Conceptual Modeling Applications for Earthquake Engineering Simulation


Conceptual modeling tools represent an emerging technology in computational engineering. These modeling tools permit engineers to represent physical experiments and virtual simulations using high-level constructs, e.g., geometric primitives, physical representations of support conditions, material composition, etc. Conceptual modeling tools that integrate with finite-element analysis software permit engineers to represent all of the salient aspects a computational simulation, including the setup of the underlying problem, the location of sensors in associated experiments, and the resulting finite-element mesh. A good example of such integration is the use of Parametric Technology's ProDesktop tool as an entry point to use of the ProEngineer/Mechanica analysis suite.



SolidWorks

SolidWorks is a full-featured conceptual modeling and 3D Computer-Aided-Design (CAD) tool that integrates well with leading analysis packages. SolidWorks permits engineers to design, prototype, and visualize complex systems including real-world laboratory experiments, and virtual-world computational simulations.

URL's for SolidWorks Information

http://www.solidworks.com/


ProDesktop

ProDesktop is a streamlined version of Parametric Technologies' conceptual modeling tools, and this application is both relatively full-featured as a 3D CAD package, and is available for free download from Parametric's website.  ProDesktop provides a cost-effective way for engineering researchers and practitioners to develop conceptual designs of experiments and computational simulations, and these designs are readily incorporated into related products such as Pro/Engineer or Mechanica.

URL's for ProDesktop Information

http://www.ptc.com/products/sw_landing.htm