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
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