Image centric finite element simulation

Images have played a substantial role in documenting historical structures and structural systems. As a result, extensive archives are now available to reconstruct both modern and ancient buildings, bridges and other structures for subsequent analysis and visualization. While common approaches require the creation of complex three-dimensional models to facilitate the study of response to anticipated loading of a target system or subsystem, faster techniques are required for preliminary data analysis. This paper presents an image-based approach that allows users to sketch structural systems over a reference image while using standard engineering symbols and nomenclature. Within the presented framework, the response of the sketched system is analyzed and presented using an image-centric finite element analysis approach. Finite element models of the sketched structural system and image are constructed and simulation results fused into a final visual encoding, using deformation patterns and image warping. Results for two example structures illustrate the intuitive modeling capability that the system provides to the user. The presented system is particularly beneficial in educational environments, where fundamental behavioral characteristics of structural systems are studied.