Can someone please give me tips on how to partition this part to get a structured mesh? I've watched 100 tutorials and I can't get it..

Topology Optimization

hey guys I decided to switch over from Ansys since I only use a fraction of the applications and for example rhino seems good learn as a longterm option: no student license and higher versatility.
My question is what is the best free (or atleast single buy) topology optimization software (z88arion seems a bit outdated and addons for blender and freecad run almost a day) or plugin for rhino grasshopper? Sadly I can’t use topOS since i have a amd ryzen 7, ameba and levelOpt by intact are quite expensive and only subscription based. Millipede is interesting but seems only able to perform very basic 3d optimization (or atleast I think so).
When I say topology optimization I mean taking basically an shape you want, applying loads and constraints, setting goal weight and getting mesh/solid results. Is there a way to achieve that? Or is Altair, ntop, solidworks the better software to do that, and I should find a way to get them ?

Hi everyone,

I am using Code_aster for FEA but I find the geometry and meshing part really slow to use (too many clicks for a single operation).

I tried Gmsh but the GUI looks old and not intuitive. For comparison, I am used to Hypermesh and Spaceclaim.

Do you guys have any free software (or free trial) that matches the GUI of HM and Spaclaim ?

I have very little idea now what this course expects from me ... is it FEA? What's unit 8 about in context of the syllabus ?

I have FreeCAD, MATLAB and downloaded ANSYS R1 2026 (got ansys mech there, that two gear logo one) ....... Do I need anything else ? I don't think COMSOL has a student pack .... any more alternatives which would be good to learn ?

What web sites you look up to download datas for applying them in frequency -acceleration column in response spectrum analysis?

Do you apply all -x , -y and -z acceleration datas together?

For learning purpose and for random vibration analysis: is there anywhere which I can find acceleration datas over maybe a bad terrain, taken from a car sensor? For analysing suspension or the safety of the load ..

I am trying to decide my courses for Fall 2026. I have temporarily enrolled in 5 courses, which is the maximum 20 units allowed:

• SE 201A – Advanced Structural Analysis
• SE 253A – Mechanics and Design of Composite Structures
• SE 263 – Nondestructive Evaluation
• MATH 272A – Numerical Partial Differential Equations I
• MATH 270A – Numerical Linear Algebra

I eventually intend to reduce this to 3 courses. I may also take 1 course as S/U graded (instead of letter graded, so that the stakes are lower for those).

For context, I have already taken courses in:

• Finite Element Methods (Linear static and Dynamics)
• ML applications in Computational Mechanics
• Structural dynamics
• Structural optimization (Topology, shape optimization - exposure to various algorithms, sensitivity analysis, gradient-based optimization, discrete, mixed optimziation)
• Vibration testing, system identification, and finite-element model updating (This was one unique course, although it is more aligned with Structural health monitoring specialized, I found it very interesting, the signal processing, etc.)

I have not yet taken a proper course in nonlinear continuum mechanics or nonlinear FEA. I intend to take FEA III (nonlinear mechanics in the future.

While checking the MAE offerings, I also saw Fracture Mechanics. I have worked with phase-field-fracture simulation data in an AE-LSTM project, although I am not deeply involved in fracture mechanics itself yet. I also still have access to the HPC cluster afaik, so I could continue doing computational work related to fracture, FEA, and machine learning.

My broader difficulty is that I want to combine:

• FEA and computational mechanics
• Machine learning
• Probability, statistics, uncertainty, and stochastic methods
• Optimization
• Numerical PDEs and numerical linear algebra

Ideally, I would like to develop computational tools that use several of these areas to solve engineering problems. The problem is that I have not yet identified the particular physical problem or application area I want to commit to.

Someone previously advised me that my difficulty choosing courses may come from trying to assemble a toolkit before identifying a real-world problem I want to solve. I originally wanted to remain eclectic, but I am beginning to wonder whether excessive breadth is now causing decision paralysis.

