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Modern technologies are available to meet these tough demands
Many companies use advanced finite element analysis to calculate design stresses, but the fatigue analysis is often still done by manually picking stress points for spread-sheet analysis. This is time consuming and unreliable because it’s easy to miss failure locations. Component validation by fatigue testing a prototype design in the test lab is time-consuming. If the prototype fails prematurely, a costly, open-ended cycle of design-test-redesign is required. Project time-scales slip and delivery is late.

In the automotive industry some 40% of the total development cost is spent making prototype parts. In the medical industry an unexpected failure can mean the loss of several months lead-time over competitors.

fe-safe™ is a highly effective tool for fatigue analysis of Finite Element models.

With fe-safe™ as an integrated part of your design process, you have the ability to optimise designs and test programs, reduce prototype test times product recalls and warranty costs - all with increased confidence that your product designs pass their test schedules as “right first time”.

fe-safe™
calculates fatigue lives at every point on a model, producing contour plots to reveal fatigue lives and crack sites. Critical points need not be missed.
determines how much the stresses must be changed in order to achieve a target design life showing clearly where the component is under strength, or where material and weight can be saved
estimates warranty claim curves based on probabilities of failure
calculates which parts of the service duty are most damaging and which could be omitted from a fatigue test
identifies non-critical loads at significant points on a model. In prototype testing this could mean tests using fewer loads and therefore fewer actuators

fe-safe™ MORE THAN JUST A FATIGUE ANALYSIS TOOL
not only shows the calculated life but also the rationale behind the calculations. This builds up design expertise, allowing new designs to be highly optimised more quickly.
is highly cost-effective, being shown to save many times its cost through reduced man-time hours. The additional saving is immense if one prototype test can be eliminated, or a premature failure avoided.
continues to be selected by Fortune 100 and blue chip companies, renowned for their innovative and advanced design programmes, to optimise the design of components and validate component test programmes.

FAST - Assemblies of different parts, materials and surface finish can be analysed in a single run – fe-safe™ automatically changes the method of analysis as it moves from one material to another. Contour plots showing the fatigue life at each node, the factor of strength, and probabilities of survival can be calculated in the same run.

ACCURATE – Advanced multiaxial algorithms are the core of fe-safe™. Our nodal elimination method ensures no trade-off between speed and accuracy. Customers constantly report excellent correlation with test results. Continuous development ensures fe-safe™ maintains its position as the technology leader

EASY TO USE - fe-safe™ automatically selects the most appropriate algorithm based on the selected material. Direct interfaces to leading FEA suites such as ABAQUS, ANSYS, I-deas, NASTRAN and Pro/Mechanica are driven from an intuitive, single screen, windows based GUI.