What FEM analysis is
FEM (Finite Element Method) analysis is a numerical technique that divides a complex geometry or phenomenon into small elements, known as a mesh, and expresses the physical laws governing each element as equations. This makes it possible to simulate the behaviour of the whole object on a computer with considerable precision.
Because performance, strength, and heat transfer can be predicted at the design stage without building and testing a physical prototype, FEM analysis is widely used across manufacturing and many other fields.
What FEM analysis can address
The range of physical phenomena FEM analysis can handle is broad.
- Structural analysis: predicting stress and deformation in components
- Thermal analysis: simulating heat transfer and temperature distribution
- Vibration analysis: evaluating natural frequencies and the risk of resonance
- Fluid analysis: analysing the flow of gases and liquids (in principle this extends to fields where fluid behaviour is decisive, such as the design of clean air environments)
- Electromagnetic analysis: simulating electric and magnetic field distributions (a field also covered by open-source tools such as FEniCS)
Because multiple design options and conditions can be verified in parallel without going through physical prototyping, it is possible to converge efficiently on an optimal solution from the earliest stages of development. Lower prototyping and testing costs, together with a substantial expansion in the number of conditions that can be verified: obtaining both at once is what makes FEM analysis so valuable.
Our work: applying FEM to the hard problem of non-destructive inspection
The reach of FEM analysis is not limited to design work in manufacturing.
In agricultural production, the establishment of a technique for reproducing the internal structure of fruit mathematically through FEM analysis, and distinguishing sound fruit from abnormal or defective fruit non-destructively, has been reported in the academic literature. The director of Mathematical Physics Labo (MPL) took part in that research as one of its authors, and the paper received the Annual Best Paper Award of the Japanese Society for Horticultural Science.
Even when a subject cannot be verified by breaking it open, a mathematical model can reveal a way into understanding its internal state. That is the strength of FEM analysis, and it is an applied capability MPL has demonstrated in practice.
Many firms can say they perform FEM analysis. What distinguishes Mathematical Physics Labo is a record of solving a genuinely difficult problem, determining internal condition without destroying the subject, in a form that carried academic recognition through an award and acceptance in a peer-reviewed journal.
Why outsourcing FEM analysis makes sense
FEM analysis requires both dedicated software and specialist analytical knowledge, and placing a full-time in-house specialist carries real cost and lead time. Outsourcing offers the following advantages.
- No investment in dedicated software or an analysis environment
- No need to hire or train specialist staff internally
- Internal resources stay focused on core business
- Verifying multiple conditions in parallel without prototypes shortens development timelines
How to start a conversation
At Mathematical Physics Labo, FEM analysis enquiries are handled by a physicist with a doctorate and research experience at Fermilab and SLAC, working from well-founded theory. You are welcome to get in touch even at the stage of "I am not sure whether this problem can be analysed at all."