Abstract: An apparatus is provided for finite element modeling and analysis of a structural product. A pre-processing system may produce a finite element model of a structural product including component parts joined by a fastener. The finite element model may represent the product by respective meshes of elements including shell or solid elements for the component parts, and beam and spring elements for the fastener in which at least one spring element has an axial offset from the shell or solid elements with respect to an axis of the fastener. A processing system may perform a finite element method (FEM) failure analysis of the finite element model under an external load that is transferable from the component parts to the fastener. The FEM failure analysis may produce an output that indicates a behavior of the fastener, and the FEM failure analysis may predict a component failure rate of the fastener based on the behavior.

Abstract: An apparatus is provided for finite element modeling and analysis of a structural product. A pre-processing system may produce a finite element model of a structural product including component parts joined by a fastener. The finite element model may represent the product by respective meshes of elements including shell or solid elements for the component parts, and beam and spring elements for the fastener in which at least one spring element has an axial offset from the shell or solid elements with respect to an axis of the fastener. A processing system may perform a finite element method (FEM) failure analysis of the finite element model under an external load that is transferable from the component parts to the fastener. The FEM failure analysis may produce an output that indicates a behavior of the fastener, and the FEM failure analysis may predict a component failure rate of the fastener based on the behavior.