Finite element analysis (FEA)

FEA breaks a CAD model into a mesh of small elements and solves the physics on each: how a bracket bends under load, where a snap fit concentrates stress, what a part's natural frequencies are, how heat spreads. It helps reduce material, find weak points and compare design options quickly.

Results depend entirely on the inputs: material properties (plastics vary with temperature, moisture and flow direction), boundary conditions (how the part is held and loaded), contacts and mesh quality. A colorful stress plot built on wrong assumptions is confident nonsense.

FEA reduces the number of physical tests; it does not replace them. Correlate key results with at least one physical test.