Modeling Stress in Simple Objects: Easy Software Options?

[guv]

TL;DR

strain and stress simulation software

I am trying to model stress in simple objects such as a disk, a cube, a rectangular prism or a solid ball under their own weight or additional point mass weight on top to demonstrate such material response to students. I understand the usual process is to set up Mesh, boundary condition, and compute stress/strain. Is there a relatively simple software that can accomplish such goals. Is this a good option? dune-project.org

If it's easier to write some MATLAB code to do this myself, is there a simple example/document I can follow?

Thanks,

If this is not the right sub forum, please move to the right forum. Thanks.

 

[FEAnalyst]

There are some interesting open-source FEA programs. For example check Z88-Aurora, Elmer, CalculiX or Code_Aster. They are not very user-friendly and some even don't have pre- and postprocesors (apart from third part ones) but they can be useful anyway. You can also check SimScale which is not open-source but can be used for free if you don't mind your projects being public.

 

[jrmichler]

SolidWorks is a solid modeling software that has an integrated FEA package. Their base software has a minimally capable FEA that is not a useful tool, but their Premium FEA is pretty good. Buying the full package is several thousand dollars, but there is a cheaper way. Join the Experimental Aircraft Assocation for $40.00 per year, and get SolidWorks for free: https://www.eaa.org/eaa/eaa-membership/eaa-member-benefits/solidworks-resource-center, and also: https://www.eaa.org/eaa/news-and-pu...ks-education-premium-now-free-for-eaa-members.

 

[FEAnalyst]

SolidWorks is a solid modeling software that has an integrated FEA package. Their base software has a minimally capable FEA that is not a useful tool, but their Premium FEA is pretty good. Buying the full package is several thousand dollars, but there is a cheaper way. Join the Experimental Aircraft Assocation for $40.00 per year, and get SolidWorks for free: https://www.eaa.org/eaa/eaa-membership/eaa-member-benefits/solidworks-resource-center, and also: https://www.eaa.org/eaa/news-and-pu...ks-education-premium-now-free-for-eaa-members.

SolidWorks Simulation is very good software but there are some CAD programs with FEA module that are free for students. Particularly I’m talking about Autodesk Inventor and Autodesk Fusion 360. These are great options for teaching purposes.

 

[jack action]

The free version of Lisa might also be a good candidate. (The only constraint is a 1300 node limit.)

 

[FEAnalyst]

The free version of Lisa might also be a good candidate. (The only constraint is a 1300 node limit.)

From my experience with Abaqus (its student version can be used up to 1000 nodes) that’s a very strict limit. In this regard, student version of ANSYS seems like a better choice (max 32k nodes/elements for structural problems).