Use of Finite Element Analysis to analyse potential causes of product failure along with laboratory testing during product testing: (Case of Zimbabwe).

Traditionally, engineers have used laboratory testing to investigate the structural behaviour of steel building products and systems subject to the expected wind and earthquake loads and to develop appropriate design rule. Laboratory testing was also used to develop new building products and systems. Conventional design methods are being used to predict the strength and behavior of members used for structural construction. However these methods cannot fully predict the behavior of these members under different loading conditions during their practical applications. In structural analysis, the Finite Element Analysis (FEA) simulation method can be used to choose the best structural members to use for a design, the best material to use, analyze the strengths of existing designs or to establish new standards be it to the manufacturers of the structural members or the designers of the structures. In this paper the researchers analyzed the following situations: Effect of material on the strength of a structural member using beams of the same cross section but different materials, effect of the design of the structural member (cross section of the member) on the strength of the member, effect of loading condition on the strength of the member (how different members of different cross sections respond to different loading conditions) and Effects of temperature. Material with the lower yield strength would experience greater stresses (201 Annealed Stainless Steel experienced a maximum stress of 12.22MPa as compared to 12.1MPa experienced in the Alloy steel beam). However, there is no significant difference between the results obtained since the materials used were both used. Information obtained from such a simulation can be used to make decisions on which materials to be used or to set or inspect the standards of the materials used by aiding laboratory testing.