Education & Dissemination (E&D):

A Proposed User Survey and Possible Approaches to Reducing Barriers to the Effective Use of FEA in Industry

Following on from the Copenhagen workshop, where the various barriers to the effective use of finite element analysis were identified and discussed, this second workshop considered methods of reducing some of these barriers.

It was agreed at the Copenhagen workshop that a questionaire be prepared to enable the views of a much wider representative section of users to be established, given the key importance of this issue to the FENET community.

The design of a web-based questionaire was discussed and  a preliminary survey of the views of FENET members, using the questionaire, was made available for examination.

Topics examined during the workshops will be wide-ranging and will include:

• a review of some recent software developments to provide new functionality, improved ease of use, support for casual users and designers
• training initiatives to improve uptake of analysis tools, including web-based initiatives

It was clear from the Copenhagen meeting that two issues in particular present barriers across a number of business sectors:

• the integration of the analysis and simulation function into the wider business enterprise
• materials modelling and data

A preliminary examination of these issues will made, although it is likely that both will form the basis of subsequent workshops.

Workshop Chairman

Dr. Jim Wood (University of Strathclyde - United Kingdom)

Presentations for Download

Introduction
J. Wood (University of Strathclyde - United Kingdom) - Chair

A Space Industry Perspective on the Integration of CAD and CAE
Hans-Peter de Koning (European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC) - The Netherlands)

Material Properties for Fire Response Analysis
Chris Rogers (CREA Consultants Ltd. - United Kingdom)

The Lack of Material Data for FEA from an Automotive Suppliers Viewpoint
Dagmar Links (BEHR GmbH - Germany)

Web-based Learning for Simulation: Status, Barriers and Opportunities
Tom Kenny (NAFEMS Ltd. - United Kingdom)

Overview of Barriers Questionnaire
Jim Wood (University of Strathclyde - United Kingdom); Nigel Knowles (WS Atkins - United Kingdom)