US 7,321,365 B2
Computerized deformation analyzer
Daniel L. Brombolich, Saint Charles, Mo. (US)
Assigned to Siemens Product Lifecycle Management Software Inc.,
Filed on Dec. 16, 2005, as Appl. No. 11/305,834.
Application 11/305834 is a continuation of application No. 10/161270, filed on May 31, 2002, granted, now 7,027,048, filed on Apr. 11, 2006.
Prior Publication US 2006/0158449 A1, Jul. 20, 2006
This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.
Int. Cl. G06T 17/00 (2006.01)
U.S. Cl. 345—420  [345/419; 345/421; 345/424; 700/97; 702/42; 703/1; 703/7; 716/9] 40 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A computerized method for determining deformation of a surface of a material, comprising:
receiving, at a computer, an elastic deformation range and a plastic deformation range of the material;
modeling a region of the material with a mesh comprising a plurality of elements;
determining, by performing a finite element analysis on the mesh by the computer, a displacement for at least one point on each of the elements, the displacement resulting from a set of modeled boundary conditions, the finite element analysis including recurrently approximating the modulus of elasticity for each element according to the elastic deformation range and the plastic deformation range based on a value of strain calculated from a previously calculated element displacement.