CATIA v5 is the world’s leading 3D CAD engineering and design software, used in a variety of industries to design, innovate, simulate, analyse and manufacture products. CATIA is taught at thousands of academic institutions around the globe to prepare today the great engineers of tomorrow.

This book is more than an introduction to CATIA v5 Finite Element Analysis, providing a practical approach to the subject. The basic concepts of finite element analysis (FEA) in CATIA v5 are explained and augmented with examples and figures for a thorough understanding of the subjects.

The book is intended to be used by students from programs with a mechanical or industrial engineering background, but also by design and control engineers from various industries (automotive, aerospace, military, heavy machinery, medical technology, etc.). These users need to work and verify their 3D parts and assemblies by applying various methods. Among them, the finite element method (FEM) is a very important tool because it provides information on how the stresses are distributed in the component parts, how the loads are applied and what are the values and orientations of the resulting displacements.

All the content is organized in a logical manner, with chapters that cover both theoretical concepts and practical issues addressed through the use of modelling, assembly and FEA. The presented applications are clearly written and easy to understand, with step-by-step instructions and ample explanations, illustrations and figures. Many of the tutorials start from the beginning, including the parametric modelling of the part and the interpretation of FEM analysis results.

From students to engineers, all are advised to open and follow the pages of this book with interest and perseverance, to patiently go through all the explanations of the presented tutorials, to explore the proposed FEM problems and then to successfully apply the knowledge acquired in their professional activities.