Program: Finite Element Analysis (FEA) Essentials
Team Account users: €500
Starts July 21
Virtual Program
HYB601
Course Objective
"To provide a solid understanding of the different engineering concepts and challenges involved with applying FEA to solve engineering challenges."
Starts July 21
4 week program
Instructor-led Training
Live + Self-study
Remote learning
100% online program
Digital Personal Certificate
to prove your skills
About the course
HYBRID
Starts July 21
6 weeks
13 modules
5 hrs/wk
English
Limited seats
HYB601
Learning Finite Element Analysis can be challenging and many learning resources focus solemnly on the theoretical backgrounds or on software use. But very important when applying FEA to solve engineering challenges is to have a good understanding of the concepts and design choices involved.
This course teaches you the different approaches used in FEA and the engineering judgment required to properly design models, analyze problems and interpret results. It will help you to understand basic engineering concepts, develop your engineering judgment and gain essential FEA skills. Topics include stress definitions, model preparation, connection rigidity, boundary conditions discussions, realistic load application, meshing, analysis, and post-processing.
This course does not focus on the use of one particular set of software, rather it discusses FEA considerations generic for all software. Demonstrations and examples are given using Femap with NX Nastran.
The course consists of 8 online, self-study modules and 5 cases combined with 4 online live sessions with the instructor. All training content is provided through your EngineeringTrainer account.
After the course you maintain 1-year unlimited access to the course and the discussions forum. This allows you to perform modules again when you need to refresh the knowledge for your projects.
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Join the Program
Team or Personal
Enroll directly using the ENROLL button a the top of this page. Pay by creditcard, PayPal, or bank transfer.
Need your employer to process the payment? Use the link below.
To register multiple team-members at once, use the link below.
Need a dedicated version of this program for your team? Please contact us.
Meet your instructors
the 6-week Program
Instructor & student introductions
Course details & schedule
Using the Course Forum
Certificate requirements
Learning objectives
Q&A
What is FEA for?
What does FEA do?
How to define a problem?
What is important in FEA
Consistent unit system
Conclusion
What is stress?
Normal Stress and Shear Stress
Stress in 3D
Equivalent Stress
Hooke's Law
Structural Rigidity
Stress Concentrations
Active forces and reaction forces balance
Rigid Body Motion
Conclusion
Importing CAD geometry
Creating geometry in preprocessor
Benefits of simplifying the geometry
Model Symmetry
How to define symmetry in FEA
Small details spoilmesh
How to connect beams to shells and beams/shells to solid
Rigid, semi-rigid and hinged connections in beam models
How to check if a connection is a hinge
How to calculate connection rigidity
Linear material properties
When linear material is not enough
Conclusion
Steel plate under tension
Geometry
Material properties
Boundary conditions
Loads
Meshing
Analysis
Post processing
Conclusion
Rigidity of supports
Realistic boundary conditions
Why pinned supports can be rigid!?
How to make an area support
What can and cannot be simplified
Boundary conditions and Hooke’s law
Linear contact – the basics
How to define linear contact
When it is possible to ignore contact?
Typical solutions for contact and BC
Example 1: Cantilever
Example 2: Bolted connection
Example 3: Beam on area support
Example 4: Different rigidity supports
Conclusion
Bolted Cantilever
Geometry
Material properties
Boundary conditions
Loads
Meshing
Analysis
Post-processing
Conclusion
Summary Lecture
Discussing questions from Course Forum
General Q&A
Realistic load values and codes
Characteristic and design loads
Point loads and reality
Force vs Moment
Gravity vs Pressure
Enforced deformations as load
Realistic load distribution
Load distribution: Part 1
Load distribution: Part 2
Load distribution: Part 3
Module 5: Conclusion
Solid Bracket
Geometry
Material properties
Meshing
BC and contact
Loads
Analysis
Post-processing
Conclusion
Basic elements types
Beam Elements
Plate Elements
Solid Elements
Choosing element type
Higher-order elements
TRI vs QUAD
TET vs HEX
Model Simplifications
RBE – Rigid Body Elements
Plane Strain Elements
Mesh Refinement
Mesh Refinement: Case Study
Mesh Refinement: Challenge 1
Mesh Refinement: Challenge 2
Mesh and Mathematics (M&M!)
Mesh Quality Measures
Module 6: Conclusion
Roof rafter stability
Introduction: Stability design
Introduction: LBA
Introduction: LBA settings
Geometry
Supports / Loads / Mesh
Initial stability conclusions
Critical bending moment calculation
Critical bending moment in desing
Bracing influence on stability
Developing model further: Part 1
Developing model further: Part 2
Verifying assumptions about bracings
Summary Lecture
Discussing questions from Course Forum
General Q&A
Linear Analysis Setup
Solver vs Pre/Postprocessor
Linear Static Limitations
What does nonlinear material do?
What does nonlinear geometry do?
