Serving the Numerical Simulation community since 1989
ESRD’s flagship software product, StressCheck®, is an advanced FEA tool having numerous unique technical capabilities and inherent structure to support verification and validation (V & V).
Our Simulation Technology
It is the first and so far only FEA software product designed to support Simulation Governance and V & V.
FEA + Simulation Governance = Verifiable Solutions
We take V&V and Simulation Governance seriously.
Our verifiable solutions are made possible by implementing the requirements of Simulation Governance. Simulation Governance controls and standardizes the simulation process much like Corporate Governance controls and standardizes the functioning of a corporation.
The yardstick that measures successful implementation of Simulation Governance is validation of the model and verification of the solution. As these terms can be misused in practice, the Dictionary & Terms glossary was developed to help us speak the same technical language.
Our Approach to Numerical Simulation
StressCheck®‘s Simulation Technology, or Sim Tech, is based on higher-order hierarchic finite element technology, the result of decades of R&D on numerical simulation advancements.
StressCheck®‘s engine has inherent differentiators which support verification and validation of FEA solutions.
We keep our element library simple, our solutions hierarchic and our post-processing unrestricted.
How We Benchmark
How can you tell if your current FEA code can guarantee reliability? If you submit a result to management and you can tell them that the margin of error for your prediction is within, say, 2% and you can back it up, then you are using a code that guarantees reliability.
Without verification, benchmarking is moot. We only benchmark with verified FEA results.
Learn MoreWhat Powers Our Simulation Technology
StressCheck® Professional is based on the p-version finite element method. Because the p-version is a more comprehensive implementation of the finite element method than the more traditional h-version, StressCheck® Professional can be operated in both the “h-mode” (least efficient) and “hp-mode” (most efficient).
Additionally, higher-order (p-version) FEA converges at least twice as fast as the lower-order (h-version, what other FEA codes typically have). Use fewer degrees of freedom to get higher solution quality. But it gets even better: with proper meshing the error of approximation decreases exponentially. A problem that takes hours to solve with a traditional h-code will only take minutes with StressCheck®.
Also, StressCheck® is the only FEA program in existence today which was designed for controlling both the errors of discretization and idealization.
- The errors of discretization are the errors controllable by the finite element mesh and the polynomial degree (h- or p-extensions).
- The errors of idealization are the errors associated with the restrictions incorporated in mathematical model.
This allows StressCheck® to support numerical simulation like no other FEA product.
Key Benefits of Our Simulation Technology
The following are tenants upon which StressCheck®‘s implementation is built, and the benefits that its implementation unlocks.
With StressCheck® the analyst typically creates one mesh, clicks a button to run an automatic sequence of solutions of increasing polynomial orders, and uses StressCheck's built-in quality assurance tools to effortlessly check for converged displacements, stresses, strains, stress intensity factors, etc. Why make it harder than it needs to be to verify that your results are of acceptable quality? In this way, analysts can focus on finding the correct model without uncertainty about the quality of the FEA approximation.
StressCheck® treats the attributes of the element separately from the topology of the element unlike any other FEA code in the industry. Switching between heat transfer and elasticity, or between linear and nonlinear elasticity, for example, does not require changing elements or remeshing. That’s what we call a true hierarchic modeling framework.
With this hierarchic modeling framework in place, our formula is simple: 1 Model + 1 Mesh + 1 Mapping + 3 Hierarchic Solutions = Verifiable FEA Results
The proper application of numerical simulation procedures requires subject expertise and expertise in computational engineering that are not common or readily available. However, it is possible to leverage both kinds of expertise through standardization of recurring analysis tasks just like handbooks and manuals have provided the expertise of specialists in applied mechanics to mechanical, aerospace, and structural engineers for decades.
The essential difference is that classical handbooks present results for parameterized problems solved by classical or empirical methods, whereas standardized CAE Handbook procedures rely on verified FEA solutions of parameterized models. This allows standardization of models that are of much greater complexity and focus to be treated as entries in a parameterized electronic handbook with greater confidence.
Need More Information About Our Simulation Technology?
Click below for FAQ’s and Selected References about our Simulation Technology, Numerical Simulation, Finite Element Modeling, Mathematical Modeling, Simulation Governance and more.
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