Facility Engineering Services has the capability perform detail linear and non-linear Finite element analysis for our clients. Wether you need a detailed analysis of a plate type structure or heat transfer analysis for a cold storage structure, FES maintains the following FEA capability:
Elmer is an open source (GPL) computational tool for multi-physics problems. It has been developed by CSC in collaboration with Finnish universities, research laboratories and industry. Elmer includes physical models of fluid dynamics, structural mechanics, electromagnetics, heat transfer and acoustics. These are described by partial differential equations which Elmer solves by the Finite Element Method (FEM).
Elmer comprises several different parts: The boundary conditions and physical models are defined in ElmerGUI. The resulting problem definition is solved by ElmerSolver. Finally the results are visualized by ElmerPost. Additionally a utility ElmerGrid may be used for simple mesh manipulation. The different parts of Elmer software may also be used independently. The strongest of the components is ElmerSolver which includes many sophisticated features. For pre- and post-processing the users may find also other alternatives.
CalculiX is an open source (GPL) finite element package designed to solve field problems. With CalculiX Finite Element Models can be built, calculated and post-processed. The pre- and post-processor is an interactive 3D-tool using the openGL API. The solver is able to do linear and non-linear calculations. Static, dynamic and thermal solutions are available. Because the solver makes use of the ABAQUS input format it is possible to use commercial pre-processors as well. In turn the pre-processor is able to write mesh related data for nastran, abaqus, ansys, code-aster and for the free-cfd codes duns, ISAAC and OpenFOAM. A vda CAD interface is available. The program runs on a windows based platform.
Calculix is a very powerful tool of analysis, highly configurable allowing the user to have COMPLETE CONTROL over the analysis, with more than 18 types of analysis covering most fields of study finite element. Calculix's user can modify any variable on the analysis at discretion, the huge amount of information and documentation on the web make CalculiX a great alternative for the development of research projects where computer tools must accommodate the needs of the study.