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FEA User Beware !
(Source : MECHANICA Tutorial, By Roger Toogood, Ph.D., P.Eng)
Users of this (or any other FEA) software should be cautioned that, as in other areas of computer applications, the GIGO (“Garbage In = Garbage Out”) principle applies. Users can easily be misled into blind acceptance of the answers produced by the programs. Do not confuse pretty graphs and pictures with correct modeling practice and accurate results.
A skilled practitioner of FEA must have a considerable amount of knowledge and experience. The current state of sophistication of CAD and FEA software may lead non- wary users to dangerous and/or disastrous conclusions. Users might take note of the fine print that accompanies all FEA software licenses, which usually contains some text along these lines: “The supplier of the software will take no responsibility for the results obtained . . .” and so on. Clearly, the onus is on the user to bear the burden of responsibility for any conclusions that might be reached from the FEA.
We might plot the situation something like Figure 1. In order to intelligently (and safely) use FEA, it is necessary to acquire some knowledge of the theory behind the method, some facility with the available software, and a great deal of modeling experience.
Everyone is Number One 
