StressCheck


StressCheck is a finite element analysis software product developed and supported by ESRD, Inc. of St. Louis, Missouri. It is one of the first commercially available FEA products to utilize the p-version of the finite element method and support the requirements of Simulation Governance.

History

Development of StressCheck software began shortly after the founding in 1989 of ESRD, Inc. by Dr. Barna Szabó, Dr. Ivo Babuška, and Mr. Kent Myers. The principals have been performing research and development related to p-version finite element analysis for more than 20 years. Close ties to the Washington University Center for Computational Mechanics facilitates incorporation of the latest research results into StressCheck.

Capabilities

StressCheck is a complete 3D finite element analysis tool with an integrated pre- and post-processor, a suite of analysis modules supporting advanced solutions in elasticity and heat transfer, and utility modules that offer functionality to import CAD models and perform 2D and 3D automatic meshing. Below is an abbreviated summary of current analysis modules and general capabilities.

Pre-Processing

StressCheck uses the p-version of the finite element method. The utilization of the p-version in finite element analysis was pioneered by Dr. Barna Szabó during his tenure at Washington University in St. Louis. The p-version finite element method spans a space of high order polynomials by nodeless basis functions, chosen approximately orthogonal for numerical stability. Since not all interior basis functions need to be present, the p-version finite element method can create a space that contains all polynomials up to a given degree with many fewer degrees of freedom.
In practice, the name p-version means that accuracy is increased by increasing the order of the approximating polynomials rather than decreasing the mesh size, h. Thus, to check for solution convergence by increasing the number of degrees of freedom in a given model, the shape function polynomial level is increased rather than remeshing with more elements, which is the standard FEA tool method. In StressCheck the maximum p-level is set to eight.

Application

StressCheck is used in a variety of industries, notably aerospace, and for a range of applications such as aircraft damage tolerance assessment and analysis of composite materials for which high order elements are particularly useful.