Finite Element Analysis and Its Application in the Design of a Water Heater Tank Stand

Abstract

A key focus in designing mechanical instruments is to create structurally sound materials that hold up under all the circumstances they will likely endure. For the safety of the individuals who use these instruments it is imperative that designers be sure that the parts and pieces they draw up have structural integrity. Until relatively recently this was only possible through a sufficient amount of experimental testing. Just solely testing possible designs can be time consuming, costly, and even dangerous to those testing the designs. Thanks to the advancement of computer technology and the calculating abilities of computers finite element analysis (FEM) is now possible which can determine the safety of a design prior to testing so that materials are not wasted and the safety of experimentalist is not compromised.