Stress analysis services for parts, frames and assemblies
Linear static and contact FEA that shows where your design is most highly stressed, how far it deflects and how load passes through its joints, so material goes where it does useful work.
Most structural decisions come down to three questions: is it strong enough, is it stiff enough, and is there material that could come out. Textbook formulas cover simple beams and plates. Real parts have fillets, holes, ribs, welds and fixings, and the stress that decides whether they survive is usually at one of those features.
More about stress analysis
Linear static stress analysis applies the loads your product sees, such as weight, pressure, lifting, operator forces or the reaction from a mating part, and predicts stress, strain and deflection throughout the model. It assumes the material stays elastic and the deflections stay small, which holds for most parts in normal service. For assemblies, contact between components shows how load shares across bolts, pins and bearing faces, where joints open under load and how much each connection really carries.
Results are set against the material’s yield or proof strength, with the factor of safety your design code or customer requires. F-CAD®’s engineers design for manufacture every day, so the report says what to change: a fillet radius, a wall thickness, a rib position or a different grade.
Typical work: machine frames and guards, brackets and mounts, lifting points and lugs, chassis and subframes, pressure-retaining housings, castings and structural mouldings.
What a stress analysis answers
Is it strong enough?
Peak von Mises and principal stresses for each load case, set against yield or proof strength, with the factor of safety stated.
How far will it deflect?
Displacement under load, for parts where alignment, clearance or feel matters as much as strength.
How stiff is it?
Stiffness in N/mm or N m/rad at the points that matter, so frames, brackets and mounts can be compared directly.
What do the bolts and pins actually carry?
Bolt forces with preload, joint separation and slip, pin shear and bearing stress, fixing by fixing, since load rarely shares out evenly.
Where can material come out?
Low-stress regions where a wall or section can be reduced, cutting weight and cost without pushing the peak stress past its limit.
Which load case governs?
Results for every case you specify, showing which one sizes each feature of the design.
What we analyse
Linear static stress
Stress, strain and deflection under steady loads for machined, cast, fabricated and moulded parts.
Contact
Bonded, sliding and frictional contact between parts, with contact pressure and the area actually in contact.
Bolted joints
Preload, external load, joint separation and slip, with axial and bending stress in the fasteners themselves.
Pinned and clevis joints
Pin bending and shear, lug bearing stress and the load path around the hole.
Welded and fabricated structures
Frames and weldments, with stresses at the welds extracted for assessment against the code or standard you specify.
Assemblies
Multi-part models that follow the load path across components, so a weak link is found in the context of the parts around it.
Multiple load cases
Lifting, transport, operation and overload assessed together, with the governing case identified for each region.
Before you start
What to send us
- CAD of the part or assembly (STEP or native)
- Loads for each case and where they act: forces, pressures, accelerations
- How it is supported, and which parts are bolted, pinned or welded
- Material grades, and any heat treatment that affects strength
- Required factor of safety, and the code or standard you specify
- Deflection or stiffness limits, if any
Is contact analysis still linear?
Strictly, no. Contact that opens, closes or slides makes the problem non-linear, but with small deflections and elastic materials it is solved as part of a static stress study. Large deformation or yielding moves it into non-linear analysis.
What if the stress exceeds yield in a small area?
A linear result above yield shows that the material will yield locally, but not by how much. Whether that is acceptable depends on the material, the load and whether it repeats, and non-linear or fatigue analysis answers that properly.
Can you assess welds?
Yes. Stresses at welded joints are extracted and assessed against the code or standard you specify, and weld size or position is revised where the margin is short.
Do you need the whole assembly?
Only the parts that carry or influence the load. Neighbouring components can often be represented by their stiffness or by a support, which keeps the model focused on the question.
Do you report von Mises or principal stress?
Whichever suits the material. Von Mises stress predicts yield in ductile metals; maximum principal stress is the better measure for brittle materials such as grey cast iron, glass and ceramics.
Send us the part you are unsure of
