IMAGE ACOUSTICS, INC.

FEARS is a FEA program that creates, controls, and analyzes a 3D staved ring transducer.  No FEA experience is necessary as the program is designed to be very user-friendly.  The entire program is managed in 1 MATLAB GUI. This 1 window allows the user to quickly and easily control the program. Inputs include dropdown boxes listing numerous material options for the piezoelectric ring, staved wedges along the circumference, glue/cement, potting to hold the staves, and insulation.  All of these mechanical components can be set to “other” for custom materials not listed.  Appropriate dimensions are clearly presented for adjustment.  The system can be dampened to mimic frictional forces. When prompted by the user, MATLAB tells ANSYS to perform the analysis via batch mode.  Batch mode allows for greater efficiency and the user does not have to interface with ANSYS at all.  When ANSYS is complete, an excel spreadsheet of the results is created which MATLAB reads to bring the results to the GUI.  Plots are also created and an image of the FEA model is available to view in MATLAB.

 

It comes with 1 MATLAB file and a text file for assistance.  Only 1 MATLAB file is required to run the program.  All other files are generated automatically as needed by FEARS. Thus, they can be deleted at any time.  Furthermore, a save and load feature is in place to quickly describe inputs and outputs.  This model is axisymmetric in nature for fast analysis.  By default, inputs are set up so the program can run on ANSYS ED.  For larger element sizes, the full version of ANSYS is required.  Support and updates will be instituted as necessary.

 

System Requirements:

           Windows Operating System, MATLAB 2007 or greater, Microsoft Excel, ANSYS and/or ANSYS ED