FreeCAD FEM Workbench | Basics In 15 Minutes | Beginners Guide

Beginners introduction to FreeCAD FEM workbench to get a understand of creating a Finite Element Analysis for a simple model in a few minutes, applying materials, forces and constraints and observing the results. We will also cover how to edit the model and re-run the analysis.
#FreeCAD , #CAD , #3DPrinting
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[@leroycasterline1122]

I'd like to see more on the FEM workbench when you get the chance.

[@mattw7949]

A big thanks to the FreeCad team for developing this AWESOME tool, and a big thanks to you for teaching us how to use it!

[@MangoJellySolutions]

It has been and still is a great pleasure to help such a supportive community.

[@bilgekurthan]

Hi, in Istanbul, TURKEY, an instructive lesson, thank you, another analys lesson waiting... Best regards...

[@chrisdixon5241]

This is really cool! I had no idea that this workbench comes with FreeCAD or what it is for, but I can see how useful it will be for analysing 3d-models to see where reinforcement might be needed before printing. Thanks for sharing!

[@Gumball_W]

What’s funny, 3D printing is the most common application of FreeCAD but also the most tricky one for FEM. On the surface, it’s easy but problems start when you try to account for the infill. However, you can live with large simplifications if super accurate results aren’t needed.

[@MangoJellySolutions]

Glad it was helpful!, I been meaning to do this video for ages and wasn't quite sure how to deliver it as I wanted it to be practical.

[@patdesse6693]

Thanks a lot for this great video 😊

[@jimbeckettplay]

Being a complete noob (been learning FreeCAD for the last couple of years), I had no idea this existed. What a cool tool. I doubt I'll be using it much, but if I ever build a bridge, it is nice to know this is in my back pocket... lol

[@Gumball_W]

FEM can be useful for many daily problems. Like designing furniture, some structure for your house, 3D printed parts, amateur planes and rockets and so on.

[@MangoJellySolutions]

😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@terrylembke8100]

Just wanted to say , hi Darren . Hope all of your family is doing well . Thanks for sharing your videos and knowledge . When this topological issue is solved , that is fantastic . Much praise and respect to the developers. I think it won't be long that this will exceed solid works. You have a blessed and wonderful day . Warmest Regards Terry Lembke

[@Gumball_W]

TNP is solved (mitigated) now, you can try it in the dev version or wait until it’s released as stable soon.

[@MangoJellySolutions]

Nice to hear from you Terry, I hope you are doing well. Topological mitigation is on the last dev version which is now in feature freeze and will be released as v1. 0 approx mid July. The future looks very promising. Nice to hear from you my friend.

[@kattkushol]

Great video. I wish someone would add more commercially produced materials to the library.

[@Gumball_W]

Like what types for example ?

[@thomasneemann5618]

thank you

[@Gumball_W]

1. It would be good if you showed the FreeCAD version. Users of different versions can get confused. Especially since FEM will change a lot in the upcoming 1.0 release. 2. You don’t have to select the last operation in the tree to create the mesh, just pick the whole Body and you won’t have to adjust the selection if the model tree changes. 3. The mesh is still way too coarse but I know it’s intro tutorial so just saying. 4. To run an analysis you don’t need to enter the solver options and write the input file first. There’s a separate button to start the simulation. 5. It’s better to use the results pipeline for postprocessing. There you can have the legend all the time.

[@hyozanhades09]

Thank you so much for this tutorial !!!

Nice tutorial. Thanks!

[@sratenbantul8296]

Maybe the next time an example with contact constraint . Thank you for all the videos

[@robgoodsight6216]

🤔 never used FEM...but ...it is highly interesting!

[@Miniellipse]

Thanks!

[@MangoJellySolutions]

Thanks once again 😊😊😊😊

[@marcianodejupiter]

I'd like to see a complete series about FEM.

[@clytle374]

Thanks. I've been meaning to play with this function, but didn''t know where to start. I've been running Freecad from git source forever and FEM has been breaking my build for a long time, going to have to look into fixing that so I can build with FEM.

[@redheadsg1]

I would love to see CFD in FreeCad.

[@basilwatson1]

its there ,,, look in the wb preferences!

[@muezabdalla2852]

There is a wb called cfd-of but you need to install openfoam and paraview becouse it is just a front end for openfoam

[@Miniellipse]

A couple years ago I tried this and wasn’t able to install the additional software to make this work.

[@Gumball_W]

Yes, the CfdOF workbench is great and actively developed. Most issues are gone now and it shouldn’t be a problem to install the dependencies. However, you can always ask on the forum if in doubt.

[@ajarivas72]

​@@Miniellipsethe installation on Windows is straight forward. I haven't been able to install it on Linux or Mac.

[@ladyleni8193]

Last: You see the deformation... unfortunately not the changed values ​​on the pipeline for the changed force!

