Debugging Finite Element Models

The Finite Element Method (FEM) was developed around 75 years ago. This was through the work carried out at multiple pioneering universities, notably Swansea (O. C. Sienkiewicz), Imperial College, London; Stuttgart (U. H. Argyris), and Berkeley (R. W. Clough).

A first generation of finite element software was then developed and made available to the industry. We can point out the contributions of K. F. Bathe (SAP software, 1969) and before that, the software first developed by NASA for its own internal needs, NASTRAN (first version in 1968). Those pioneers were soon followed by many other competitors, ADINA, ANSYS and ABAQUS, to name a few.

Today, a relatively small number of very powerful solutions have emerged, providing the market with what can be called complete and mature CAE software covering – in terms of mechanical analysis– linear and nonlinear structural analysis for static and dynamic analysis of different types; linear / eigenfrequency analysis, transient dynamic nonlinear, random vibrations, and many more.

A consequence of this evolution is that more than 75 years after the first FEM software appeared on the market, debugging a finite element model which “does not work” remains a challenge!

This article appeared in the January 2025 issue of BENCHMARK.