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    British Aerospace PLC Military Aircraft Division

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    British Aerospace PLC Military Aircraft Division

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    Rizwan
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    978-3-662-21626-2_61

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    19 views2 pages

    British Aerospace PLC Military Aircraft Division

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    759

    Expert Aids to Finite Element System Applications


    Ian C. Taig
    British Aerospace plc Military Aircraft Division

    SUMMARY

    Finite element analysis computer systems are available to many


    users who have little knowledge of the underlying theory.
    Expert systems can be developed to assist such users to model
    their problems and interpret their results properly. The
    FEASA project evolved a prototype system which shed light on
    the potential of such systems and the methods available to
    develop them. Indications are given of future developments
    and their integration with conventional pre- and post-
    processor systems.

    THE DOMAIN: THE ENGINEERING APPLICATIONS

    Finite element analysis methods are among the most widely


    available and universally used computer systems. A single
    software package can solve almost any structural analysis
    problem from the stress distribution in a single bolt to the
    strength and stability of an aircraft wing or the survivability
    of buildings and structures during an earthquake. To cope
    with such a wide range of problems, the systems are necessarily
    complex and possess a wide variety of options for representing
    structures, modelling the loading and other external conditions
    and formulating and solving the relevant equations. Pre- and
    post- processor systems, often linked to graphics - based
    computer - aided design, make it relatively simple to prepare
    the input data and interpret the results. However, despite
    the relative ease of handling the "mechanics" of the system, a
    major problem exists in assuring that the analysis properly
    represents the physical problem: the inexpert user can perform
    analyses which, at best, are vastly expensive and, at worst,
    disastrously misleading. Two kinds of expert system can help
    to avoid serious misuse.

    D. Sriram et al. (eds.), Applications of Artificial Intelligence in Engineering Problems


    © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 1986
    760

    Intelligent front end systems


    The user of a finite element system such as MSC-NASTRAN
    (MacNeal Schwendler Corporation) must be able to find the
    particular program facilities, data entry procedures and solu-
    tion methods which are appropriate. The documentation of the
    system may run to 10 or 12 volumes and up to 10,000 pages, of
    which something like one quarter may be directly relevant at
    any one time. An intelligent front end system starts from a
    user's broad description of a finite element analysis and
    guides him/her to the appropriate facilities and data entry
    methods. It may also assist in the selection of solution
    methods and the preparation of formal instructions to
    implement them.

    The first known finite element expert system, SACON (Bennett


    et al, 78) tackled solution method selection and more recent
    systems such as NASCON (Corlett et al, 84) address the much
    wider problem.

    Specification and modelling aids


    The foregoing systems help the user who already knows, in some
    detail, how to represent the physical problem in appropriate
    finite element terms. A second type of expert system helps
    the user to identify salient features of the real-world
    physical problem and guides him/her in the important modelling
    decisions such as choice of suitable representation of, say,
    a shell structure (membrane, facet plate or curved shell;
    mathematical refinement; type of symmetry), representation of
    joints and sub-scale physical features, mesh density and local
    refinement or application of physical constraints.

    This paper describes the development and status of the first


    known expert system of this type, FEASA (Finite Element
    Analysis Specification Aid). It records experiences gained
    during development of the system and points to a wider range
    of systems spanning both categories, which can be developed to
    interface directly with (and ultimately to be subsumed into)
    conventional graphics pre- and post- processors.

    FEASA - A PROTOTYPE EXPERT SYSTEM

    As the compiler of NAFEMS' Guidelines to Finite Element


    Practice (Taig 84) and a member of B.Ae's management team
    setting up a Knowledge-based Systems function, the writer
    conceived the FEASA project as a natural candidate for
    exploring some aspects of expert systems technology and
    satisfying a widespread need. The project has 3 main aims:-

    Develop a prototype expert system and evaluate it, both as


    a user aid in its own right and as a pointer to a family of
    similar systems.

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