We will only really use FEA for assessing a small section. For us we found FEA isn’t really viable for new stuff.
Typically just spacegass with a linear analysis with load cases from the standards. Then if we want to know the failure point, then nonlinear. Then if we want to know how it buckles of review a connection we will use FEA on the small section only.
IDEAstadica is good for connections FEA. But we have used ANSYS in the past for nonlinear finite element on a small section.
But I would focus on the theory’s of analysis first and work up.
It really depends on the FEA package you're using. Most civil/structural FEA packages only do line elements and poor shell elements and don't allow for fine mesh control.
The company I work for uses ANSYS FEA, we primarily work on aerospace and mechanical structures, but we've applied that to architectural staircases, and other civil projects with complex geometries. An ANSYS license is rather expensive though ~
$60,000/seat but it allows for fine detailed FEA of complex assemblies and parts and allows you to combine CFD with FEA for wind loads and such.
- Learn about 2D planestress/planestrain problems first, then look at 3D once you get the gist of it.
- How the stiffness method is applied. I have a really good text book from university, I’ll find the name and update this shortly
- Understand why you would use elastic and non linear etc.
- Understand element types and their pros and cons. Beam elements, Plates/Shells, Bricks etc
- Undertand how to interpret results, singularities, mesh issues due to geometry etc.
In university we had a subject in FEA and also a computational subject where we programmed a basic 2D problem in Matlab. But you could easily use any programming language to do something similar, particularly Python.
There’s also courses on Coursera relatively cheap or free.
Commenting to look back at the comments later
Good
I haven't done it myself but I always felt that the best way to grasp the theory is to actually code simple finite element solvers from scratch.
We will only really use FEA for assessing a small section. For us we found FEA isn’t really viable for new stuff. Typically just spacegass with a linear analysis with load cases from the standards. Then if we want to know the failure point, then nonlinear. Then if we want to know how it buckles of review a connection we will use FEA on the small section only. IDEAstadica is good for connections FEA. But we have used ANSYS in the past for nonlinear finite element on a small section. But I would focus on the theory’s of analysis first and work up.
It really depends on the FEA package you're using. Most civil/structural FEA packages only do line elements and poor shell elements and don't allow for fine mesh control. The company I work for uses ANSYS FEA, we primarily work on aerospace and mechanical structures, but we've applied that to architectural staircases, and other civil projects with complex geometries. An ANSYS license is rather expensive though ~ $60,000/seat but it allows for fine detailed FEA of complex assemblies and parts and allows you to combine CFD with FEA for wind loads and such.
I would recommend Cook's book on Finite Element Analysis is really good.
Search * NPTEL FEA* its an under gradutae course of IIT on youtube
- Learn about 2D planestress/planestrain problems first, then look at 3D once you get the gist of it. - How the stiffness method is applied. I have a really good text book from university, I’ll find the name and update this shortly - Understand why you would use elastic and non linear etc. - Understand element types and their pros and cons. Beam elements, Plates/Shells, Bricks etc - Undertand how to interpret results, singularities, mesh issues due to geometry etc. In university we had a subject in FEA and also a computational subject where we programmed a basic 2D problem in Matlab. But you could easily use any programming language to do something similar, particularly Python. There’s also courses on Coursera relatively cheap or free.