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Mecway
FEA
Product Information
Manual, including tutorials and verification cases. English Español
Import geometry from STEP, STL, or DXF files or Alibre Design AD_PRT and AD_ASM files.
Build meshes using automesh, local refine, unrefine, extrude, revolve, sweep, merge, smooth, hollow, project onto surface, torispherical head, etc.
Post processing: animation, contour plots, internal force diagrams, deformed view, export to spreadsheet, integration, formulas, stress linearization, export to VTU for Paraview.
Python API to automate setting property values, some mesh operations, solving, and post-processing.
3Dconnexion SpaceMouse support for navigation.
Mecway comes with two solvers (internal and CCX) which you can easily switch between. They each support a different but mostly overlapping set of features.
| Linear static | Nonlinear static | Linear dynamic | Nonlinear dynamic | Frequency | Buckling | Thermal steady state or transient | DC current flow | Acoustic resonance | ||||||
| Element types | ||||||||||||||
| Plane | Internal | CCX | - | Internal | CCX | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | Internal |
| Axisymmetric | Internal | CCX | - | Internal | CCX | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Solid | Internal | CCX | CCX | Internal | CCX | CCX | Internal | CCX | Internal | CCX | Internal | CCX | Internal | Internal |
| Shell | Internal | CCX | CCX | Internal | CCX | CCX | Internal | CCX | Internal | CCX | Internal | CCX | Internal | - |
| Beam | Internal | CCX | CCX | Internal | CCX | CCX | Internal | CCX | Internal | CCX | - | - | - | - |
| Truss | Internal | CCX | CCX | Internal | CCX | - | Internal | CCX | Internal | CCX | - | - | - | - |
| Axial spring | Internal | CCX | CCX | Internal | CCX | CCX | Internal | CCX | Internal | CCX | - | - | - | - |
| Viscous damper | - | - | - | Internal | CCX | CCX | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Tension only | Internal | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Fin | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | Internal | - | - | - |
| Resistor | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | Internal | - |
| Materials | ||||||||||||||
| General section shape | Internal | - | - | Internal | - | - | Internal | - | Internal | - | Internal | - | Internal | - |
| C, T, L sections | Internal | - | - | Internal | - | - | Internal | - | - | - | Internal | - | Internal | - |
| I-section | Internal | - | - | Internal | - | - | Internal | - | Internal | - | Internal | - | Internal | - |
| Solid/hollow rectangle/circle section | Internal | CCX | CCX | Internal | CCX | CCX | Internal | CCX | Internal | CCX | Internal | - | Internal | - |
| Isotropic | Internal | CCX | CCX | Internal | CCX | CCX | Internal | CCX | Internal | CCX | Internal | CCX | Internal | Internal |
| Orthotropic | Internal | CCX | CCX | Internal | CCX | CCX | Internal | CCX | Internal | CCX | Internal | CCX | Internal | - |
| Anisotropic | Internal | CCX | CCX | - | CCX | - | - | CCX | - | CCX | - | - | - | - |
| Laminate | Internal | CCX | CCX | Internal | CCX | - | Internal | CCX | - | CCX | - | - | - | - |
| Bilinear plastic | - | - | CCX | - | - | CCX | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Plastic with stress-strain curve | - | - | CCX | - | - | CCX | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Ramberg-Osgood plastic | - | - | CCX | - | - | CCX | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Neo Hooke hyperelastic | - | - | CCX | - | - | CCX | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Mooney-Rivlin hyperelastic | - | - | CCX | - | - | CCX | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| First ply failure analysis | Internal | - | - | Internal | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Temperature dependent | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | Internal | CCX | Internal | - |
| Piezoelectric | Internal | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Loads and Constraints | ||||||||||||||
| Fixed support | Internal | CCX | CCX | Internal | CCX | CCX | Internal | CCX | Internal | CCX | - | - | - | - |
| Frictionless support | Internal | CCX | CCX | Internal | CCX | CCX | Internal | CCX | Internal | CCX | - | - | - | - |
