Code_Aster is an Open Source software package

Software package (installation)

In package management systems, which are commonly used with Linux-based operating systems, a package is a specific piece of software which the system can install and uninstall....

 for Civil and Structural Engineering finite element analysis and numeric simulation in structural mechanics originally developed as an in-house application by the French company EDF

Électricité de France

Électricité de France S.A. is the second largest French utility company. Headquartered in Paris, France, with €65.2 billion in revenues in 2010, EDF operates a diverse portfolio of 120,000+ megawatts of generation capacity in Europe, Latin America, Asia, the Middle East and Africa.EDF is one of...

. It was released as free software

Free software

Free software, software libre or libre software is software that can be used, studied, and modified without restriction, and which can be copied and redistributed in modified or unmodified form either without restriction, or with restrictions that only ensure that further recipients can also do...

 under the terms of the GNU General Public License

GNU General Public License

The GNU General Public License is the most widely used free software license, originally written by Richard Stallman for the GNU Project....

, in October 2001.

Code_Aster represent by now 1,500,000 lines of source code, most of it in Fortran

Fortran

Fortran is a general-purpose, procedural, imperative programming language that is especially suited to numeric computation and scientific computing...

 and Python

Python (programming language)

Python is a general-purpose, high-level programming language whose design philosophy emphasizes code readability. Python claims to "[combine] remarkable power with very clear syntax", and its standard library is large and comprehensive...

, and is being constantly developed, updated and upgraded with new models. Justifying quality labels required by nuclear industry, most of the fields of the software have been validated by independent comparisons with analytical or experimental results, benchmarks towards other codes. The software is provided with about 2,000 tests: they are devoted to elementary qualification and are useful as examples. The documentation of Code_Aster represent more than 14,000 pages: user's manuals, theory manuals compiling EDF's know-how in mechanics, example problems, verification manuals. The vast majority of the documentation is in French and now available in English thank to a machine translation.

Features

Code_Aster is mainly a solver for mechanics, based on the theory of the Finite elements. This tool covers a large range of applications : 3D thermal analyses and mechanical analyses in linear and non-linear statics and dynamics, for machines, pressure vessels and civil engineering structures. Beyond the standard functionalities of a FEM software for solid mechanics, Code_Aster compiles specific research in various fields : fatigue, damage, fracture, contact, geomaterials, porous media, multi-physics coupling.

It is widely used at EDF for the expertise and the maintenance of power plants and electrical networks.

Availability

Code_Aster is officially available for Linux

Linux

Linux is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of any Linux system is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released October 5, 1991 by Linus Torvalds...

 and FreeBSD

FreeBSD

FreeBSD is a free Unix-like operating system descended from AT&T UNIX via BSD UNIX. Although for legal reasons FreeBSD cannot be called “UNIX”, as the direct descendant of BSD UNIX , FreeBSD’s internals and system APIs are UNIX-compliant...

. A successful port to Microsoft Windows

Microsoft Windows

Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...

 is available as well.

See also

• Code Saturne
  Code Saturne
  Code_Saturne is a general purpose computational fluiddynamics free software. Developed since 1997 at EDF R&D, Code_Saturne is distributed under the GNU GPL licence....
  
  
• SALOME
  SALOME
  SALOME is free software that provides a generic platform for Pre- and Post-Processing for numerical simulation. It is based on an open and flexible architecture made of reusable components...
  
  
• Finite element method in structural mechanics
  Finite element method in structural mechanics
  The Finite element method is a powerful technique originally developed for numerical solution of complex problems in structural mechanics, and it remains the method of choice for complex systems. In the FEM, the structural system is modeled by a set of appropriate finite elements interconnected at...
  
  
• Structural analysis
  Structural analysis
  Structural analysis is the determination of the effects of loads on physical structures and their components. Structures subject to this type of analysis include all that must withstand loads, such as buildings, bridges, vehicles, machinery, furniture, attire, soil strata, prostheses and...
  
  

External links

• Official website
• Official website
• short description at epr-reactor.co.uk (English, PDF)