ECSA CPD approved course (5 credits) - SAIMechE-1347-11/22

Do you need a refresher course on all the fundamental theory and practical applications of Finite Element Analysis (FEA) or are you completely inexperienced in using FEA?

If you are on either end of this scale, this course is for you! And best of all is that this course is software-independent, so you may use any software of your choice to follow the worked out examples or you can use any of 4 different FEA packages distributed and supported by SIMTEQ!
With more than 16 years of experience in using FEA and more than 8 years of experience teaching and supporting customers in the use of FEA, Paul Naudé consolidated all the practical challenges experienced by analysts daily and presented them with the fundamental theory behind FEA to offer practical solutions that will save you time and money while still giving your results credibility.

The theory behind various aspects of FEA is only covered in enough detail to provide you the understanding of why certain mistakes are regularly made and to understand why and how to eliminate them from occurring in the first place.

The practical exercises are worked out with clear to follow instructions for MSC Apex but you will also be able to complete all the exercises in any other software of your choice, if you have some experience using its interface and if the software supports the covered topics.

Since the focus of the training is on the practical application of FEA and not on the use of any particular software, the exercises are easy to follow and most are pre-set up for you to experiment with what was covered in the preceding lecture session(s).

The topics covered in this course are as follows:

1. Introduction to the FE method
2. Limitations of the Linear Static method
3. 1D Elements
4. 2D Elements
5. 3D Elements
6. Stress concentrations
7. The use of strain gauges with FEA
8. Connectors
9. Contact
10. Modal analysis
11. Buckling analysis
12. Coordinate systems
13. Boundary Conditions
14. Material models and properties
15. Fields
16. Result interpretation
17. CAD Clean-up

Prerequisites:

• An engineering understanding of strength of materials are required as a minimum to reap the most benefits from the course.
• Attendees should indicate their software preference before hand although most courses might be scheduled for a specific product to be used.
• If the attendees will be using software not supplied by SIMTEQ, they should bring their own computers with their licensed software installed and activated on it.
  More information is available on request for users of non-SIMTEQ supplied software to ensure they have the correct functional knowledge of their software user interfaces to complete the provided exercises unassisted.

What our customers say about this course:

• "The friendliness of the instructors and the rest of the staff was exceptional. The training was thorough and covered a lot of key aspects to kick-start one into efficient usage of NX within the time of training.
  The lessons were engaging and to-the-point.PS: The food was very good as well." - Theo van der Berg, WJ Engineering
• "The course is well presented. I also enjoy the focus on the limitation of FEM.It was one of the better courses I've attended in recent years." - Jannie Potgieter, Booyco Egnineering
• "Excellent course. Gives the basics of FEM and the possible shortfalls." - Mohamed Jogiat, Transnet

About SIMTEQ Engineering:
SIMTEQ Engineering is the leading supplier of Engineering Simulation solutions in South Africa. Our primary focus is to empower our clients to become leaders in their respective industries through providing technology which can solve the most demanding engineering & scientific problems, in the shortest possible times.