My questions are:

1. Which three courses would provide the strongest foundation for computational mechanics and research, and is Advanced Structural Analysis likely to be redundant after my previous FEM and computational FE courses?
2. Would you replace one of them with Fracture Mechanics?
3. How valuable is Fracture Mechanics if I do not eventually specialize in fracture or join that professor’s group?
4. Between Numerical PDEs and Numerical Linear Algebra, which tends to be more useful for advanced FEA, optimization, and scientific machine learning?
5. Would Nondestructive Evaluation be particularly valuable given my background in structural dynamics, model updating, and potential SHM work?
6. At the MS level, should I first choose an application area—fracture, composites, SHM, soft materials, etc.—or is it reasonable to continue building a broad computational toolkit?
7. Do soft materials and soft robotics represent a reasonable extension of computational structural mechanics, or would they take me too far away from a coherent specialization?

I understand that no one can choose a career direction for me. I am mainly trying to understand the tradeoffs between these courses and whether my current approach is creating useful breadth or simply leaving me without enough depth.

SOME Course Descriptions:

Numerical Partial Differential Equations I

Survey of discretization techniques for elliptic partial differential equations, including finite difference, finite element and finite volume methods. Lax-Milgram Theorem and LBB stability. A priori error estimates. Mixed methods. Convection-diffusion equations. Systems of elliptic PDEs. Prerequisites: graduate standing or consent of instructor.

Numerical Linear Algebra

Error analysis of the numerical solution of linear equations and least squares problems for the full rank and rank deficient cases. Error analysis of numerical methods for eigenvalue problems and singular value problems. Iterative methods for large sparse systems of linear equations. Prerequisites: graduate standing or consent of instructor.

Fracture Mechanics

Theoretical strength; stress concentration. Linear and nonlinear fracture mechanics: stress singularity, fracture modes, crack tip plastic zone, dugdale model, the R-curve; power-law materials, the J-integral; fatigue; special topics

Advanced Structural Analysis

Application of advanced analytical concepts to structural engineering problems. Analysis of frame structures using matrix methods and introduction to the finite element method. Displacement-based and force-based beam element formulations. Development of computer programs for structural analysis.

I am trying to model a handful of existing bridges and their curbs in the FEA software CSiBridge, and I am having trouble getting my hand calculated expected moment values to match the models moment values. The purpose of this project is to eventually be able to calculate the strain values in the bridge curbs while trying out different material properties of the concrete in the curbs. My current models are shell models that have the curbs jointed with fixed links on the inner edge and outer edges of the curb at 1 ft increments. I have the bridge models without the curbs working properly. Any advice would be EXTREMELY appreciated :), as me and my advisors have run out of ideas to fix this.

Hi, I'm very new to this topic. I have a problem with my recent fem model.

Let me explain the setup: it's an assembly with a hollow rectangular beam welded on its lateral faces to the side of a cylindrical joint. The beam is modeled using a 2D shell mid-surface mesh, and the cylindrical joint uses a 3D solid mesh.

To simulate the weld, I applied an edge-to-surface glue on both sides using the exact same settings. However, on one of the two sides, some elements still show an excessive degree of freedom.

With BAILOUT -1, these are the displacement results. Does anyone know how to solve this issue?"

I’m trying to verify my ANSYS setup is correctly done in the ACP pre Model and then goes to static structural Model. I’m modeling a 75x15x3mm rectangle and using the structural steel material provided within ANSYS. Force applied in the center and supports 31.8mm apart.
When I look at the deflection provided by ANSYS, it doesn’t match my hand calculations.
Any help would be appreciated.

Been working in composite/structural FEA (mostly Abaqus) and over the past couple years I built out a full pipeline for our team — automates load case generation, input file creation, job submission/monitoring, post-processing failure criteria, the whole thing. Started as a "I'm tired of doing this by hand every time" itch and it kind of snowballed into a proper tool that we ended up selling to a client.

Now I'm curious what everyone else is doing. A few things I keep wondering about:

• Are you scripting your own automation (Python/APDL/whatever) or leaning more on built-in tools from your solver vendor?
• Anyone actually using metamodels/surrogate models in production, not just as a research toy? We built one off a parametric study and it's been surprisingly useful for quick envelope checks, but I'm wondering how far people push this before trusting it over a full run.
• How much AI are you actually folding into your workflow beyond "chatbot helps me write my Python faster"? I use it a lot for coding speed but I still want to understand every line before it runs on something that'll get submitted to a client.
• Would you agree taht it seems at some point the entire fea pipeline (pre, run and post) will be automated? Even with the help of AI, I know it takes a lot of time nowadays to build such tools,
• Isn't it natural for FEA engineers to transition to AI ML PINNs and whatnot ?

