Sketching Finite-Element Models within a Unified Two-Dimensional Framework

Abstract

Complicated menu-based, command line, or scriptable interfaces used in most simulation tools create an unnatural working environment for model development and analysis. Even engineers and scientists familiar with such systems spend significant time converting hand-drawn designs into digital models for simulation. Subsequently, they convert these results into other formats for visualization. These detailed steps lead to many hours of transcribing, rather than interpreting results. To address this problem, we present a unified two-dimensional sketch-based finite-element system, termed 2DSketchFEA, which integrates drawing and recognition of common engineering symbols with geometric meshing, finite-element analysis, and visualization, all within a unified “sketchpad.” The novelty of this work is provided by the sketching pad interface, an upgraded geometric quad meshing algorithm, and the integration of these tools with a FEA solver into a single platform. The result is a system that is easy and rapidly used by the analyst to study model behavioral phenomena. In this paper, we present example model construction and simulation results, each conducted in less than five minutes, and each interpreted by the system using primitive sketching commands. The emphasis of this work is on models within a two-dimensional space constructed of conventional one- and two-dimensional finite elements.