This work describes a way to apply 3D Finite Element (FE) analysis to the thermal design of power electronic modules using simplified geometry models of the system components. The method here presented can overcome the problem of solving equation systems with a very high number of Degrees Of Freedom (DOF) due to complex geometry of a power module.

The aim of this study was to elucidate the association between the bone structure at implant insertion sites and stress distribution around the mandibular canal by means of three-dimensional finite element (3D FE) analysis. Four FE models were created with slice data using micro-computed tomography (micro-CT), and 3D FE analysis was performed. Mechanical analysis showed that the load reached th...

Simulation of soft tissue deformation is a critical part of surgical simulation. An important method for this is finite element (FE) analysis. Models for FE analysis are typically derived by extraction of triangular surface meshes from CT or MRI image data. These meshes must fulfill requirements of accuracy, smoothness, compactness, and triangle quality. In this paper we propose new techniques ...

Modeling of crack propagation by a finite element method under mixed mode conditions is of prime importance in the fracture mechanics. This article describes an application of finite element method to the analysis of mixed mode crack growth in linear elastic fracture mechanics. Crack - growth process is simulated by an incremental crack-extension analysis based on the maximum principal stress c...

Uplift and pore pressures are fundamental loading conditions that affect the strength and stability of concrete dams. Historically, these loads have been difficult to quantify and to implement in finite element analysis (FEA). Some dam design guidelines propose different techniques to apply the estimated uplift pressure for its use in FEA of concrete dams. These methodologies are, in general, q...

The present study presents a new methodology developed for an analytical model of a composite fuselage. It also presents finite element analyses of a simplified model and comparisons with more complete models. These comparisons show that there is a very good correlation between both models for the cases studied. Therefore, the applicabilty of the proposed procedure was demonstrated. Based on fi...

In this study, a novel and very simple finite element procedure is presented for free vibration and buckling analysis of slim beam-like structures damaged by edge cracks. A cracked region of a beam is modeled using a very short element with reduced second moment of area (I). For computing reduced I in a cracked region, the elementary theory of bending of beams and local flexibility approach are...

This paper presents development of 3D non-linear finite element model to simulate the response and predict the behavior of un-bonded mild steel bars under axial and bending loading. The models were successfully analyzed with the finite element software ANSYS, taking into account the nonlinear material properties of the reinforced mild steel bars. A bending strain relationship is derived based o...

The simulation of the advancing process for arbitrary alignments during shield tunneling requires a continuous adaption of the finite element mesh in the vicinity of the tunnel face in conjunction with a steering algorithm for the Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) advance. Moreover, the finite element mesh should match the actual motion path of the shield machine resulting from the FE-analysis in eac...

In this paper, a comparison of weak-form Galerkin and least-squares finite element models of Timoshenko beam theory with the von Kármán strains is presented. Computational characteristics of the two models and the influence of the polynomial orders used on the relative accuracies of the two models are discussed. The degree of approximation functions used varied from linear to the 5th order. In ...