Real-time Finite Element Analysis with Virtual Hands: An Introduction

Computer aided Finite Element Analysis (FEA) tools have been used since the late 1950’s. The asynchronous plot of simulations and the corresponding results consumes a large amount of engineering cycle time; additionally, applying FEA parameters on a 3D CAD model with 2D mouse/keyboard has always been a complex process. This paper presents the prototype of a software toolkit that performs real-time FEA simulations, the software is associated with Virtual Reality (VR) technologies which gives users a better sense of spatial presence. Interactive product design and real-time FEA is discussed in this paper.