NextFEM

NextFEM Designer is a user friendly Finite Element Analysis program, which can be used alone or to be a pre- or post- processor for several widely used FEM programs (i.e. OOFEM, SAP2000, Midas GEN, OpenSees, ABAQUS/CalculiX, Zeus-NL, and others).

NextFEM Designer represents the future for FEA pre- and post-processing.
Read the list of its capabilities!

List of features:

general pre-processor capabilities: 3D and 2D views, customizable colours, accelerated rendering with DirectX technology;
modelling with the most common structural elements, such as beams, shells and solid elements;
importing input files from DXF drawings, OpenSees scripts, Midas GEN, SAP2000, ABAQUS, OOFEM, Zeus-NL;
importing results from SAP2000, OOFEM and OpenSees, Straus7, Midas GEN & Civil, etc.;
exporting models to SAP2000, ABAQUS, Midas GEN & Civil, OpenSees, OOFEM, etc.;
post-processing capabilities with deformed shapes with contour display, beam diagrams, stress and strain contour.

Documentation and help

Along with NextFEM Designer is provided an user manual which describes the main controls and procedures to get started with the program. Alongside with the manual, online support is available. It is possible to ask questions or give suggestions in the dedicated part of the NextFEM forum (http://www.nextfem.it/it/forums/).

NextFEM user interface

Display window looks like the figure below. It is possible to show the model (extruded or not), number of nodes or element, loads applied and general axis. On the bottom left corner number of nodes and elements of the model are shown.

NextFEM Designer can handle various type of models coming from other commercial software, such as OpenSees, SAP2000, OOFEM, ADAPTIC, Zeus-NL, Abaqus, CalculiX, Midas GEN. Thanks to its general abstraction classes, NextFEM Designer is the best way to convert a model from a program to another (eg. SAP2000 to OpenSees).

It can easily translate the geometry from one to another; in many cases (if the original software can export results), NextFEM Designer can be used also as a post-processor.

Advanced BIM support – share a 3D model with your collaborators and customers

3D model of a building – Rotate with left mouse button, zoom by scrolling

Import-export capabilities

For a list of complete import/export capabilities see the Chapter 3 of the Users’ manual.

Customizable libraries

NextFEM Designer allows to use custom material and section libraries, adapting to the needs of an international audience.

Expand material library

The material library can be expanded by writing a CSV file (i.e. a text file using the semicolon separator), as in the following examples.

Steel

Name;Code;E [MPa];G [MPa];n_;fyk [MPa];ftk [MPa];Wd [kN/m^3];Md [kg/m^3]

S235;UNI EN 10025-2;210000;80769;0.3;235;360;78.6;801.2232416

S275;UNI EN 10025-2;210000;80769;0.3;275;430;78.6;801.2232416

Concrete

Name;Code;E [MPa];G [MPa];n_;fck [MPa];Wd [kN/m^3];Md [kg/m^3]

C8/10;NTC2008;25331;10555;0.2;8;25;254.841998

C12/15;NTC2008;27085;11285;0.2;12;25;254.841998

The column CheckType specifies the verifications associated with the material. Insert:

1 for Steel
2 for Aluminium/Alloy
3 for Concrete
4 for Timber
0 for other materials.

For other types of materials, all the columns are mandatory, except for “Md” – mass density, which will be calculated by the program in consistent units from Wd – weight density.

Natively supported fields are:

E: Young modulus
n_: Poisson ratio
G: shear modulus
fk: characteristic strength
Wd: weight density
a_T: thermal coefficient for linear deformation
K: heat conductivity
Cp: specific heat capacity

The property name can be followed by square brackets containing the unit of measure (eg. “E [MPa]”).

The file must be placed in the “data” folder and its extension must be *.nfm.

Expand section Library

The section library can be expanded by writing a CSV file (i.e. a text file using the semicolon separator) as follows:

Name;Code;h [mm];b [mm];tw [mm];tf [mm];r [mm];A [cm^2];Jy [cm4];Wey [cm^3];Wpy [cm^3];iy [cm];Avz [cm^2];Jz [cm^4];Wez [cm^3];Wpz [cm^3];iz [cm]

IPE A 80;UNI;78;46;3.3;4.2;5;6.375401837;64.37774091;16.50711305;18.97743881;3.177708713;3.070001837;6.852668856;2.979421242;4.692462888;1.036754887

…

The first four columns are mandatory.

Natively supported fields are:

h: height
b: base
d: diameter
t: thickness (for pipe sections)
tw: web thickness
tf: flange thickness
A: area of the section
Jz: moment of inertia with respect to horizontal axis
Jy: moment of inertia with respect to vertical axis
Wez: elastic strength modulus with respect to horizontal axis
Wey: elastic strength modulus with respect to vertical axis
Wpz: plastic strength modulus with respect to horizontal axis
Wpy: plastic strength modulus with respect to vertical axis
Avz: shear area with respect to horizontal axis (local z)
Avy: shear area with respect to horizontal axis (local y)
gap: horizontal distance for double sections (eg. double L or double C).

The property name can be followed by square brackets containing the unit of measure (eg. “h [cm]”).

The Type columns specifies the shape of the section. Insert:

0 for unknown or generic
1 for rectangular
2 for circular
3 for C shape
4 for T shape
5 for double-T o I
6 for L shape
7 for box
8 for pipe
9 for double L
10 for double C.

The file must be placed in the “data” folder and its extension must be *.nfs.

Cloud analysis

Try for free our cloud computing server! If you register in the site, you’ll get 10 credits for free.

The Login to cloud command allows to run analyses on cloud by connecting to the NextFEM server using the user’s credential. To log into the cloud insert your Username and your Password.

Once connected to the cloud, it is possible to launch analyses by selecting them from the Select case to run list, and then click on the Submit button.

Once the analysis has been submitted, it will be completed in the cloud. When completed, it is possible to get the result at any time clicking on the Retrieve results button.