Finite Element Analysis

Rockfield Technologies Australia has core skills in the conduct of Finite Element Analysis (FEA). Our professional service allows clients to understand complex relationships between different materials under a variety of loads and duty cycles, providing accurate results without the high costs and time associated with physical testing. FEA is a suitable tool that supports our industry based services in certified engineering design, fatigue analysis and investigative engineering. Rockfield?s FEA skills are appropriate for solving complex and challenging problems for industry in the areas of:

  • Machines and Structures
  • Mining and Predictive Geological Studies
  •  Manufacturing 
 Rockfield's finite element software is compatible with a range of CAD software packages, allowing fast model construction times and ease of results analysis. Combined with our engineers' advanced practical and analytical skills, this allow the development and application of suitable load cases, boundary conditions, constitutive equations, models and material properties; providing clients with a suitably predicted stress/strain result in accordance with expected operational conditions. Rockfield has developed skills in the application of FEA to the following areas:  

Machines and Structures. An accurate means to simulate the operational performance of machine and structural assets of unlimited geometric complexity. Our software allows modelling to ascertain the effects of a current design or proposed modifications prior to implementation. Rockfield's FEA also supports our fatigue life analysis of both small and large structures and components. Some example applications include; pressure vessels, transport assets, structures (steel, concrete, masonry, composite), all machine components (i.e. steel, aluminium, copper etc), rubber materials, prototype designs, critical plant and design optimisation testing. 

Grizzly Screen Analysis        Complex Structral Joints    Bridge Analysis

Manufacture. Rockfield has played an important support role for many companies in the design and production of various products, ranging from plastic bottles to composite railway fasteners. With customised ELFEN software for glass, plastic and metal container forming, coupled with unrivalled expertise in simulation of hyper-elastic materials (i.e. rubbers, gums, etc),  RTA is the number one industry choice for analysis of: forming; injection; recycling; moulds, punches and dies; and rubber and vulcanised components. RTA can provide an insight into the residual stress that develops as a result of the manufacturing process, together with identifying inefficient areas of a process to improve product reliability. 

Finite Element Analysis of Truck Body Designs

Mining and Predictive Geological Studies. RTA provides FEA for both above and below ground mining and geological applications. Applications include; caving, slope stability, the resistance to collapse of underground cavities, integrity of rock bolts, predictive large scale ground movement and shaft stability. Rockfield's advantage in this area stems from the wide range of constitutive models available in the ELFEN finite element suite, coupled with advanced superior mesh adaptivity schemes for large strain deformation and in particular strain localisation problems.