CalculiX is a

free and open-source Free and open-source software (FOSS) is a term used to refer to groups of software consisting of both free software and open-source software where anyone is freely licensed to use, copy, study, and change the software in any way, and the source ...

finite-element analysis The finite element method (FEM) is a popular method for numerically solving differential equations arising in engineering and mathematical modeling. Typical problem areas of interest include the traditional fields of structural analysis, heat t ...

application that uses an input format similar to

Abaqus Abaqus FEA (formerly ABAQUS) is a software suite for finite element analysis and computer-aided engineering, originally released in 1978. The name and logo of this software are based on the abacus calculation tool. The Abaqus product suite consis ...

. It has an implicit and explicit solver (CCX) written by Guido Dhondt and a pre- and post-processor (CGX) written by Klaus Wittig.CalculiX website
The original software was written for the Linux operating system. Convergent Mechanical has ported the application to the Windows operating system.Convergent Mechanical's website
The pre-processor component of CalculiX can generate grid data for the

computational fluid dynamics Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) is a branch of fluid mechanics that uses numerical analysis and data structures to analyze and solve problems that involve fluid flows. Computers are used to perform the calculations required to simulate th ...

programs duns, ISAAC and

OpenFOAM OpenFOAM (for "Open-source Field Operation And Manipulation") is a C++ toolbox for the development of customized numerical solvers, and pre-/post-processing utilities for the solution of continuum mechanics problems, most prominently including ...

. It can also generate input data for the commercial FEM programs

Nastran NASTRAN is a finite element analysis (FEA) program that was originally developed for NASA in the late 1960s under United States government funding for the aerospace industry. The MacNeal-Schwendler Corporation (MSC) was one of the principal and o ...

, Ansys and

. The pre-processor can also generate mesh data from STL files. CGX Documentation
There is an active online community that provides support at Discourse.CalculiX Discourse Group
Convergent Mechanical also provides installation support for their extended version of CalculiX for Windows. There is a friendly CalculiX LauncherCalculiX Launcher (SourceForge)
with CCX wizard for both Windows and Linux.
Also possible is the Installation in Windows 10 Fall Creator (1709) with the new Linux Subsystem WSL. A

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library, pycalculix,pycalculix website
was written to automate the creation of CalculiX models in the

programming language. The library provides Python access to building, loading, meshing, solving, and querying CalculiX results for 2D models. Pycalculix was written by Justin Black. Examples and tutorials are available on the pycalculix site.

FreeCAD FreeCAD is a general-purpose parametric 3D computer-aided design (CAD) modeler and a building information modeling (BIM) software application with finite element method (FEM) support. It is intended for mechanical engineering product design bu ...

has developed a FEM workbench that automates the creation of CalculiX models. There is a lot good examples of use of CalculiXCalculiX examples
by Prof. Martin Kraska, Brandenburg University of Applied Sciences.

Literature

* Guido Dhondt: ''"The Finite Element Method for Three-Dimensional Thermomechanical Applications"''. Wiley, Hoboken 2004,
CCX v2.18 documentation

Getting Started Guide

FreeCAD FEM workbench for CalCulix

References

External links

*
Searchable online documentation

CalculiX for Windows

CalculiX Discussion Group

pycalculix website

FreeCAD FEM workbench

{{CAE software Computer-aided engineering software Free computer-aided design software Free simulation software Finite element software for Linux