Anyone have experience of using FEA software? Whats easiest to use and whats cheap?

Some sites offer free software but it's murder wading through them and I wonder if it's worth the effort and It would be easier to bite the bullet and pay for the software

Info and views would be much appreciated

Hi mate,

The best FE solutios are the ones which have the least amount of ambiguity, i.e. the ones where the solution code, iputs and outputs are clearly defined, along with the solver case commands.

If your only looking to do a linear analysis on a spaceframe for example, and you know your loadcases and constraints then most common packages should cope. Afterall you can do it in EXCEL or MATLAB.

If your looking to do more a wider search may be required.

Many of the industrially accepted codes are avaliable in demo form, usually locked to a limited number of nodes, or to geometry input parameters. If you can work within these restrictions then its the best bet probably.