South Eastern Applied Materials

Research Centre

Using Finite Element Analysis

In Industrial Research
 Presentation Outline

• Introduction to SEAM
• Cost of Design and Development
• Finite Element Analysis Introduction
• Various Application Examples
• Some typical case studies.
 Who we are....
• SEAM is a materials science and engineering research centre, which acts both in
industrial and academic spheres, with the aim of bridging the gap between
academia and industry.
• SEAM aims to be highly customer focused; serving a wide range of industrial
sectors in the south eastern region and throughout Ireland.
• SEAM’s goal lies in becoming an integral part of the R & D activities of
multinational companies based in Ireland, as well as aiding Small-Medium Sized
Enterprises in their transition from a purely manufacturing base into the realm of
research and development.
• SEAM will have a strong research focus and develop independent research
initiatives which have a strong commercial focus.

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Industrial Sectors Served
• Broad range of Industrial sectors
served with a high degree of
expertise in the Precision
Engineering and Medical Device
sectors.
• SEAMs guiding ethic is to provide
companies in Ireland with the edge
required to be successful.
• Serves over 85 different clients
across the country.
• SEAM is highly proficient in
obtaining funding for industrial
collaborations and development
projects.
• SEAM is skilled in the arts of failure
analysis and product design
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optimisation for industry.
 Specialist Technologies Provided

Micro-sectional Surface Roughness

X-ray Micro-tomography Finite Element
Analysis Analysis Analysis

Tensile and Development of Custom

SEM Inspection
Material Testing Failure Analysis
Solutions for Industry

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 Clients
• Since its launch in 2009 SEAM’s
client base has grown from
strength to strength.
• Clients include SMEs, indigenous
companies, as well as large
multinationals.
• SEAM provides access to cutting
edge equipment and expertise to
these clients.
• The fact that we are based within
the country makes it very easy for
customers to approach and
discuss projects, results, and
obtain advice from SEAM. This
point has added to the popularity
of SEAM as a supplier of industry
solutions.
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• We are always ready to help!
Product Development Costs
Product Development Costs Overview
FEA Driven Conventional
Money + Development Development

Profit Line
Time

Money -
 The Ideal Development Path
Develop Build
Design Prototype It works!

Idea!

This is the ideal design pathway but it can have inherent costs:
•Greater likelihood that components are over designed.
•Extra cost through unnecessary material use.
•Overdesign may hide fatigue failures from standard test
methods.
In the real world things are rarely this easy!
 A More Likely Development Path

Develop Build Prototype fails.

Design Prototype Why?
Test
Eventually

Idea! This is a Establish source

of failure
costly
cycle!

Redesign
 A Virtual Design Route
Develop Build and test Build prototype
design using virtual prototype and test
CAD tools

Idea! This is a much Assess results

more cost
effective route!

Redesign
and optimise

This yields a design with the following advantages:

•Overall better design.
•Higher quality and reliability.
•Much more cost effective development.
•Safer when branching into new areas.
 The Cost of Design Failure

• Failures in service are often due to

a combination of forces.
• Forces that the prototype testing
was unable to effectively analyse.
• Such failures are very costly in
terms of financial cost but also of
loss of customer faith.

Tacoma Narrows Bridge failure

Image courtesy of Bettmann / Corbis
 What is finite element analysis, FEA?
• The Finite Element Method is a
numerical technique for finding the
solutions to partial differential
equations and integral equations.
• It is simpler to say it divides a system
or component into discrete points,
applies known boundary conditions,
material data, and calculates the
system response.
• It allows the detailed modelling of
complex systems and components
with a greatly reduced need for
prototyping.
Image Courtesy of Siemens Femap
Rocker Component Example

Component

Model development Stress analysis

Images courtesy of engineering by design
 Biomedical Areas of Application

Stress Analysis of Tablet Compaction

Wu et al 2005
Inhaler Airways Analysis
Image Courtesy of Anne de Boer, University of Groningen

Impact analysis Artery after Stent Inflation

Courtesy Virginia Military Institute.
 Structural FEA

Gasket compression analysis Compression of a rubber component

Nonlinear buckling of a stiffened vessel

Above images courtesy of ANSYS
Stress analysis of Meshing gears
Above images courtesy of
Paul Nylander
 Thermal

Thermal Distribution in a Cylinder head

Thermal Distribution in a circuit Board Image courtesy of Vectis
Image courtesy of Mentor Graphics Mechanical Analysis

Thermal distribution in a heat sink

Image courtesy of neisoftware
Thermal Distribution in an manifold
Image Courtesy of BorgWarner Turbo & Emission Systems
 Computational Fluid Dynamics

Air flow in an electronics module

Fluid flow through a Mixing of fuel and air

cardiovascular valve in a engine cylinder

Images courtesy of ANSYS and Conventor

Fluid flow in a
microfluidic device
 Application Examples

Fatigue Analysis of Pump Housing.

Determining the life cycle of a pump housing using FEA

Pump from a chemical processing plant, designed to run with an internal pressure
range of 2-7 Mpa. This resulted in a stress concentration in a support rib that could
lead to failure in fatigue. Pump is made from 316L stainless steel
Original Design and Estimated Fatigue Life
Case
Case02
01Pressure
Pressure1.5-4
2-7 MPa
MPa
Estimated Fatigue Life for Original and Optimised
Design

In order to increase the service life of the pump without sourcing a new one the system
pressures were reduced leading to a marked increase in service life.
Mohammad et al., Fatigue Life for Type 316L Stainless Steel under Cyclic Loading, Advanced Materials Research Vol. 701 (2013) pp 77-81
 Conclusions
• Design can be a costly business!
• Finite element analysis is a powerful design tool.
• It facilitates design optimisation at an economic cost.
• It also provides enhanced reliability and quality in products.
 Questions?

Flow field around an F1 car. Image courtesy of Voxdale.

South Eastern Applied Materials Research Centre
Applied Technology Building
Waterford Institute of Technology
Waterford

Contact
Dr. Ramesh Raghavendra
Centre Manager
Ph: 051-845648
Fax: 051-302452
Email: rraghavendra@wit.ie
Website www.SEAM.ie

Eoghan O’Donoghue
Development and Research Engineer
Ph: 051-845649
Email: ewodonoghue@wit.ie