Software Engineering Development of Finite Element Method Programming Applications in 2D Frame Structures Using Python Programs

Abstract

The application of the Finite Element Method as one of the numerical methods to solve various engineering problems is of course inseparable from the development of computers with various other related fields such as Computer Aided Design (CAD) and Computer Aided Engineering (CAE) which continuously becomes a concentration of interest in the engineering field. Element analysis has so far been in great demand by various industries due to its reliability and speed in terms of optimization in the world of design and analysis. There are many finite element software such as Abaqus, Nastran, Ansys, CosmosWork, LS-Dyna, Pro-Mecanica, SAP2000. However, the application is paid at a relatively high cost and has quite strict licensing rules, of course this is an obstacle for students at the University of Riau who want to use it. From these problems the author is interested in developing a programming application that can be an alternative to analyzing a structure. The solution that the author can propose is to develop an application using the python programming language to analyze a two-dimensional (2D) frame structure that is under load and is in an elastic condition. From the results of the research that has been carried out, the simulation results of the frame A model obtained data on the 2nd frame model of frame A, the horizontal displacement of -0.06098 m, the vertical displacement of -0.00002857 m, and the angular displacement of 0.00762 rad. These results are compared with manual solutions, analytical solutions, and previous research, it can be concluded that the results of calculations in the developed application show values that are close to that comparison, where the percentage error is not more than 3%, with the highest percentage difference of 2.5%.