dynamics-course-2020

Finite element/boundary element software

FinEtools.jl is a Julia package for the basic operations of the finite element method. It is applied in separate packages in individual application domains, for instance to heat conduction, stress analysis and so forth.

The core ideas of FinEtools.jl are described in the Conceptual Guide.

Of particular interest to this course are applications to linear solid mechanics, acoustics, vibration in fluids, and dynamics of flexible beams.

Theory

The theory implemented in FinEtools.jl and friends is described in the textbook Finite Element Modeling with Abaqus and Python for Thermal and Stress Analysis.

Tutorials

The applications can be explored with tutorials. Check out the documentation of:

FinEtoolsDeforLinearTutorials.jl: Linear structural dynamics. For Lectures 9 and 10.
FinEtoolsAcousticsTutorials.jl: Acoustics. For Lecture 25.
FinEtoolsVibInFluidsTutorials: Vibration of structures in fluids. For Lecture 25.
FinEtoolsFlexBeamsTutorials.jl: Dynamics of flexible beams. For Lecture 14.

Software environment for running the tutorials

a. Make sure you have Git for Windows.

b. If you don't have Paraview for visualizing finite element meshes and results, you may wish to install that from https://www.paraview.org/download/. Please make sure that the executable is in the path.

c. Download the portable Julia environment for this course, Portable_Julia.zip. Expand the zip file into any folder (even the USB drives), change your working folder to be Portable_Julia, and follow the instructions below.

Detailed installation and operation instructions

The portable version of Julia in this folder is only for the Windows platform.

Explore the tutorials with Julia:

Start the VS Code IDE by double-clicking the bash script double_click_me_to_start.sh. If this is the first time this script runs, the installer will install and initialize Julia, and clone and initialize all the tutorial packages. This may take 5 to 10 minutes, depending on the speed of your CPU, the hard drive, and the network. When the installation is finished, the IDE pops up.
Open the folder of the tutorial in the IDE. For instance FinEtoolsAcousticsTutorials.jl.
Start the Julia REPL (command line). Press ctrl+shift+p to get the command pallete and type 'Julia'. Select Julia: Start REPL.
Finally, open the tutorial you would like to execute (they are in the src subfolder of the tutorials folder). Individual lines can be executed with ctrl+enter, while entire code cells can be executed with shift+enter. The entire file can be executed by ctrl+shift+p, typing Julia: Execute File and selecting this command. The shortcut key combination alt+ctrl+enter will run this command too. In fact, if Julia is not running to begin with, this shortcut will fire up Julia and execute the file subsequently.