FEPACS - A COMPUTATIONAL TOOL FOR LINEAR STRUCTURAL-ANALYSIS

FEPACS (Finite Element Package for Linear static, dynamic and instabil ity Analysis of Composite Structures under hygro-thermo-mechanical loa ds) incorporates a complete library of consistent and correct 1-, 2- a nd 3-dimensional linear and quadratic general purpose finite elements. in this paper, we shall discuss the finite element technology that ha s gone into the package as well as its present modelling and solution capabilities. We shall also discuss briefly recent developments toward enhancing the package: Robust composite elements based on a Co-contin uous higher order transverse deformation plate/beam theory, and nonlin ear element technology and solution strategies. Finally, we shall also briefly touch upon several satellite application modules that are in different stages of planning/development to aid FEPACS: damage assessm ent/prediction, expert-like advisors for solid modelling and finite el ement modelling/analysis, pre-/post-processing for FEPACS applications , structural optimisation and related finite element algorithms, and f inally, a frontal solution module for FEPACS to enhance its feasibilit y for vectorisation/parallelisation.