Static, Nonlinear, Dynamic, Impact and Crash Test FEM Analysis and Simulations
Your Expert Partner in FEM and CFD Simulation
Cost reduction for high-quality products
By integrating simulation into the entire product development process, from the first sketch to the final realization, we put our expertise and experience at the service of our clients.
FEM Analyses and Simulations allow for a reduction in costs, resources, and time, decreasing the time to market for high-quality products.
FEM Analyses and Simulations: Classical FEA
- Impacts and collisions
- Containment simulation
- Test validation and correlation
- Material characteristics modeling
- Automotive
- Machinery and plant engineering
- Systems and structures under static load
- Systems and structures under dynamic load
- Drop tests for consumer goods/packaging
- Multiphysics analysis
Static and dynamic simulation
Classical FEA (Finite Element Analysis), which is the calculation that applies the finite element method, is primarily used for strength calculations and addresses static and quasi-static problems.
Using the small deformation approach with mostly linear material and contact formulations, FEA determines the stresses and deformations of structures or machine components due to static or dynamic loads.
These analyses allow for targeted structural design and optimization of structures, components, and products.
Static and dynamic analyses generally use implicit simulation codes. However, explicit methods also offer advantages in some static and dynamic challenge cases.
Crash tests and short-duration dynamics
Explicit simulations, such as those used in crash tests, are based on the finite element method and are focused on highly transient and dynamic processes.
These short-term dynamic scenarios occur, for example, during accidents or mechanical failures.
Crash simulations allow for a detailed analysis of the causes and effects of these complex sequences.
The strength of explicit simulation lies in handling situations where the phenomena under examination exhibit strong non-linearities.
Using explicit solvers allows for representing multi-component systems in simulations that interact through complex contact configurations.
By also capturing highly non-linear effects resulting from material properties, explicit simulation can easily represent mechanical characteristics such as plasticity, damage, dynamic hardening, triaxiality, and dependence on temperature or strain rate.
Even in the presence of high non-linearity in quasi-static problems, explicit simulation can be preferable to implicit simulation.
Typical examples of using explicit simulations include drop tests and forming processes.
In our practice of calculations and simulations, we rely on Ansys LS-Dyna.
Our extensive experience with this software allows us to meet our clients’ needs efficiently, providing high-quality service based on solid expertise in the field.
FEM Analyses and Simulations: Materials
Since we offer simulations for a wide range of products and components, we use an equally broad variety of materials.
For all these materials, whether metals, plastics, or others, a fundamental rule applies: an accurate and detailed definition of mechanical properties is essential for obtaining effective and reliable calculations and simulations.
For example, when the analysis involves significant deformations, beyond the typical elastic range, a thorough material description must include nonlinear plastic deformation behavior up to fracture behavior.
When performing finite element analyses, high quality in material definition is of fundamental importance. A crucial aspect of this process is creating material datasheets based on tests on samples and components, and verifying these datasheets.
The material definition must describe its linear and nonlinear deformation behavior, as well as its damage behavior, including large deformations, cracks, and fractures.
Creation of material datasheets for explicit simulation
Application of appropriate material definitions to the load
Verification of material definitions / comparison of material properties
Consulting on the selection of materials suitable for the load and use
Optimization of material usage
To meet the complex requirements for material description, continuous expertise and training are necessary.
Firmly believing in the importance of constant updating, we regularly participate in seminars and conferences that focus on the characterization of various materials to stay up-to-date with the state of the art.
FEM Analyses and Simulations: Test validation
For us, simulation is neither a competition nor a substitute for testing but a valuable complement. The efficient development of a high-quality product indeed cannot overlook its analysis in both the real and virtual worlds.
An effective simulation always begins with the accurate definition of material properties, ideally based on thorough testing of samples and components.
Comparing simulation results with test results greatly enhances the quality and reliability of the calculation.
We therefore apply test validation from the outset of calculations and simulations to achieve a solid and comprehensive description of the material for the product in development.
This includes testing samples under tension, compression, bending, and shear to enable static and dynamic characterization, as well as temperature-dependent behavior.
In addition to these sample tests, testing of components and assemblies, such as screws, brackets, and other small structures, may be necessary. During a client’s product development, we often have the opportunity to compare our simulations with actual tests. This comparison can lead to significant improvements in validity and predictive power or confirm the high level of correlation already achieved.
Both possibilities offer valuable contributions to further qualify finite element models and analyses. On the other hand, simulation can also be used in the testing planning stage, helping to identify potential weaknesses in a structure.
With an animated representation of the process, the computational approach facilitates detailed analysis of the system under investigation, supporting more focused and effective design.
Simulation allows a complete examination of the scenario by offering a deeper understanding of cause and effect, action and reaction during a damage process.
We and our clients benefit from these results because they often enable a more focused selection of measures for improvement and optimization.
Our services in testing and validation:
- Experimental support at research centers and test laboratories.
- Evaluation of correspondence and comparison between test and simulation.
- Optimization of simulation models with regard to their validity.
Potential fields of application of FEM calculations have practically no limits. This includes the field of consumer goods and household appliances. In addition, simulation offers solutions for tasks and problems in engineering and machine and plant construction in general.
With LS-Dyna we can complement mechanical analyses with additional physics to represent complex phenomena such as fluid-structure interactions or particle motion (DEM).