A Web Based Finite Element Frequency Analysis Program for Designing a Driveline System

A web based software program has been developed to do a Finite Element (FE) analysis of a simplified driveline system. In the past, an expert analyst had to make a Finite Element Model, analyze and then report results. It has been observed that this process is time consuming besides the difficulties of doing quick parametric studies, geographical location of designers, analysts, etc. The web-based software program aims to solve these issues. The designer could get analytical & Finite element results anywhere around the world (where the designer has access to the web) without any expertise in FE modeling. This software is a joint effort of Engineering and Information Technology (IT) software groups. It is based on Active Server Page (ASP) technology and MSC/NASTRAN technologies combined. Input data deck is prepared from user inputs and submitted over the internet to a remote system, solved and results are retrieved and plots shown in minutes, instead of days earlier. The designer can quickly do parametric studies and also get reports. This web-based technology has a great potential for automating simple design analysis for other products in Dana Corporation.