pre-processing

2. Solution
3. Post-processing

Part 3: Application of FEM

1. Pre-processing Define the geometric domain of the problem. Define the element type(s) to be used. Define the material properties of the elements. Define the geometric properties of the elements (length, area) Define the element connectivity (mesh the model) Define the physical constraints (boundary condition) Define the loadings.

Part 3: Application of FEM

2. Solution (done by FEM software)

Assemble algebra equations in matrix form.

Compute unknown values of the primary field variable(s). Compute additional, derived variables.

Part 3: Application of FEM

3. Post-processing Sort element stresses in order of magnitude. Check equilibrium. Calculate factors of safety. Plot deformed structural shape. Animate dynamic model behavior. Produce color-coded temperature plots.

Part 3: Application of FEM

Advantages of FEM:
FEM is capable of modeling and analyzing:

irregular (complex) geometries

general loading different material properties

various BCs
various element types and sizes nonlinear and dynamics

easy modification

Part 3: Application of FEM

Examples of FEM application:

Architecture : Stress analysis of a building

Fluid Mechanics : Fluid flow inside a house Automotive : Thermal flow inside an engine, car crash simulation

Manufacturing
Aeronautical

: Plastic mold flow simulation

: Flow of air around an airplane

End