Take Your NASTRAN Simulation Skills to the Next Level
Uncover the key strategies for accurately sharing and refining your simulation results in both Linear Static and Non-Linear Static scenarios with our expert guidance.
Autodesk Inventor NASTRAN offers a wide range of simulation capabilities, from Linear Statics and Non-Linear Static to frequency response, thermal stress, and impact/drop testing. Users can analyze composite materials, assembly modeling, nonlinear transient heat transfer, and much more. One of the most critical aspects of using NASTRAN effectively is understanding how to evaluate and refine your results post-analysis.
The Finite Element Analysis (FEA) process begins with defining your geometry, applying materials, meshing the model, setting up boundary conditions, and running simulations. However, once you have results, the real work begins—interpreting and refining them for accuracy.
One of the most common misconceptions is assuming that red areas in a von Mises stress plot indicate failure. In reality, red signifies the highest calculated value relative to the rest of the model, not necessarily structural failure. To determine whether a part will fail, you must compare stress values to the material’s yield strength and safety factors.
A critical part of achieving reliable results is mesh refinement. Starting with an initial coarse mesh and gradually refining it helps identify stress concentrations without introducing artificial stress risers. The goal is to reach a point where further refinements result in minimal changes to stress values, indicating convergence.
Users can apply local mesh controls to focus refinements only on areas of interest, reducing processing time while maintaining accuracy. The convergence process ensures that results are consistent and not affected by arbitrary mesh density changes.
In cases where large displacements occur, such as analyzing thin-walled structures like tanks, nonlinear static analysis is necessary. Unlike linear static analysis, which assumes small deformations, nonlinear analysis accounts for real-world material behavior under load.
NASTRAN allows users to break a load scenario into multiple increments, helping pinpoint exactly when failure occurs. By analyzing these intermediate outputs, users can make data-driven design decisions before prototyping, reducing costly physical testing.
By refining mesh quality, using nonlinear analysis when necessary, and ensuring materials are accurately defined, engineers can use NASTRAN to predict product behavior with high confidence. The key takeaway? One simulation isn’t enough—iterative testing and refinement are necessary to make informed engineering decisions.