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Solid FEM: a stress check of one part
Switch on the Solid FEM add-on, mesh a part, pick fixed faces and a load in the 3D view, solve, and read displacement and von Mises stress on the model.
Written for PartCraft 0.9. The same help is inside the app: press F1.
What you'll do
Check one solid part under a load: where it moves and where the stress is highest. The study is linear and elastic, so it is a checking aid; your engineer reviews the results.
Steps
- Choose Settings › Add-ons and switch on Solid FEM (it is off until you do). Open the Solid FEM tab in the right panel.
- Under Material choose one, or Custom and type Poisson ratio, density and yield stress.
- Press Add fixed faces, click the faces that are held in the 3D view, then press Done picking.
- Add a load with Add force, Add pressure or Add gravity and pick its faces the same way.
- Press Mesh the part, then Solve. Choose Natural frequencies under Study first if you want frequencies.
- Read Results and Warnings, then press Show on the model to draw von Mises stress, displacement or a mode shape; Remove the plot takes it away.
Notes
- The page solves up to a fixed number of elements; the status line says when your element size is too fine.
- Stress at fixed faces, load points and sharp corners grows as the mesh is refined. Refine and compare before relying on a peak.
- Every change is one undo step, and the settings are saved in the part file.
- For yielding and contact studies see Check stress and deflection.