What are the most effective ways to use finite element analysis with CAD in underground labs?

3 What are the advantages of FEA with CAD?

Using FEA with CAD in underground labs offers many advantages for structural engineers, such as saving time and money, improving the quality and reliability of the design, enhancing the creativity and innovation of the design, and increasing the confidence and credibility of the design. This is made possible by reducing the need for physical testing and prototyping, identifying and resolving potential issues before they occur in reality, allowing engineers to experiment with different ideas and solutions, and providing evidence and validation for the design decisions and assumptions. Additionally, this helps to ensure compliance with codes and standards for underground structures.

4 What are the challenges of FEA with CAD?

Using FEA with CAD in underground labs can also pose some challenges for structural engineers. The complexity and uncertainty of the underground environment, which can vary widely in terms of geology, hydrology, and geotechnics, requires extensive data collection and analysis to model accurately and realistically. Choosing the appropriate level of detail and accuracy for the FEA model is essential and must be balanced between the computational cost and the quality of the results. To validate and verify the FEA model and results, comparison and correlation with experimental data, analytical solutions, or other FEA models is necessary, as well as sensitivity and parametric studies to evaluate the influence of input variables and parameters on output results. Finally, interpreting and communicating the FEA results requires critical thinking, engineering judgment to understand implications of results, as well as effective visualization and presentation skills to convey results to different audiences.

5 What are the best practices of FEA with CAD?

Structural engineers should use best practices when using FEA with CAD in underground labs, such as planning and defining the project, selecting and using suitable software and hardware, developing and testing the FEA model, and reviewing and improving the model and results. This includes objectives, requirements, specifications, criteria, resources, budget, and schedule of the project; compatibility, functionality, performance, and usability of the software and hardware; a logical and consistent workflow; quality control and assurance measures; feedback from experts, peers, or clients; new data; knowledge; or technology.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?