Suppliers could also participate in the documentation effort. Mechanical engineers have reported difficulty in obtaining data on power dissipation during performance. Component manufacturers typically publish power-dissipation data for peak operating conditions. However, most components dissipate power at lower levels during ordinary operation. As electrical engineers typically have this information, they could share it with mechanical designers.
All industries face occasional or frequent failures of the standards for exchanging model geometry.
According to the most recent survey by D.H. Brown Associates of more than 100 companies' CAE practices, better than 50 percent of the simulations involved geometry re-created directly from drawings. Recent developments in programming have increased the potential for referencing CAD data directly and building finite-element models from them, which cuts modeling time. Some interfaces also will update the finite-element models for CAE studies as changes are made in a product's CAD version. Programs from major software suppliers do not support the multiphysics simulation required to solve several current design problems, such as solder reflow simulation or degradation of the electrical properties of PCBs and joints due to fracture and fatigue. Also, they do not support hp-adaptive FEA for the most reliable evaluation of structurally and thermally induced stress concentrations.