How long does it take to become proficient with FEA software?
In spite of what the sales and marketing people say, for any FEA company, it takes a while to become proficient with FEA software – months to years is typical. And months is very optimistic. With effective training it takes less time, without training it takes much longer. Utilizing FEA software correctly relies heavily on engineering judgment and experience. Practitioners should have a significant amount of academic training and professional experience in: mechanical design, statics, dynamics, materials, and stress analysis or other related analytical techniques. The concept of “push button” analysis where a designer, who is totally inexperienced at stress analysis, can just automatically mesh his solid model, run a FEA, and interpret the results correctly is ludicrous. When you get that model meshing and running successfully for the first time, you aren’t done, you’re just getting started.
