Getting started with StressCheck® products not only includes learning a powerful GUI, hierarchic solvers and advanced live results processing features, but subscribing to numerical simulation and unsubscribing from finite element modeling practices.
Getting Started
You're on your way to S.A.F.E.R. Simulation

In order to get started with StressCheck® or other ESRD software products, you must first register for an ESRD membership. We will review your registration based on your organization’s SM&TS contract status (if identifiable) and assign you an appropriate membership level.
Please use your professional e-mail address during registration to ensure prompt approval of Customer, Software Downloader or Trial Evaluator memberships.
Download the appropriate ESRD software product:
You must have Software Downloader or Trial Evaluator membership to download software products.
Install the ESRD software product, and then provide ESRD Support with the local machine OR license server details. Once the license request is received and processed, we will generate your license and e-mail it to you in the form of a .dat file. You can then setup the software to run on client machines.
Get Disk or HOST ID and Send to ESRD Support
There are two types of licensing models: Node-Locked (single user) or Floating (concurrent users with a license server connection). Determine the appropriate licensing model for your organization and then obtain the Disk or HOST ID.
Floating License Model? You'll Need FlexNet Publisher
ESRD software products use FlexNet Publisher v11.17 for license administration, so it may be necessary to set up (or modify an existing) FlexNet license server if you have a floating (concurrent) license model.
On Startup
When ESRD software products are started for the first time, they ask to point to either a copy of the license file OR a server name and port number. Either option is acceptable for the floating (concurrent) license model.
Having Issues?
You must have Customer, Software Downloader or Trial Evaluator membership to request ESRD Support and access restricted FAQ’s.
To get started with StressCheck® products, we recommend first watching this 9 minute “StressCheck® User Interface Walkthrough” video. It will provide the basics of key GUI elements and software navigation:
Next, watch a 13-minute video describing the improvements and updates to the StressCheck® v11 graphical user interface (GUI) experience, including extensive layout customization features, lockscreens for loading/saving/solution progress, a semi-automatic file upgrade utility, and general workflow guidelines.
Then, watch a 12-minute video of the practical tutorial outlined in the StressCheck® v11 Getting Started Guide. This video will provide the basics of performing a 3D elasticity analysis with StressCheck®, including 3D solid geometry importation, automeshing, materials & boundary conditions, linear p-extensions and “live” dynamic results processing:
More resources for getting started with StressCheck® Professional’s usage, features and applications may be found in the following links:
- For an overview of the StressCheck® GUI layout, features and workflows, refer to the StressCheck® Professional Getting Started Guide.
- For the full StressCheck® documentation, refer to our StressCheck® Documentation.
- For a playlist of helpful e-Learning tutorial videos, refer to Getting Started with StressCheck®: e-Learning Video Showcase.
- For a broad list of foundational StressCheck® topics, visit the StressCheck® Basics section of our Resource Library.
- For StressCheck® software FAQ’s, refer to our Software FAQ’s knowledge base.
You must have Customer, Software Downloader or Trial Evaluator membership to access StressCheck® documentation, tutorials and other restricted resources.
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Testimonials
“The p-type element has been used to great advantage in the finite element system ESRD StressCheck®, [26]. This software provides the engineer with the means to conduct solution verification in an extremely straightforward manner by simply increasing the degree of the element, monitoring convergence and using Richardson extrapolation reliably to estimate the error. This can be conducted automatically by the software thereby enabling the engineer to concentrate on the engineering rather than the simulation. StressCheck® has also been used to develop ESRD’s Handbook and Toolbox applications. The first of these provides engineers with a repository of parameterised standard problems of the type found in texts like Roark’s “Formulas for Stress and Strain”, [27]. The second, Toolbox, is a tool that can be used to parameterise a company’s range of components for rapid and reliable analysis by non-expert analysis. Toolbox then is an exemplary of the way in which the democratisation of simulation can be applied.”
Angus Ramsay, PhD
Engineering Director, Ramsay Maunder Associates