Session 4: Why is Mohr’s circle so disliked? Giving it another chance … 30 minutes presentation, 30 minutes curated Q and A Mohr’s circle seems to be a very unpopular topic in structural mechanics courses! I think it is because it seems to be: Very arcane Very procedural Very confusing Never used in practical […]
Session 3: Free Body Diagrams
Session 3: Free Body Diagrams – what are they and why do they go wrong? 30 minutes presentation, 30 minutes curated Q and A Free body diagrams are used in structural analysis to try to reduce the problem to its simplest description. Where does the load get applied and where does the load get […]
Session 2: FEA quick sanity checks
Session 2: FEA quick sanity checks 30 minutes presentation, 30 minutes curated Q and A Making sure we don’t fall into the trap: “Garbage in – Garbage out” is vital in FEA. I show some sanity checks we can use in static and dynamic analysis to quickly make sure we are on the right […]
Session 1: St Venant’s Principle
Session 1: St Venant’s Principle 30 minutes presentation, 30 minutes curated Q and A This principle is often quoted in FEA. It is a very generalized statement, but what does it mean and how can we use it in practice? I explore the background to the principle and discuss how it can be used […]
Topology Optimization (Part 3)
Topology optimization overview In the previous articles in this series, we looked at the various Topology Optimization methods used in commercial FE Analysis. In this article, we look at robust design solutions and methods used to align the final optimized design with available manufacturing techniques. Robust design under loading Figure 1(a) shows […]
Topology Optimization (Part 2)
Topology optimization overview In the previous article in this series, we looked at the SIMP method of topology optimization in some detail. In this article, I look at two other important techniques; evolutionary methods and level set methods. A wide variety of methodologies are currently used within topology optimization, as it is a […]