[@MrDougDR]

The slider bar is not about increasing the load it just and only shows an exaggeration of the starting load load. I your chass 1 newton metter

[@bananasba]

Cool. I noticed that there is Frequency analysis option, what can it do? For example, i'd like to test X axis designs for CoreXY 3d printer, find optimal weight/rigidity, resonance frequency.

[@ajarivas72]

Compute the natural frequencies.😊

[@basilwatson1]

very good but single point loads at an angle So far I've been adding a small cube at the load point and loading that breaking down the angular load into its x and y vectors ,,adding a cube on the x load path and on the Y load path there must be a simple way !

[@Gumball_W]

Since force load can be applied to vertices (it’s just not a good idea for solids), you only have to add some geometry to use for direction specification. Draft Line will be sufficient for this.

[@josegegas]

Hi. Thanks for the tutorial. Just a comment. Not a good idea to use fem for 3d pronted parts. They often have mechanical properties different from those of the material they are printed of...

[@DaveTimperley]

Hiya, great vid 🙂 I'm not using FreeCad just yet so can't look it up, but in regards to 3d print mat. Is there parameters for Nylon and maybe Glass filled nylon? How would one dial in a mat that isn't in the list? Have you ever designed and tested 'compliant mechanisms' with Free Cad?

[@leroycasterline1122]

I am using 0.22dev 37730. At about 7:35, I saw no displacement as I moved the slider. Setting the 'Slider Max" to 1000, I saw a little displacement. At 10,000 displacement was obvious.

[@muezabdalla2852]

That means you choosed a small force( check the unit of the force) or maybe you choosed a different material.

[@leroycasterline1122]

@@muezabdalla2852 I just verified that I used a force of 1N (the default), and generic PLA.

[@leroycasterline1122]

@@muezabdalla2852 I could swear I replied to you yesterday, but I'm not seeing it. I have verified that I am using 1 N for force and Generic PLA. Perhaps the issue is related to my using a dev version.

[@DaveTimperley]

Is there a 'wind tunnel' type function in Freecad?

[@crissd8283]

Are the colors the deflection amount?? Isnt it normally the internal stress? If it was internal stress, the base of the angle should be the highesr stress and the ends (while deflected the most) have lower stress.

[@Gumball_W]

Here only the displacement is shown (mostly displacement magnitude - resultant from all 3 components). But you can display the stresses too and von Mises stress is usually used for that.

[@crissd8283]

@@Gumball_W Thank you!

[@chrisBruner]

seems like the .22 dev version doesn't have FFM mesh from shape by testgen

[@Gumball_W]

It depends on the OS. Linux doesn’t have it by default.

[@benscottbongiben]

I have been studying mechanical engineer hnc past 2 years and tried this fem before but had issues getting single point forces to apply, how would single point force be achieved, small features or points to reference?

[@Gumball_W]

You can apply force load to vertices but it should be avoided in FEM. It’s better to use small areas instead. Check the partitioning approach described on the documentation page "FEM Geometry Preparation and Meshing".

[@MangoJellySolutions]

I am so glad someone with more knowledge in this area is answer those questions. 😊😊 Thank you

[@patdesse6693]

Merci !

[@MangoJellySolutions]

Thank you 😊😊👍👍

[@Todestelzer]

So complicated. But it’s free…

[@fooballers7883]

Nice one... thanks...

[@helpmepls5698]

Great presentation of how to do such thing in Freecad, which I'm quite engaged with in the past 4 weeks thanks to your videos. Unfortunately - and this is not a criticism against the video itself - it also demonstrates how damn convoluted and unintuitive FreeCad could be :(

[@matwyder4187]

I used FreeCAD for about 2 years, and now I find other CAD software convoluted and unintuitive. I'd say CAD as a paradigm simply can't be intuitive. By nature it's just too complicated, you simply have to learn how to use it, hence I feel like that's not criticism at all. It's just organized in a different way, if you come from other suites, it will obviously feel weird at first. Sure, the UI is sometimes clumsy, there are rough edges here and there, but more often than not, what first seems unnecessary complexity actually turns out to be more freedom as soon as you figure out the underlying logic. Takes time, but worth it, imho. After all, unlike any other CAD software, your time buys you a guaranteed lifetime licence.

[@MangoJellySolutions]

Thank you and totally understand. Freecad has many routes to complete the task and this can be confusing. It's mainly around the multiple workbenches. This also brings a lot of power to the table. It's one of the reasons why I do these videos.

[@helpmepls5698]

@@MangoJellySolutions Out of curiosity... have you tried Ondsel? I've installed it today, the GUI looks a LOT streamlined. It also supports some of the features (eg: auto dimensioning tool) which is currently exists only in the development build of FreeCad.