This is a non-exhaustive list of questions (“do’s” and “don’ts”) that are designed to help users ensure they are performing ethical finite element analysis. This is particularly appropriate for undergraduate and graduate students studying FEA, using FEA in the classroom, performing research with FEA, or early career engineers and scientists using FEA in industry.

You can find the list here: FEA Ethical Questions.

Have questions or want to help me add to the list? Reach out via email or Twitter!

Here is an example of MATLAB code that was developed for 1D conduction heat transfer problems. This code was developed for MECH 302 – Finite Element Analysis at Bucknell. Specifics of this code include the following:

• User inputs for:
  • Geometry, conduction coefficient, and mesh density
  • Distributed internal heat generation as a function of location
  • Essential, natural, and mixed boundary conditions
• Quadratic 1D elements
• A Gaussian Quadrature MATLAB function
• A plot of temperature and the derivative of temperature as a function of location
• The value of the maximum nodal temperature
• The temperature value of a specific location as specified by the user
• Boundary heat flux

The code is not published online because it’s an assignment for the course, but please feel free to email me (b.wheatley@bucknell.edu) and I would be happy to share.

 

Here is an example of the code at work:

Input domain length in [m]: 8
Input number of elements: 8
Input conduction coefficient k in [W/m-C]: 200
Input initial area [m^2]: 0.1
Input final area [m^2]: 0.5
Input distributed internal heat generation [W/m^3] as a function of x: 10*x
Specify boundary conditions as follows: 1 - known temperature, 2 - known flux, 3 - convection.
Specify left boundary condition type: 3
Specify left convection coefficient in [W/m^2-C]: 50
Specify left fluid temperature in [deg C]: 10
Specify right boundary condition type: 2
Specify right flux in [W]: 0
The maximum temperature is 46.26 [deg C].
The maximum temperature location is 8 [m].
Specify location of desired approximation in [m]: 7.5
The temperature at x = 7.5 [m] is 46.13 [deg C].
Heat flux at left boundary is -210.4 [W].
Heat flux at right boundary is 0 [W].