Brick elements

Hi
i study at a university where i use CATIA a lot. so i have ed2 license.

Q: How to i access the brick elements (linear and non-linear shape functions).. 
for an dynamic eigen problem i have completed the task using the 4-faced tetrahedron whose performance - i beilive is bad.

Any ideas !!!

i need to submit the assignment to FEA guys who believe CAD FEA is a waste of time. !!

Robbie

You will be able to mesh a part with brick element from the advanced meshing workbench. I am not sure if the ed2 license will allow you to access this.If you don't see the workbench you will need a FMS and FMD license (or FAX)

To create brick elements, you need to use the sweep technic:
First mesh the cross section with a 2d quad mesh using the advanced surface mesher or the surface mesher.And then Click the sweep icon the generate brick element by sweeping the 2d mesh along the geometry.
Note that if your geometry is too complicated, you might need to partition it using the "split" feature with the "volume" option from the generative shape design workbench.

May i ask why the performance of the tetraherdon element are not goods?

Sweep meshing might be tricky. So I would suggest you to use second order (parabolic) tet element using either the Octree mesher or Using the tetrahedron filler.The result should be accurate.

well, for report sake i was trying to do a mesh independency test. for a blade which is 10mm thich and 220mm wide, i get good change in stress values for a mesh size from 5mm to even 2,5mm
i takes too much time for such a simple model with 2,5mm

i had completed an optimization assignment on an industrial product. (with shell elements) which was 20m tall. i got accurate results with a mesh of 100mm,. I am not comparing shell and the solids. that is not smart.
Also the tools avaialble for creating and constraints the solid elements are limited in CATIA (I believe).
I wonder what other products (SIMULIA, SIMDESIGNHER) offer compared to elfini solver.

Hey Robbie,

10mm x 220mm x 20m doesn't sound like somehting you really want to solid mesh.  Can you share an image of your geometry?  Also, are you high stress points near a fillet or boundary condition?

RE: Optimization.  Since you have education license can you access PEO (product engineering optimizer)?

Cheers,
Greg

sorry that's 10mmx220x220mm.... and thickness cannot be constant.

so that's whu i did not use shell elements.

Yes, educational license do have PEO (R18). it works well with FEA and KNOWledgware (Design table).

it's rotating element. and i am taking the maximum value of von mises stress at the root radius. I have no radius.