Hello everyone!
My name is Daniel Sá, and I will be your instructor for this Finite Element Analysis for Marine Structures course. I’m a Naval Architect with almost 20 years of experience in numerical simulation.
Why Finite Element Analysis? Finite element analysis has become a must for structural engineering, heat transfer, fluid flow, sea-keeping, and electromagnetics.
This course covers both the theoretical and practical aspects of finite element analysis.
In the theoretical section, we will cover the resistance and elasticity of materials, the beam-ship model and the initial scantling of hull structures, the different types of elements in the hull, and some of the aspects of the finite element theory (transfer functions, the different element types, etc.).
We will also cover how definite element methodology is coded into software: how the data is input, how it is processed, how the different boundary conditions, loads, etc., are assembled in the system matrix, and how that system is solved by means of different types of numerical solvers and how the code is able to output the solutions.
What about the practical lessons? In the practical lessons, you will learn how to install and work with a finite element software and how to import, prepare, repair, and clean 3D models, which we will use to analyze the structure. You will also learn how to apply local axes, interpret and apply boundary conditions correctly, apply loads, assign materials, generate correct meshes, assign sizes, and refine the meshes so that we can find a stable solution. We’ll also review how to calculate, how to post-process results, how to interpret the different results, and how to be able to extract them and use them in a compliant professional report.
The goal of the course is that after completing it, you will be able to analyze and verify with finite elements a marine structure but also any other structure.
For the practical part of the course, we will use a commercial software developed by Compass. You, as students, will receive free educational licenses. All of the concepts we will show in this course can be applied to another generic finite element code or commercial software.
At the end of the course, there will be a final project where you will be able to apply all the knowledge to verify the structure of a planning motorboat. Additionally, during the course, you will see that the different examples apply to a planning motorboat and a bulk carrier.
This course focuses on static and linear analysis. We plan to develop another extension involving nonlinear materials, nonlinear boundary conditions, large movements, and dynamic loads.
Who is this course for? Naval Architects, Marine Engineers, Civil Engineers, Architects, and anyone involved with structural analysis. The course focuses on marine structures, but the concepts can be applied to any other type of structure. It will also benefit students, researchers, Ph. D.s, and professors looking to transfer this knowledge to their students.
I hope you are as excited as I am. I really look forward to meeting you in the course.