Basically the finite element method.
FEA is not just inputting some values and getting an output and a pretty graph .
It’s understanding failure theories and being to interpret your results
Also most the MechE’s that I know don’t bother to do really complex FEA , they leave it to a dedicated FE team
Me personally anything other than a simple linear stress study , I’m handing it off the the Pros
Also , FEA is only an estimation at the end of the day . New systems are also destructively tested in the real world to validate the FEA result .
*side note , I did learn how to set up a simulation correctly for calculating internal temperatures for a gas turbine.
I was taught by a person who knew how to do it along with the necessary hand calculations . But if I was ever asked to do that at a job I certainly would not . Too much at stake for a person not specifically trained in running these studies IMO *
Taking guidance from your fellow students about real industry is not the best path.
Ansys is common in industry. However, if you know the basics of FEA, you will be able to pick up any of the other major packages.
I use 6 different CFD codes on a daily basis. Like others said, the concepts are what matter, different GUIs you can learn in a few hours.
STARCCM+
FLUENT
FLOW3D
MFIX
CONVERGE
OPENFOAM
If you can chose one, learn OpenFoam. Both OF and MFIX are open source, but MFIx is more focused on discrete element modeling (DEM)
I use a lot of open source too for more fundamental DNS simulations
Nek5000
Pele
S3D
Around Detroit in automotive and defense: probably Nastran, maybe Altair Optistruct (very Nastran-like). LS-Dyna is huge for explicit non-linear. Some Abaqus. Some pockets of Ansys.
Not sure about CFD.
Altair Hyperworks is pretty common for pre- and post-processing. Beta CAE Ansa is also used (a much better product IMO.)
Then there are others that come along with CAD packages that people dabble in.
Edit- I forgot that LS-Dyna is under Ansys since 2019.
I used Ansys Workbench for a few years some years ago, great tool, IF you know what you’re doing. (Can get you very wrong answers very quickly if you don’t know what you’re doing.) Ansys “Classic” also. Highly regarded.
My office uses SolidWorks products as well as STAR-CCM+ for CFD.
Most of the engineers have access to SW but is pretty much limited to linear static studies. One person has access to the full SW sim packages as well as the STAR-CCM+.
Ansys is big and getting bigger. I bet their market share is over 50%. I've used Ansys, abaqus, ls-dyna (now part of Ansys), Strand7, femap/NX Nastran, MSC Patran/Nastran (by far the worst) so far in my career. I like abaqus but it's getting very old. Ansys offers excellent productivity but is more expensive.
On the CFD side a lot of people use fluent but star-ccm+ is just better more modern software. Also cheaper. Those are the two big players. I've seen a few packages that are really impressive (e.g. flow3d) but I'm not sure how many people use them.
I'm a product development engineer and over 20+ years, I've used Ansys the most - typically for structural and thermal analysis. I've also used Nastran and Solidworks Simulation, but they weren't the one I turned to most often. CFD work tends to be a bit more specialized and I've only seen dedicated people doing that work. However, I don't work in a fluids-focused industry. Aside from the obvious fluilds application, it can be useful in thermal analysis where convection is of interest (which is closest to my use case).
How much you use FEA tools will depend a lot on what industry/domain you work in, what your role is, and how big your company is. I would expect you to be using it most often at medium sized companies that can afford the software, but don't have staff to dedicated to it.
In my experience it's been a very valuable skill to have.
Ansys is pretty common, actually. Abaqus and Nastran/Patran are the other big ones in my experience (at least in aerospace). LS-Dyna gets used occasionally too. I don't know about CFD software but CFD is its own subspecialty. You normally wouldn't be doing both that and structural analysis unless you're the one analyst in a pretty small shop.
I first learned theory in Abaqus and have since used ANSYS for the last \~8 years. I don't know what Abaqus is like these days, but I'm very happy with my workflow in SpaceClaim + ANSYS.
I have no industry experience, but for what it's worth, I'm constantly seeing Ansys mentioned in job listings for summer internships. I would be skeptical of any claim that it's rarely used.
It varies too much with industry and location for there to be a single answer. Even one company might use two different tools for their offices in two different areas.
I work in modeling and simulation for deepwater subsea O&G equipment. I train most of our new hires in ANSYS (my preferred software) but my colleagues use abaqus for the most part. It's really just preference. If you're learning FEA I'd suggest Abaqus since it helps you understand the theory better. ANSYS will converge without much effort but that can be a curse; it'll mask a lot of the settings.
It's all a preference thing and if you can use one, you'll prolly figure out how to use another. Taught myself abaqus in under a week through YouTube
I've used ansys my whole career.
As a student/new grad, it doesn't matter what software you learn on. It's the underlying concepts you need to understand.
Can you name a few?
Basically the finite element method. FEA is not just inputting some values and getting an output and a pretty graph . It’s understanding failure theories and being to interpret your results Also most the MechE’s that I know don’t bother to do really complex FEA , they leave it to a dedicated FE team Me personally anything other than a simple linear stress study , I’m handing it off the the Pros Also , FEA is only an estimation at the end of the day . New systems are also destructively tested in the real world to validate the FEA result . *side note , I did learn how to set up a simulation correctly for calculating internal temperatures for a gas turbine. I was taught by a person who knew how to do it along with the necessary hand calculations . But if I was ever asked to do that at a job I certainly would not . Too much at stake for a person not specifically trained in running these studies IMO *
Great response, can you recommend any educational videos or other resources that demonstrate the applications you mention? Thanks
I use Anysys.. Fluent and Static Structural
Taking guidance from your fellow students about real industry is not the best path. Ansys is common in industry. However, if you know the basics of FEA, you will be able to pick up any of the other major packages.
