There is some excellent fatigue analysis system software available today. Go online, and you will find fatigue calculators that compute stress concentration, crack growth, safety factors, multiaxial states of stress and many other parameters.
However, such software can be limited in the way the results are presented, and how you have to enter data. For example, if you “re-tweak” a mechanical design, you may have to resubmit data even if it hasn’t altered. Such programs often feel outdated, with results displayed graphically or as results tables, with nothing to visually link them to the CAD drawings they support.
However, in recent years a new generation of fatigue analysis (FA) software has come on the market, which uses CAD visualization and even engineering animation tools, integrating with existing 3D modeling and CAD drafting software to display potential areas of failure directly your design. SolidWorks, ABACUS and Autodesk are just three of the major software companies offering integrated visualization services for engineering analysis.
They include finite element analysis (FEA), computational fluid dynamics (CFD), thermal analysis and kinetic computation tools, as well as fatigue analysis software. The software is constantly being refined and updated, working seamlessly within the CAD drafting and 3D modelling environment.
Tools like these have been a staple part of mechanical CAD in the aerospace and aviation industries for years. They are also at the forefront of automotive design. In consumer goods, they are used to analyze the design of everything from lawn mowers to radio controlled models.
We at Enventure Technologies offer an extensive range of mechanical design and visualization services, including solutions for CFD and fatigue/thermal analysis.