Contact
Beyond Linear Static
When it is safe to use linear static
Model Checking
Troubleshooting
Module 7: Conclusion
Business advice first!
Stress/Strain/Displacement
The Stress Map!
Stress averaging
Issues with stability
Dealing with stresses higher than yield
Strain as a measure of capacity
Deformations
Beams in FEA
Result verification
Verification with hand calculations!
Business side of the report
Technical side of the report
Module 8: Conclusion
Street Lamp
Geometry
Geometry: Base: Part 1
Geometry: Base: Part 2
Geometry: Post: Part 1
Geometry: Post: Part 2
Geometry: The top part
Materials + Properties
Meshing
Meshing: Base plate
Meshing: Base plate: Bonus video
Meshing: Lamp post
Meshing: Top piece
Loads: Wind load according to EN 1991-1-4
Loads: Loading the model
Boundary conditions
BC: Avoid contact with line supports
BC: Dealing with stress concentrations
BC: Defining contact
Analysis
Post processing: Deformations
Post processing: Stress
Post processing: Stability
Post processing: Summary
Summary Lecture
Discussing questions from Course Forum
General Q&A
Congratulations
Course evaluation survey
Your Personal Certificate
Rate this course
Related resources & follow up
Results
After this course, you...
have a fundamental understanding of the important concepts involved with FEA,
have improved your engineering judgement related to FEA,
know the different considerations to make for preparation of your models,
understand how best to implement Boundary Conditions and Loads,
know the different element types and how they impact your meshing,
know the limitations of different analysis types,
and understand typical post-processing steps,
have seen 5 fully explained practical examples with video guides and solved with different approaches.
Who should attend this course
Professionals of various industries involved with the execution of FEA projects,
Those managing or overseeing FEA related work that need to be able to provide judgement about the assumptions and choices made.
Prerequisites:
Technical background is required,
Basic experience with Finite Element Method software is beneficial.
Level: Intermediate
Drip Schedule
The relevant items of the course, including the links for the live sessions, are provided through a drip schedule, meaning that modules will become available step-by-step as the course progresses. Some weeks include self-paced learning modules, others both self-paced as live events as per the program.
Content
The course utilizes pre-recorded lectures and self-study exercises, combined with live Q&A's and discussions. Live events are provided through MS Teams for which links are distributed from your course dashboard. Note that no downloadable manual is provided in this course as it is completely provided through our interactive portal.
You receive 1-year unlimited access to the course. This allows you to perform modules again when you need to refresh knowledge for your work projects.
Course start date: Thursday, July 21
| Week 1 | Kick-off (0.5 hr) | Thursday, July 21, 9am CEST (convert time-zone) |
| Module 1 available in portal Module 2 available in portal Module 3 available in portal Case 1 released | Thursday, July 21 | |
| Week 2 | Module 4 available in portal Case 2 released | Thursday, July 29 |
| Session A (1 hr) | Thursday, August 4, 9am CEST (convert time-zone) | |
| Week 3 | Module 5 available in portal Case 3 released | Thursday, August 4 |
| Week 4 | Module 6 available in portal Case 4 released | Thursday, August 11 |
| Session B (1 hr) | Thursday, August 18, 9am CEST (convert time-zone) | |
| Week 5 | Module 7 available in portal Module 8 available in portal | Thursday, August 18 |
| Week 6 | Case 5 released | Thursday, August 25 |
| Session C 1 (hr) | Thursday, September 1, 9am CEST (convert time-zone) |
After the course you receive 1-year unlimited access to all course material including recordings of the live sessions. This allows you to watch recording of lectures again whenever you need to refresh knowledge for your daily work projects.
Example Certificate:
Join the Program
Team or Personal
Enroll directly using the ENROLL button a the top of this page. Pay by creditcard, PayPal, or bank transfer.
Need your employer to process the payment? Use the link below.
To register multiple team-members at once, use the link below.
Need a dedicated version of this program for your team? Please contact us.
FAQ
Video lectures,
Text providing detailed explanations,
Example cases,
Instructor-led live sessions with lectures, group discussions, exercises and Q&A's,
Discussion forum with other participants & instructor.
The training videos and content are not available for download.
You receive 12-months unlimited access to the course. This allows you to watch content again if this is beneficial for your work projects.
Yes, live sessions are included in this course that allow you to interact with the instructor and ask questions. Additionally, questions can be submitted in the learning portal by the participants which are addressed in the live sessions.
No software is required for participants of this course.
Self-study Modules
If your computer and internet connection are able to play videos online and have MS Teams calls you will be able to follow the course. Note that almost all browsers are supported, except for Internet Explorer.
Live sessions
Live events are provided by means of Microsoft Teams. Hence it required to have an MS Teams account. Additionally, a webcam and microphone are mandatory for the live events. Separate earplugs are recommended as to avoid sound echo.
Yes, this course qualifies for PDH hours as per the NCEES CPC Guidelines.
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