Loads

Applying the right loads to your FEA model is critical to build an accurate simulation. Any load application consists of four components: (1) the magnitude, (2) the orientation, (3) the distribution and (4) the time dependency. The orientation and distribution of the load are often easily understood, but its magnitude is difficult to quantify. Sometimes it’s the opposite and you will need to do iterative testing to determine the magnitude of the load in a complex assembly. A free body diagram helps a lot here to determine the initial loading on a component or assembly.