AutoCAD to ANSYS

[yipster]

Thanks for your views and advice Ad Hoc and alidesigner

sure, i'm painfully aware of not having a thorough ME background yet already in dos days i produced 3d cad drawings and animations that went on CD's packed with ME study books
but ok i did the drawings not made the lessons so there my cry where is that ME book

early nineties 3d pc drawing was a bit of a study but being brought up with drawing board and ruler pen it was great
FEA and CFD, another that fascinates me even more, were unheard of than
they are amazing new tools worth a study as if it were only to know what is and isn't possible

i made wind, explosions and smoke in 3dstudio but so far always had to make the paths or deflections and can imagine how by manipulating variables CFD does that even better for you
and how nice a tuft grid in a 3d drawing could be, all this is still limited i guess as i still have to see lift, drag, wind and waves, eddy's and what not visualized and calculated

at the marina yesterday i thought of your words of warning Ad Hoc as í'm not aiming for a certificate and, as with so many things, only experience gets one comfortable with a surrounding,
and to be honest, they are to be solved but i don't particularly "like" problems so i wondered what i'm actually trying to accomplish as i was more interested in taking a roller furler down

anyway, inventor works nicer as acad, back to the book

[Ad Hoc]

yipster

the way to think of FEA (and indeed CFD) is this:
Would you crack a walnut with a hammer or a nuclear war head?...if you choose the former, the good old hand calc's and basic education/training will get the job done and usually, not that difficult, and you get the walnut to eat. If you choose the later, then, as with a nuke, you'll make a huge mess with lots of 'fall out', walnut everywhere, not "usable" ...looks great though (as do the pretty colour plots)!...even though ones focus is actually cracking open a walnut...not the 'amazing looking fall out'.!!!...everyone is looking at the mushroom cloud, not the real results!

[yipster]

i hear you and forgive the explosions and smoke, that was from my "games" day's back to read

[Ad Hoc]

any questions...just ask....FEA is a minefield and not to be beguiled by the pretty pictures as many are when using FEA and CFD!!