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Engineering
Analysis & Design |
| Your
Engineering Analysis Requirements |
CREA Consultants
(CREA) provide analysis services to suit most
requirements;
- All your engineering analysis.
- Solution to complex FEA and engineering problems.
- A service to provide additional support during times of peak demand on your resources.
- An independent peer review service.
 If you have a requirement for engineering analysis, but
don't have sufficient continuity of analysis work for a full time analysis department,
then the running costs for analysis can represent a significant overhead. In addition to
staff, hardware and software costs, there is the balance to be drawn between paying to
keep your facility up to date, and risking falling behind with your analysis capability. CREA help solve the problem by providing
part or all of your analysis requirements. For instance, we run ANSYS,
one of the worlds most advanced Finite Element Analysis programs, which is regularly
updated by it authors, ANSYS Inc. Our aim is to have equipment, or access to equipment,
which can use ANSYS to the best advantage of our clients. [CREA ANSYS capability.]
ANSYS can be used for all levels of analysis, from basic
stressing to full non-linear dynamic analysis. If you have your own stress or design
department and feel the need to add advanced analysis, CREA
fill the gap by carrying out or assisting with advanced analysis.
 Companies with an analysis capability may find that
from time to time they are resource limited and would like to increase their
resources. Taking on more staff is not always a practical solution, factors
such as continuity of work and access to hardware and software influence the decision.
CREA
are able to provide a service to help overcome these peaks. We either take packages
of work or join your team, to lend assistance.
 Peer review of analysis work is increasingly
important. Many clients are being required to show that work carried out has been
rigorously assessed by engineers not directly connected to the original work. Where safety
related design is involved, such peer reviews are generally a licensing requirement.
Engineers at
CREA have experience of carrying out peer reviews, both for client
companies and on behalf of licensing bodies. CREA also offer a model verification and validation service where we will study your
analysis models and results to help you to demonstrate their adequacy in relation to the
original task specification.
 CREA will work closely with the
clients own design engineers when carrying out analysis tasks to ensure that product
history and special requirements are taken account of. If necessary CREA
engineers are able to carry out the design. Engineering analysis should always include
hand calculation and/or simple computer solutions to scope and validate the advanced
analysis. The well known concept of "faster computers making errors faster"
has to be considered at all times.
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| Structural
Analysis |
CREA
Consultants engineering analysts have the experience to analyse a wide variety of
structures such as:
- basic steel and concrete structures,
- nuclear containment structures,
- bridges,
- offshore oil and gas installations,
- sea walls and
- vehicles.
As the regulatory aspects of construction become more stringent, it is increasing
important to be able to predict structural response to extreme conditions and hazards.
Such hazards include:
 Since it is not a practical proposition to test many structures to
measure response to extreme events, such as the 1 in 10,000 year return period
environmental conditions, FE analysis in collaboration with careful design is an ideal
means of carrying out the assessment. Many safety authorities will accept FE results as a
part of a safety case to demonstrate response to extreme conditions, especially where
testing is impracticable.
 There are other aspects of structural engineering that can be
tackled using advanced analysis techniques. Vibration transmission through structures can
be attenuated or eliminated by de-tuning the transmission path. This is achieved by
altering mass and stiffness to shift the building fundamental response frequencies away
from those of the vibration source, pumps, machinery or vehicles for instance. Programming
design rules, allowable mass and stiffness variations and even cost functions into a
design optimisation routine will relatively quickly assess whether there is an available
economic solution or not.
 Fire and explosion protection of structures can be expensive both
in terms of installation and maintenance. It is possible to optimise the quantity of
material used to reduce costs, and the need for the structure to carry what is effectively
redundant mass. These reductions are more cost effective on large process structures
composed principally of steel components, which operate in extreme or hostile conditions.
Offshore oil and gas production facilities are prime examples.
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| Component
Analysis |
 In an increasingly
demanding consumer society, low cost - high reliability, there is advantage in being able
to design components which are being used as close as possible to their optimum. CREA provide analysis of components to help achieve an optimum
design with reduced physical testing.  As with larger structures,
components need to be able to resist extreme loading, sometimes these loads are seen by
the component and not the full structure.
CREA have experience in analysing
structures and components. In looking at the analysis of structured, it is important
to assess the contributions of components and how they interact with the larger structure.
There are numerous methods of looking at sub-structures and sub-assemblies within and
without their parent structure. CREA always look to carry out the most cost-effective analysis, with the
primary aim being to achieve the solution which the client requires for a reasonable cost.
There is no justification for analysing the entire structure if the critical component
only influences the structure in the immediate region of its support. Analysis validation
is provided to demonstrate that the portion of the structure analysed is sufficient to
achieve the required solution. CREA consider validation to be one of the most important tools in the
demonstration of solution quality. Many safety authorities will accept FE results as a
part of a safety case to demonstrate response to extreme conditions, especially where
testing is impracticable.
 Structural and/or
Component Optimisation can save the cost of the analysis exercise in terms of
production, construction and/or operational costs. Large serial production runs tend to
recoup costs very quickly, usually in terms of reduced material usage. For larger
structures, reduced mass can recoup the analysis cost in terms of both material usage and
fabrication costs. FE analysis can also be used to quickly consider all loading conditions
to identify regions with low utilisation, identify areas which may be susceptible to
fatigue, or to identify unexpected loading responses.
FE analysis has also been used to design or redesign castings, pressings and
fabrications to improve material utilisation, review the manufacture process or to identify causes of failure. Design review and modification
can then follow.
Prototyping using computer models tends to be more cost
effective than physical prototyping. It allows early designs to be tested and the
stress and deformation distributions to be clearly visualised. As the design
approaches a viable solution, then the FE prototyping can be run in parallel with physical
prototypes, the computer model then allows a better understanding of the product
performance. |
| Trouble
Shooting |
| Trouble shooting takes many forms,
but usually involves investigation of failure, poor performance or means of reducing cost.
CREA
engineers have a background in trouble shooting to resolve many diverse problems. (See
also Seismic and Vibration Analysis) Typical projects
include:
The cause of the loss of monitoring equipment in a drill string, 2 miles underground,
where all that was recovered was a fractured stud and wear marks on the drill collar.
The calculation of an explosion overpressure by reproducing the structure failure modes
using a non-linear, dynamic FE model of the structure.
Trouble shooting can extend to resolution of problems with
analysis models, analysis procedures and the writing and use of
computer programs. |
CREA Consultants:-
"Your" Engineering Analysis Department |
Engineering
Analysis & Design | Offshore Oil and Gas Structural
Analysis | Dynamic Analysis (Seismic, Vibration)
Fire and Explosion Response Analysis | Thermal
Analysis | Safety Engineering
ANSYS Consultancy & Analysis | USFOS
Consultancy & Analysis | DynaTool | Programming for Engineering Analysis
Computing Training & Advice | About
CREA Consultants | Please Sign Our Visitors Book
© CREA Consultants Ltd,
High Peak, UK Last Updated 05 Jan 2002
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