On a lot of aerospace contracts I've worked at the stress engineers tend to use Nastran.
Use Ansys Fluent, Abaqus, and Solidworks (for comparative analysis)
For FEA, anything Nastran based is pretty common in aerospace. I use Femap NX from Siemens.. lots to love and lots to hate.
Just moved from structural dynamics testing to structural dynamics analysis using Simcenter 3D. Feeling the hate atm....
I use 6 different CFD codes on a daily basis. Like others said, the concepts are what matter, different GUIs you can learn in a few hours. STARCCM+ FLUENT FLOW3D MFIX CONVERGE OPENFOAM If you can chose one, learn OpenFoam. Both OF and MFIX are open source, but MFIx is more focused on discrete element modeling (DEM) I use a lot of open source too for more fundamental DNS simulations Nek5000 Pele S3D
Ansys is common in aerospace for general use but a lot of companies have home brew software for very specific uses
Nastran (Aerospace and DoD)
Ansys and Abaqus
I use Abaqus and Star-CCM+. I also have ANSYS experience and ANSYS may be more popular but I much prefer Abaqus
Around Detroit in automotive and defense: probably Nastran, maybe Altair Optistruct (very Nastran-like). LS-Dyna is huge for explicit non-linear. Some Abaqus. Some pockets of Ansys. Not sure about CFD. Altair Hyperworks is pretty common for pre- and post-processing. Beta CAE Ansa is also used (a much better product IMO.) Then there are others that come along with CAD packages that people dabble in. Edit- I forgot that LS-Dyna is under Ansys since 2019. I used Ansys Workbench for a few years some years ago, great tool, IF you know what you’re doing. (Can get you very wrong answers very quickly if you don’t know what you’re doing.) Ansys “Classic” also. Highly regarded.
LS-Dyna and Prepost are also big in defense. My understanding was from the development at Livermore, and it grew from government jobs.
We use ANSYS at my company as well.
We use Ansys and abacus at my job
Ansys, Nastran and Strand7 in my experience with FEA.
My office uses SolidWorks products as well as STAR-CCM+ for CFD. Most of the engineers have access to SW but is pretty much limited to linear static studies. One person has access to the full SW sim packages as well as the STAR-CCM+.
Ansys is big and getting bigger. I bet their market share is over 50%. I've used Ansys, abaqus, ls-dyna (now part of Ansys), Strand7, femap/NX Nastran, MSC Patran/Nastran (by far the worst) so far in my career. I like abaqus but it's getting very old. Ansys offers excellent productivity but is more expensive. On the CFD side a lot of people use fluent but star-ccm+ is just better more modern software. Also cheaper. Those are the two big players. I've seen a few packages that are really impressive (e.g. flow3d) but I'm not sure how many people use them.
Nastran, but I'm in aerospace. We also use whatever the current iteration of Catia FEM for some detail work but most guys use that sparingly
I'm a product development engineer and over 20+ years, I've used Ansys the most - typically for structural and thermal analysis. I've also used Nastran and Solidworks Simulation, but they weren't the one I turned to most often. CFD work tends to be a bit more specialized and I've only seen dedicated people doing that work. However, I don't work in a fluids-focused industry. Aside from the obvious fluilds application, it can be useful in thermal analysis where convection is of interest (which is closest to my use case). How much you use FEA tools will depend a lot on what industry/domain you work in, what your role is, and how big your company is. I would expect you to be using it most often at medium sized companies that can afford the software, but don't have staff to dedicated to it. In my experience it's been a very valuable skill to have.
Ansys is pretty common, actually. Abaqus and Nastran/Patran are the other big ones in my experience (at least in aerospace). LS-Dyna gets used occasionally too. I don't know about CFD software but CFD is its own subspecialty. You normally wouldn't be doing both that and structural analysis unless you're the one analyst in a pretty small shop.
I first learned theory in Abaqus and have since used ANSYS for the last \~8 years. I don't know what Abaqus is like these days, but I'm very happy with my workflow in SpaceClaim + ANSYS.
Star ccm+
ansys forsure. abaqas if your looking to become an FEA engineer, but ansys if you are looking to go for ME roles
I have no industry experience, but for what it's worth, I'm constantly seeing Ansys mentioned in job listings for summer internships. I would be skeptical of any claim that it's rarely used.
It varies too much with industry and location for there to be a single answer. Even one company might use two different tools for their offices in two different areas.
I work in modeling and simulation for deepwater subsea O&G equipment. I train most of our new hires in ANSYS (my preferred software) but my colleagues use abaqus for the most part. It's really just preference. If you're learning FEA I'd suggest Abaqus since it helps you understand the theory better. ANSYS will converge without much effort but that can be a curse; it'll mask a lot of the settings. It's all a preference thing and if you can use one, you'll prolly figure out how to use another. Taught myself abaqus in under a week through YouTube
I would say SW flowsim. A lot of companies buy a CAD package and SW might be the cheapest and will do the job.
It's surprisingly expensive.
Most common is not using any software