| Pinned support | Internal | CCX | CCX | Internal | CCX | CCX | Internal | CCX | Internal | CCX | - | - | - | - |
| Elastic (Winkler) support | Internal | CCX | CCX | Internal | CCX | CCX | Internal | CCX | Internal | CCX | - | - | - | - |
| Compression only support | Internal | - | CCX | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Displacement in any direction | Internal | CCX | CCX | Internal | CCX | CCX | Internal | CCX | Internal | CCX | - | - | - | - |
| Node rotation about any axis | Internal | CCX | CCX | Internal | CCX | CCX | Internal | CCX | Internal | CCX | - | - | - | - |
| Contact | Internal | CCX | CCX | Internal | CCX | CCX | Internal | CCX | Internal | CCX | Internal | CCX | Internal | Internal |
| Node-surface coupling | Internal | CCX | CCX | Internal | CCX | CCX | Internal | CCX | Internal | CCX | Internal | - | Internal | - |
| Pre-tension section | Internal | CCX | CCX | - | CCX | CCX | Internal | - | Internal | - | - | - | - | - |
| Beam Flexible Joint | Internal | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Force | Internal | CCX | CCX | Internal | CCX | CCX | Internal | CCX | Internal | CCX | - | - | - | - |
| Pressure | Internal | CCX | CCX | Internal | CCX | CCX | Internal | - | Internal | CCX | - | - | - | Internal |
| Traction | Internal | CCX | CCX | Internal | CCX | CCX | Internal | CCX | Internal | CCX | - | - | - | - |
| Line pressure | Internal | CCX | CCX | Internal | CCX | CCX | Internal | CCX | Internal | CCX | - | - | - | - |
| Hydrostatic pressure | Internal | CCX | CCX | Internal | CCX | CCX | Internal | CCX | Internal | CCX | - | - | - | - |
| Moment | Internal | CCX | CCX | Internal | CCX | CCX | Internal | CCX | Internal | CCX | - | - | - | - |
| Gravity | Internal | CCX | CCX | Internal | CCX | CCX | Internal | CCX | Internal | CCX | - | - | - | - |
| Centrifugal force | Internal | CCX | CCX | - | - | - | Internal | CCX | Internal | - | - | - | - | - |
| Gyroscopic effect | Internal | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Mass | Internal | CCX | CCX | Internal | CCX | CCX | Internal | CCX | Internal | CCX | - | - | - | - |
| Rotational inertia | - | - | - | Internal | - | - | Internal | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Rayleigh damping | - | - | - | Internal | CCX | CCX | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Thermal stress | Internal | CCX | CCX | - | CCX | CCX | Internal | CCX | Internal | - | - | - | - | - |
| Temperature | Internal | CCX | CCX | - | CCX | CCX | Internal | CCX | Internal | - | Internal | CCX | Internal | - |
| Heat flow rate | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | Internal | CCX | - | - |
| Heat flux | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | Internal | CCX | - | - |
| Internal heat generation | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | Internal | CCX | - | - |
| Convection | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | Internal | CCX | - | - |
| Forced convection | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | CCX | - | - |
| Radiation | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | Internal | CCX | - | - |
| Electric potential | Internal | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | Internal | - |
| Electric charge | Internal | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Current | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | Internal | - |
| Robin boundary condition | Internal | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | Internal | - |
| Impedance | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | Internal |
| Symmetry | Internal | CCX | CCX | Internal | CCX | CCX | Internal | CCX | Internal | CCX | - | - | - | - |
| Cyclic symmetry | Internal | CCX | CCX | - | - | - | Internal | CCX | - | - | Internal | CCX | - | - |
| Stress stiffening | - | - | CCX | - | - | CCX | Internal | CCX | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Constraint equations (MPCs) | Internal | CCX | CCX | Internal | CCX | CCX | Internal | CCX | Internal | CCX | Internal | CCX | Internal | Internal |
CalculiX Solver (CCX)
As well as its own solver, you can use Mecway as a pre- and post-processor for the open source CalculiX CrunchiX solver (CCX). Many features of CCX are available though Mecway's interface with no need for any manual configuration, commands or keywords.
