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  • About
    • Who We Are
    • Partners & Providers
    • News & Events
    • The ESRD Blog
    • Careers
    • Contact Us
  • Applications
    • What We Solve
    • Detailed Stress
    • Composites
    • Fracture Mechanics
    • Residual Stress
    • Sim Apps
  • Products
    • What We Develop
    • StressCheck Professional
      • StressCheck Core
      • Solvers
      • Advanced Modules
      • Utilities
      • Academic Licensing
    • StressCheck Apps
      • CAE Handbook
      • StressCheck Tool Box
    • Product Updates
  • Support
    • How We Can Help
    • Training
    • Webinars
    • Quick Start Guide
    • Help Documentation
    • Software FAQ’s
  • Simulation
    • How We Simulate
    • Benchmarks
    • Simulation Governance
    • History of FEA
    • Dictionary & Terms
  • Resources
    • Browse Our Resource Library
    • White Papers
    • Case Studies
    • Product Demos
    • StressCheck Tutorials

Quick Start Guide

Home SupportQuick Start Guide

Quick Start Guide

Getting started with StressCheck products not only includes learning an intuitive GUI layout, an hierarchic solver implementation and advanced live results processing features, but also grasping how (and why) ESRD’s unique approach to numerical simulation differs from traditional finite element modeling practices. With the steps outlined in the following Quick Start Guide, you’ll be well on your way to becoming a StressCheck expert.

Are you or your team interested in a formal StressCheck training course to speed up the onboarding process? Visit our Training page to learn more about the available StressCheck training options.

Let’s get started with StressCheck Professional.

Recommended Actions & Resources

The following tabs provide an intuitive sequence of actions, tips, demos and links that will lead you to becoming productive and successful with StressCheck Professional sooner than later.

  • Member Registration
  • Software Download
  • Software Setup
  • Basic Tutorials
  • Online Resources

Member Registration

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.

  • What is my current membership level?

Please use your professional e-mail address during registration to ensure prompt approval of Customer, Software Downloader or Trial Evaluator memberships.

Software Download

Download the appropriate ESRD software product:

  • StressCheck Professional
  • CAE Handbook
  • StressCheck Tool Box

You must have Software Downloader or Trial Evaluator membership to download software products.

Software Setup

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.

  • Get Local Machine (Disk ID) or License Server (HOST ID) Details

Floating License Model? You'll Need FlexNet Publisher

ESRD software products use Revenera’s FlexNet Publisher v11.19.5 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.

  • How to Set Up a FlexNet License Server

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.

  • Specify License File or License Server

Having Issues?

  • Installation & Licensing Tips
  • Troubleshooting & FAQ’s

You must have Customer, Software Downloader or Trial Evaluator membership to request ESRD Support and access restricted FAQ’s.

Basic Tutorials

To get started with StressCheck products, we recommend first watching this 10-minute “StressCheck User Interface Walkthrough” video. It will provide the basics of key GUI elements and software navigation:

Then, watch a 10-minute video of the practical tutorial outlined in the StressCheck v12 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:

Online Resources

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.

Need Additional Support?

Please let us know if you are having any difficulties with StressCheck Professional installation, licensing or software usage by completing our Request for ESRD Support form.

Note: you must have a Customer membership level to request ESRD Support. Request ESRD Membership Upgrade.

Terms & Conditions
ESRD Support is comprised of software maintenance, enhancements, and technical support as outlined in the Software Maintenance & Technical Support (SM&TS) terms and conditions.Learn More

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Have a Software Question, Issue or Feature Request?

Recent News & Events

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  • Beyond the Black Box: Explainable AI Requires Explainable Simulation
  • Turtle Shells and Legacy Finite Element Codes: Evolutionary Constraints in the Age of Explainable AI

Quick Links

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Testimonials

  • The software provides a highly reliable and user-friendly production stress analysis tool that will replace the Finite Element Method (FEM) tools and failure criteria the experts currently employ for analyzing bonded joints. The software includes an FEM-based handbook format, which allows non-experts to utilize models prepared by specialists. The handbook problems include built-in failure criteria, geometric and material nonlinearities, and the modern FEM technology provides better error control and the treatment of very large aspect ratios.”

    Dr. Stephen P. Engelstad
    Technical Fellow, Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company, Structural Methods and Analysis

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

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