SHD Sim FEA
Structural analysis, on the same desktop
Seventeen analysis types on one solver — code_aster, the research code EDF assesses nuclear plant with, built natively for Windows.
This module is available.
What it runs on
Established open-source solvers, bundled or provisioned — the same approach as the CFD module, where the case for paying is the hours the interface saves rather than a solver nobody else has.
code_aster
The whole module. Built natively for Windows and installed like any other backend
Analysis types
17 of them, in 5 groups, each with the backend that serves it. Naming the backend per row is deliberate: it is what tells you whether a capability is a setting away or a different solver entirely.
Statics
The baseline, and where most structural questions are actually answered. Contact is the first real convergence-diagnostics problem outside CFD.
| Analysis type | Backend | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Linear static | code_aster | Loads, restraints, stress, deflection |
| Nonlinear static | code_aster | Large deformation, plasticity, hyperelasticity |
| Contact | code_aster | Surface-to-surface, with friction |
| Buckling | code_aster | Linear eigenvalue, and post-buckling via nonlinear static |
Dynamics
Natural frequencies are a very common first question and are cheap to answer. Transient here is implicit — impact and crash are a different solver entirely.
| Analysis type | Backend | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Modal / eigenfrequency | code_aster | Natural frequencies and mode shapes |
| Harmonic response | code_aster | Frequency sweep against a periodic load |
| Transient dynamics | code_aster | Implicit time integration |
| Rotordynamics | code_aster | Campbell diagrams, gyroscopic effects |
| Seismic / spectral | code_aster | Response spectrum and seismic analysis |
Thermal stress
A temperature field driving a mechanical one, one-way, inside a single solver. Distinct from the Thermal module, which solves the field itself.
| Analysis type | Backend | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Thermal stress | code_aster | Thermal field to mechanical, one-way |
| Welding / residual stress | code_aster | Thermo-metallurgical-mechanical |
Durability and failure
Fatigue is not a solver integration. It is rainflow counting and S-N/Miner arithmetic on a stress result we already have, which makes it the highest value per unit of work in this table.
| Analysis type | Backend | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Fatigue | our own post-processing | Rainflow counting, S-N and Miner from a stress result |
| Fracture mechanics | code_aster | J-integral, X-FEM crack propagation |
| Creep | code_aster | Time-dependent deformation under sustained load |
| Damage | code_aster | Progressive material degradation |
Materials and media
Where code_aster earns its place: constitutive models most structural codes do not carry.
| Analysis type | Backend | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Composite laminates | code_aster | Layered shells and ply-by-ply failure criteria |
| Geomechanics / soil-structure | code_aster | Porous media and soil constitutive models |
What you would use it for
Written as questions because that is how the work arrives. Nobody sets out to run a modal analysis; they set out to find whether the thing will resonate.
Will this bracket take the load?
Linear static gives stress and deflection in one run. If it yields anywhere, nonlinear static tells you whether it redistributes or collapses.
Will it resonate in service?
Modal gives the natural frequencies and their mode shapes. Compare them against your excitation before you build anything.
How long until it cracks?
Fatigue post-processing runs rainflow counting and Miner's rule over a stress result you already have — no second solve.
Does the joint hold when it is not glued?
Contact with friction, surface to surface, rather than the bonded assumption that quietly makes every assembly stiffer than it is.
Will the column buckle before it yields?
Linear eigenvalue buckling gives the critical load; nonlinear post-buckling tells you what happens after.
Who asks these questions
- Mechanical and product design
- Pressure equipment
- Civil and structural
- Energy and power
- Automotive
- Aerospace and defence
- Marine and offshore
- Rail
Sectors where this analysis is routine — not a claim that we have customers in them.
How to get it
Add FEA on the pricing page, choose named or floating seats, and the same licence unlocks local solving, paid-tier scale and eligible SHD Cloud workflows for this module.