[stiffethomas]

What is the Finite Element Analysis and what is the role in Engineering?

[SoCalPlaneDoc]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finite_element_method

[plasmamatt]

In general FEA is a tool (computer software) that helps to determine stresses for different shapes/geometries. It is particularly nice on complex shapes. It will quickly tell you where the high stress levels are and help you to determine if the material of choice is capable of handling the given stress levels. If not a change in the material or shape will be necessary to achieve acceptable or lower stress levels. The concept of FEA is relatively old but the use of FEA has become more usable because of more powerful computers. It is a great tool but it still requires a very good understanding of where the loads and constraints are on a given part. This is where the majority of mistakes are made. Ultimately a prototype needs to be built and fully tested. FEA is a good guideline but I would never treat it as gospel. There are always plenty of variables that are hard to account for. I'm still old school. I like to use engineering calculations to give me a good idea of where I'm at when designing.