CCX is an external package written by Guido Dhondt and other authors. It is distributed under the GNU General Public License Version 2 and is not part of Mecway. However, as a convenience, it is included with Mecway's installer.
System Requirements
- 64 bit Windows 8, 10, or 11
- 16GB RAM and 100GB disk space are required to solve large models up to 1 million nodes. This is only an approximate limit which can be exceeded with more memory.
Known Bugs
This section lists known bugs that may have an impact on correctness. It does not include cosmetic or reliability bugs.
Version 26 Released 2024-08
Bug 45: With the CCX solver, shell nodes with rotational DOF constraints in the same model as elastic contact may have incorrect external force shown in the solution.
Version 25 Released 2024-06
Bug 44: Contact state incorrectly shows elastic contacts as closed when all of them are open.
Bug 45
Version 24 Released 2024-02
Bug 43: With the CCX solver, if the name of a component, material, or named selection differs only in capitalization from another of the same type, then the wrong ones are used or it doesn’t produce a solution. Conflicts can also occur with internally generated names such as components or element selections named “EALL” with gravity or centrifugal force and node selections named “NALL” with thermal stress.
Bug 44
Bug 45
Version 23 Released 2023-12
Bug 43
Bug 44
Bug 45
Version 22 Released 2023-10
Bug 43
Bug 44
Bug 45
Version 21.0 Released 2023-07
Bug 42: A non-zero displacement constraint that’s not aligned with the global axes doesn’t correctly constrain the mid-surface corner nodes of expanded shell elements with the CCX solver.
Bug 43
Bug 45
Version 20.0 Released 2023-07
Bug 41: Stress linearization's bending stress (and thus bending + membrane stress and peak stress) is incorrect when “Ignore through-thickness bending stress” is checked for some orientations of the SCL.
Bug 42
Bug 43
Bug 45
Version 19.0 Released 2023-04
Bug 39: Line3 truss element with the CCX solver is too soft. Error increases with stockiness.
Bug 40: Many loads and constraints behave incorrectly on the triangular faces of pyramid elements (pyr5 and/or pyr13) with the CCX solver. They are: Elastic support, compression-only support, bonded contact, contact, node-surface coupling, pre-tension section, force, pressure as a function of position, traction, hydrostatic pressure, moment, thermal contact conductance, heat flow rate, and heat flux.
Bug 41
Bug 42
Bug 43
Bug 45
Version 18.0 Released 2022-11
Bug 36: Rotational DOF constraints (node rotation or frictionless support) on shell elements with the CCX solver can behave incorrectly if less than all 3 rotational DOFs of a node are constrained and the element normal is not orthogonal to any of the constraint directions.
Bug 37: Frictionless support on both a solid element face and a shell or beam face that shares a common node with the solid face omits the rotational DOF constraints on the common node in some cases. This is reflected in the display the same way it is treated by the solver.
Bug 38: The connection between a beam and truss element is released in the Z direction with the CCX solver in some cases.
Bug 39
Bug 40
Bug 41
Bug 42
Bug 43
Bug 45
Version 17.0 Released 2022-10
Bug 35: Rotational DOF constraints (eg. node rotation) on beam elements with circular bar section shape and the CCX solver constrain rotation about the wrong axis in some cases.
Bug 36.
Bug 37.
Bug 38
Bug 39
Bug 40
Bug 41
Bug 42
Bug 43
Bug 45
Version 16.0 Released 2022-08
Bug 35.
Bug 36.
Bug 37.
Bug 38
Bug 39
Bug 40
Bug 41
Bug 42
Bug 43
Bug 45
Version 15.0 Released 2022-06
Bug 35.
Bug 36.
Bug 37.
Bug 38
Bug 39
Bug 40
Bug 41
Bug 42
Bug 43
Bug 45
Version 14.0 Released 2021-07
Bug 34: Thermal expansion coefficient is ignored on materials with the Ramberg-Osgood plastic material type.
Bug 35.
Bug 36.
Bug 37.
