Finite element analysis is an integral part of the structural analysis process in the design and development of parts and assemblies. Various levels of integration exist between design systems and finite element modeling systems. The feasibility of a knowledge based system to tightly couple product design systems and finite element analysis systems was investigated. A framework incorporating feature based design systems, heuristics based planning modules, procedural pre-processing/solving/adaptive refinement schemes was developed. The pertinent modules of the framework were organized into a prototype and implemented in the VAX environment utilizing the EUCLID geometric modeling system, CLIPS expert system development tools, PATRAN 2.3 finite element pre-processing system, a finite element solver and a unique adaptive refinement system developed specially for the framework. The scope of the research work was limited to static stress analysis. The results of the research indicated that design systems can be successfully integrated with finite element analysis systems in a knowledge based framework. The framework was also found to be suitable for finite element based structural optimization and self-learning processes.

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