South Eastern Applied Materials
Research Centre
Using Finite Element Analysis
In Industrial Research
Presentation Outline
• Introduction to SEAM
• Cost of Design and Development
• Finite Element Analysis Introduction
• Various Application Examples
• Some typical case studies.
Who we are....• SEAM is a materials science and engineering research centre, which acts both in
industrial and academic spheres, with the aim of bridging the gap between
academia and industry.
• SEAM aims to be highly customer focused; serving a wide range of industrial
sectors in the south eastern region and throughout Ireland.
• SEAM’s goal lies in becoming an integral part of the R & D activities of
multinational companies based in Ireland, as well as aiding Small-Medium Sized
Enterprises in their transition from a purely manufacturing base into the realm of
research and development.
• SEAM will have a strong research focus and develop independent research
initiatives which have a strong commercial focus.
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Industrial Sectors Served
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• Broad range of Industrial sectors
served with a high degree of
expertise in the Precision
Engineering and Medical Device
sectors.
• SEAMs guiding ethic is to provide
companies in Ireland with the edge
required to be successful.
• Serves over 85 different clients
across the country.
• SEAM is highly proficient in
obtaining funding for industrial
collaborations and development
projects.
• SEAM is skilled in the arts of failure
analysis and product design
optimisation for industry.
Specialist Technologies Provided
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X-ray Micro-tomographyMicro-sectional
AnalysisSurface Roughness
AnalysisFinite Element
Analysis
Tensile and
Material TestingSEM Inspection Development of Custom
Solutions for IndustryFailure Analysis
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• Since its launch in 2009 SEAM’s
client base has grown from
strength to strength.
• Clients include SMEs, indigenous
companies, as well as large
multinationals.
• SEAM provides access to cutting
edge equipment and expertise to
these clients.
• The fact that we are based within
the country makes it very easy for
customers to approach and
discuss projects, results, and
obtain advice from SEAM. This
point has added to the popularity
of SEAM as a supplier of industry
solutions.
• We are always ready to help!
Clients
Product Development Costs Overview
Time
Money +
Money -
Profit Line
FEA Driven
Development Conventional
Development
The Ideal Development Path
Develop
Design
Build
Prototype It works!
Idea!
This is the ideal design pathway but it can have inherent costs:
•Greater likelihood that components are over designed.
•Extra cost through unnecessary material use.
•Overdesign may hide fatigue failures from standard test
methods.
In the real world things are rarely this easy!
A More Likely Development Path
Prototype fails.
Why?
This is a
costly
cycle!
Develop
Design
Build
Prototype
Idea!
Test
Eventually
Redesign
Establish source
of failure
A Virtual Design RouteBuild prototype
and test
Develop
design using
CAD tools
Build and test
virtual prototype
Idea!Assess results
This yields a design with the following advantages:
•Overall better design.
•Higher quality and reliability.
•Much more cost effective development.
•Safer when branching into new areas.
Redesign
and optimise
This is a much
more cost
effective route!
The Cost of Design Failure
• Failures in service are often due to
a combination of forces.
• Forces that the prototype testing
was unable to effectively analyse.
• Such failures are very costly in
terms of financial cost but also of
loss of customer faith.
Tacoma Narrows Bridge failureImage courtesy of Bettmann / Corbis
What is finite element analysis, FEA?• The Finite Element Method is a
numerical technique for finding the
solutions to partial differential
equations and integral equations.
• It is simpler to say it divides a system
or component into discrete points,
applies known boundary conditions,
material data, and calculates the
system response.
• It allows the detailed modelling of
complex systems and components
with a greatly reduced need for
prototyping.
Image Courtesy of Siemens Femap
Rocker Component Example
Component
Model development Stress analysisImages courtesy of engineering by design
Courtesy Virginia Military Institute.
Artery after Stent Inflation
Biomedical Areas of Application
Inhaler Airways AnalysisImage Courtesy of Anne de Boer, University of Groningen
Impact analysis
Stress Analysis of Tablet CompactionWu et al 2005
Structural FEA
Above images courtesy of
Paul Nylander
Gasket compression analysis
Nonlinear buckling of a stiffened vesselAbove images courtesy of ANSYS
Compression of a rubber component
Stress analysis of Meshing gears
Thermal
Thermal distribution in a heat sinkImage courtesy of neisoftware
Image courtesy of Mentor Graphics Mechanical AnalysisThermal Distribution in a circuit Board Image courtesy of Vectis
Thermal Distribution in a Cylinder head
Image Courtesy of BorgWarner Turbo & Emission Systems
Thermal Distribution in an manifold
Computational Fluid Dynamics
Images courtesy of ANSYS and Conventor
Fluid flow through a
cardiovascular valve
Air flow in an electronics module
Fluid flow in a
microfluidic device
Mixing of fuel and air
in a engine cylinder
Determining the life cycle of a pump housing using FEA
Pump from a chemical processing plant, designed to run with an internal pressure
range of 2-7 Mpa. This resulted in a stress concentration in a support rib that could
lead to failure in fatigue. Pump is made from 316L stainless steel
Estimated Fatigue Life for Original and Optimised
Design
In order to increase the service life of the pump without sourcing a new one the system
pressures were reduced leading to a marked increase in service life. Mohammad et al., Fatigue Life for Type 316L Stainless Steel under Cyclic Loading, Advanced Materials Research Vol. 701 (2013) pp 77-81
Conclusions
• Design can be a costly business!
• Finite element analysis is a powerful design tool.
• It facilitates design optimisation at an economic cost.
• It also provides enhanced reliability and quality in products.
South Eastern Applied Materials Research CentreApplied Technology Building
Waterford Institute of Technology
Waterford
Contact
Dr. Ramesh Raghavendra
Centre Manager
Ph: 051-845648
Fax: 051-302452
Email: [email protected]
Website www.SEAM.ie
Eoghan O’Donoghue
Development and Research Engineer
Ph: 051-845649
Email: [email protected]