Within one day, we would change the model, run an analysis and determine whether the revised design met our criteria for fatigue life. Key to one-day turnaround was the use of 2D structural analysis after an initial 3D analysis was performed. FEA Start to Finish Dresser-Rand's Engine Process Compressor Division, the division which design the VIP compressor, makes large, slow speed reciprocating gas compressors, slow speed integral engines, and high speed reciprocating gas compressors for companies involved in gas distribution and oil refining. The company uses the software for structural, thermal, and vibration analysis. Analysis results are applied early in the design cycle to evaluate new compressor and engine designs, then again later when a design is changed to study the effects of the change.
Analysis results then become basis for future development of that machine.
Marketing might ask for an increase in operating conditions, such as an increase to 1500 psi from 1000 psi. Since test results for the original design are correlated with FEA, we don't have to run tests for every subsequent design change. This shortens our development cycle and reduces costs as well. Early analyses are performed long before a design has been defined as a CAD model. This feature makes it easy to alter the model for what-if studies or to evaluate design changes later on.