UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME
Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering
ME/AE 446
Finite Element Methods in Structural Analysis
Portfolio Project #1 - 3-D trusses
The specific application for this study will be selected by the student. The goal of the project is to
develop experience in problem formulation, execution and documentation of a case study in
structural analysis. Its purpose is to develop a problem and associated "solution" which can be
used to demonstrate the suitability and accuracy of a specific class of finite element analysis
methods.
The documentation must include:
- Problem Description
- detail the purpose and any special considerations
- FEM formulation - describe with adequate detail the
- loading conditions
- boundary conditions
- geometry
- material properties
- Numerical Results
- concise presentation of the results of the analysis
- Validation of Numerical Results
- discussion and presentation of methods used to evaluate and validate the results
Format for this presentation is left to the student's discretion but it should be such that someone else could duplicate or verify all results.