Bug 38
Bug 39
Bug 40
Bug 41
Bug 42
Bug 43
Bug 45
Version 13.1 Released 2020-05
Bug 29. Tools -> Surface area and mw.surface_area() on curved shells with the CCX solver neglect the area changes due to any shell offset as well as the half-thickness offset of the faces from the node plane.
Bug 30. Normal pressure that's a function of position on edge faces of offset shell elements with the CCX solver incorrectly includes moments due to the shell offset.
Bug 31. Heat flux on edge faces of curved offset shell elements with the CCX solver neglects the edge's area change due to the shell offset.
Bug 32. Non-zero displacement constraints on beam elements with the CCX solver cause incorrect stress in some cases.
Bug 33. Rotational DOF constraints (eg. node rotation or fixed support) on beam elements with the CCX solver cause incorrect external force in some cases.
Bug 34.
Bug 35.
Bug 36.
Bug 37.
Bug 38
Bug 39
Bug 40
Bug 41
Bug 42
Bug 43
Version 13.0 Released 2020-04
Bug 28. Buckling analysis with the CCX solver omits modes with buckling factor below approximately 1.
Bug 29.
Bug 30.
Bug 31.
Bug 32.
Bug 33.
Bug 34.
Bug 35.
Bug 36.
Bug 37.
Bug 38
Bug 39
Bug 40
Bug 41
Bug 42
Bug 43
Version 12.0 Released 2019-04
Bug 25. A constraint equation that connects 3 or more nodes on different elements or no elements sometimes has incorrect stiffness at some nodes belonging to the equation. It appears as unexpected displacements even though they still satisfy the equation.
Bug 27. Contact stiffness in Quasi-static Nonlinear Static 3D varies over the whole time period and is understiff until the final time step where it is correct. The effect can be significant for interference fits.
Bug 29.
Bug 30.
Bug 31.
Bug 32.
Bug 33.
Bug 34.
Bug 35.
Bug 36.
Bug 37.
Bug 38
Bug 39
Bug 40
Bug 41
Bug 42
Bug 43
Version 11.0 Released 2019-02
Bug 24. Using Mesh tools -> Create -> Element with an invalid node list silently modifies the element with the highest number in these ways: Sets the units for Shell offset and orientation angle to defaults, sets the truss flag if that is required, and moves it to an arbitrary component. When this happens, it will show the message "Error in node list. Element not created."
Bug 25.
Bug 29.
Bug 30.
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Bug 32.
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Version 10.0 Released 2018-11
Bug 25.
Bug 27.
Bug 29.
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Version 9.0 Released 2018-05
Bug 21. Point mass is not applied to nodes without elements, such as nodes connected to the mesh only by constraint equations or coupled DOF.
Bug 22. When bonded contact or constraint equations are used with cyclic symmetry and modal vibration together, their slave nodes have incorrect displacements.
Bug 23. Force loads on line3 beam edge faces are ignored with the CCX solver.
Bug 25.
Bug 27.
Bug 29.
Bug 30.
Bug 32.
Bug 33.
Bug 34.
Bug 36.
Bug 37.
Bug 38
Bug 39
Bug 40
Bug 41
Bug 42
Bug 43
Version 8.0 Released 2017-11
Bug 16. Normal pressure with stress stiffening gives incorrect results with the CCX solver (versions 2.10-2.13).
Bug 17. When time-dependent temperature or internal heat generation is specified using a table of (time, value) pairs, the specified unit is ignored by the internal solver which only uses K for temperature and W/m^3 for internal heat generation.
Bug 18. When time-dependent pressure is specified using a table of (time, value) pairs, the pressure unit is ignored and it only uses Pa. With normal pressure, this only affects the internal solver. With X,Y,Z pressure (traction), it affects both the internal and CCX solvers.
Bug 19. Beam elements with I or L section imported from Abaqus .inp files are given an incorrect orientation angle. Doesn’t affect CalculiX .inp files because CalculiX doesn’t support those section shapes.
Bug 20. Face selections on shells and beams are moved to different faces of the same elements in the solution from the CCX solver. This affects the post-processing sum and table tools when they are used on face selections.
