What is Finite Element Analysis (FEA)

FEA or Finite Element Analysis, is a mathematical method of determining stresses in materials before actually building a physical prototype. This allows our engineers to optimize our product designs for the greatest strength to weight considerations. In other words, we can remove material where it is not needed and add material to any weak zones of a particular design concept. This method of design takes away the guess work on determining how thick or what material something should be made of.

One of the images to the right shows our winch locking bolt being subjected to over tightening of 40 ft-lbs of torque. The colorful display depicts the stress distribution with the highest stress shown in red. In this case, as expected, the highest load is in the shank of the bolt near the minor thread diameters. All of the distortions are magnified to better see how the product will behave.

At Factor 55, all of our designs are optimized with Cosmos FEA by a licensed professional engineer registered in the State of Idaho, and later, prototypes are destructively tested for validation. This allows us to provide you the best designed, efficient, and cost effective products for your vehicle.