structural:scholar_edition
Application

Various specializations under the umbrella of the mechanical engineering discipline (such as aeronautical, biomechanical, and automotive industries) commonly use integrated FEM in the design and development of their products. Several modern FEM packages include specific components such as thermal, electromagnetic, fluid, and structural working environments. In a structural simulation, FEM helps tremendously in producing stiffness and strength visualizations and minimizing weight, materials, and costs.

FEM allows detailed visualization of where structures bend or twist, indicating the distribution of stresses and displacements. FEM software provides a wide range of simulation options for controlling the complexity of modeling and system analysis. Similarly, the desired level of accuracy required and associated computational time requirements can be managed simultaneously to address most engineering applications. FEM allows entire designs to be constructed, refined, and optimized before the design is manufactured. The mesh is an integral part of the model and must be controlled carefully to give the best results. Generally, the higher the number of elements in a mesh, the more accurate the solution of the discretized problem. However, there is a value at which the results converge, and further mesh refinement does not increase accuracy.

This powerful design tool has significantly improved both the standard of engineering designs and the design process methodology in many industrial applications. The introduction of FEM has substantially decreased the time to take products from concept to the production line. Testing and development have been accelerated primarily through improved initial prototype designs using FEM. In summary, benefits of FEM include increased accuracy, enhanced design and better insight into critical design parameters, virtual prototyping, fewer hardware prototypes, a faster and less expensive design cycle, increased productivity, and increased revenue.

In the 1990s FEM was proposed for use in stochastic modeling for numerically solving probability models and later for reliability assessment.