Bug 21.
Bug 22.
Bug 23.
Bug 25.
Bug 27.
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Version 7.0 Released 2017-04
Bug 11. With the CCX solver, if a time dependent uniform normal pressure load is applied to the same element faces as another uniform normal pressure load then the combined load may be incorrect without showing an error message. The top and bottom faces of a shell element count as a single face for this purpose.
Bug 12. With the CCX solver, if a time dependent gravity load and another gravity load have components in the same direction then the combined gravity may be incorrect without showing an error message.
Bug 13. The Tensile Force solution variable for Spring-damper elements doesn't include the damping force.
Bug 14. The damping effect of the 3D Spring-damper element with the internal solver is incorrect when it’s not aligned with the global axes.
Bug 15. Displacement defined by a function of position on an offset shell element uses the positions of the element’s nodes rather than their offset positions to calculate the displacement.
Bug 16.
Bug 18.
Bug 19.
Bug 20.
Bug 21.
Bug 22.
Bug 23.
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Bug 32.
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Bug 36.
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Bug 38
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Bug 42
Bug 43
Version 6.0 Released 2016-11
Bug 9. Hydrostatic pressure on a shell face uses the position of the surface defined by the element’s nodes rather than its face. The face is typically offset by half the element thickness.
Bug 10. Pressure defined by a function of position on a shell face uses the position of the surface defined by the element’s nodes rather than its face. The face is typically offset by half the element thickness.
Bug 11.
Bug 13.
Bug 14.
Bug 16.
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Version 5.0 Released 2016-05
Bug 9.
Bug 10.
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Bug 41
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Bug 43
Version 4.0 Released 2015-11
Bug 8. Centrifugal force on 3D beam and truss elements that aren't parallel to the XY plane uses incorrect element mass.
Bug 9.
Bug 10.
Bug 11.
Bug 13.
Bug 14.
Bug 18.
Bug 20.
Bug 21.
Bug 22.
Bug 25.
Bug 27.
Bug 32.
Bug 33.
Bug 37.
Bug 41
Bug 42
Bug 43
Version 3.0 Released 2015-05
Bug 6. Force loads on beam edge faces are ignored. Two workaround are to apply the force to the nodes or use line pressure instead.
Bug 7. Compression only support in the same model as non-zero prescribed displacement causes convergence failure with a small convergence tolerance and incorrect results with a large convergence tolerance.
Bug 8.
Bug 9.
Bug 13.
Bug 14.
Bug 21.
Bug 22.
Bug 25.
Bug 37.
Bug 41
Version 2.0 Released 2014-07
Bug 4. Gravity with more than one load case is incorrectly applied to only the first load case and the force is multiplied by the number of load cases.
Bug 5. If a coupled DOF slave node with a coordinate system transformation also has a displacement or rotation constraint on it, then the solver may treat that constraint as being in an incorrect direction. This includes cyclic symmetry slave nodes. The error is visible in the solution's deformed view which shows the constraints being violated where it occurs. To work around this, if you are using cyclic symmetry or coupled DOF with transformations, apply any mechanical constraints to the master nodes instead of slave nodes.
Bug 6.
Bug 7.
Bug 8.
Bug 9.
Bug 13.
Bug 21.
Bug 37.
Bug 41
Version 1.1 Released 2014-03
Bug 2. 2D membrane elements give incorrect Tresca stress.
Bug 3. 2D membrane elements with plane strain give incorrect von Mises stress. This bug does not affect plane stress or shell elements.
Bug 5.
Bug 6.
Bug 8.
Bug 9.
Bug 13.
Bug 21.
Bug 37.
Version 1.0 Released 2014-01
Bug 1. Thermal stress with orthotropic material gives incorrect displacements and stresses. Thermal stress with 2D plane strain membrane elements gives incorrect stresses. This bug does not affect isotropic shell and solid elements.
Bug 2.
Bug 3.
Bug 5.
Bug 6.
Bug 8.
Bug 9.
Bug 13.
Bug 21.
Bug 37.