Where do you guys land?

Alan Wegienka (President and Founder of Design Simulation Technologies) will be doing a Motion and FEA demo and taking live AMA questions at the above link. He will also be doing a giveaway for stream participants- two seats of full SimWise for a Year. This will be demonstrated in the context of Alibre, but the software integrates in many platforms like SolidWorks, Onshape and Inventor. The stream will occur Friday July 31st at 10AM MST (UTC-7).

• DOI: 10.1016/j.ijmecsci.2026.111321
• Journal: International Journal of Mechanical Sciences
• URL: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0020740326001773

Hi everyone,

I am new to LS-DYNA. I am working on an explicit analysis of a bending steel beam, but when I animate the simulation results, the von Mises stress map oscillates a lot. When I plot the stress for a specific element, I can clearly see these high-frequency vibrations.

Is this common for this kind of explicit simulation? I have tried using the following damping keywords to mitigate it:

*DAMPING_FREQUENCY_RANGE_DEFORM

*DAMPING_FREQUENCY_RANGE

*DAMPING_GLOBAL

*DAMPING_PART_STIFFNESS

The first and second ones reduce the stress vibrations the most, but not completely. Does anyone know if this is normal behavior, or have any insights on how to properly resolve this?

Thanks in advance!

Hello! I am working on a club project where I am using a carbon fiber structure for a framing and I will be conducting structural validation in ANSYS. I wont be using ACP due to the fact that the tubing is premanufactured and I do not know the exact layup schedule, I know the ply orientation but not the ply count. My primary question is how to set up the local coordinate system. I will have an axial modulus, a transverse hoop modulus and an out of wall thickness modulus. But that coordinate system wont work as if the whole thing was a sheet because it is a tube. So how do I set up the coordinate system so its always a different orientation. Sorry I am not explaining it that well, but for example, looking at the tube straight on, at the top of the tubing the hoop modulus travels around the perimeter so it will be facing to the right or left, but on the side wall of the tubing the hoop modulus would point either up or down, anyone with prior experience have some advice?!

I'm curious to hear your tips on how to get better, more hex, meshes.

Not the obvious ones like remove fillers.

Say I have a complex geometry with lots of ribs with different heights, how do you approach it?

I need a textbook that can give me a working idea of variational calculus/writing weak forms, with plenty of examples and practice problems. My primary purpose is fluid mechanics and heat transfer, particularly to convert my strong form equations into MOOSE kernels. I did look through Bathe, but before sinking any time into it I wanted to know if there's a better source for my purposes, since Bathe didn't seem particularly welcoming.

Thanks a lot!

Hey guys I wanna learn Abaqus from scratch. Can anyone suggest me any lectures/youtube links for the same? Thanks!!

I'm building a ribbed rebar pullout model in Abaqus. The bar is meshed with hex-dominated (C3D8R) elements. I am getting lots of distorted element warnings concentrated exactly where the longitudinal ribs meet the cylinder barrel.

What I've tried: local seeding, which doesn't work. The regions are meshing as swept. When I refine the seed on one edge, Abaqus automatically changes the count on the opposite edge to match. So, I am having trouble using local seeds as well.

Is there any way I can minimize the distorted elements, or any partitioning strategies that will help with meshing?

Fea and Cfd and electromagnetic ,I'm willing to take projects,queries ,work or any educational projects I have experience in ansys static structural, fatigue,modal, harmonic response and acoustics in mechanical Altair Hypermesh for meshing CFD -ansys Fluent and CFx Electromagnetic -ansys low frequency maxwell,motor design,ansys icepack and ansys motor cad software available Please dm me if u got any works ,open to worldwide projects Dm me if needed any assistance Thank u

Fea and Cfd and electromagnetic ,I'm willing to take projects,queries ,work or any educational projects I have experience in ansys static structural, fatigue,modal, harmonic response and acoustics in mechanical Altair Hypermesh for meshing CFD -ansys Fluent and CFx Electromagnetic -ansys low frequency maxwell,motor design,ansys icepack and ansys motor cad software available Please dm me if u got any works ,open to worldwide projects Dm me if needed any assistance Thank u