STEPS TOWARDS CAD FEA INTEGRATION

Using current Computer Aided Design (CAD) and Finite Element Analysis (FEA) pre-processing systems, a large proportion of the analyst's time is spent preparing an idealised model of a part or structure for anal ysis. Although complete geometric information for the part is often av ailable in the form of a solid model, this is seldom taken advantage o f because of the amount of time required to simplify and idealise the geometry for the subsequent meshing stage. In fact, analysts often fin d it easier to reconstruct the idealised model from scratch, a process which is error prone and prohibits linking the analysis results to th e product in a formal way. This paper gives an overview of a future sy stem which would allow and encourage more automated CAD-FEA transforma tion using tools that operate directly on the solid model. Functional components for such a system are discussed together with issues that s hould be addressed in order to achieve a fully integrated CAD-FEA tran sformtion scheme. The overall aim is to make the transition from a sol id model to an idealised model suitable for analysis an easier, more r obust and less time-consuming task.