FEA-driven design

Free DXF in every rangeNo sign-up1 192 rated parts

We use more than one solver to cross-check our results. How we check ›

Parametric part generator

Download a rated part.
Here's what "rated" means.

1
You set the parametersYour load, your pipe or bolt, your length. No sign-up.
2
Watch it redraw with its ratingEvery figure comes from the engine that drew the part.
3
Take the free DXF, or the rated packThe DXF is free in every range. The pack adds STEP, the rated drawing and the FEA report.

▶Saddle tab sizer · 20 s

▶UL gusset generator · 30 s

Inside a rated packMK-TAB-P-89-S275-M10-6-120

Rated A4 drawing of MK-TAB-P-89-S275-M10-6-120 — Rated A4 drawing · F1 22.27 kN

FEA report field plot — FEA report · 7 pages

Flat DXF for laser or waterjetFREE
STEP solid: arcs and lines, no splinesPACK
Rated drawing with load rating and FEA plotPACK
FEA report: mesh, fields, buckling, assessmentPACK

Download this sample pack, free Size your own ›

Find my part

Tell us the job. We'll show the parts that carry it.

free DXFFEA rated weld-on tab FEA

Weld-On Tabs

weld-on bolt tab · 3 materials

free DXFrated STEP bolt-on tab FEA

Bolt-On Tabs

optimised · SS316 · AL7075 · AL2024

free DXFany angle gusset FEA

Gussets

any angle · truss UL tier

free DXFFEA rated pipe tab FEA

Saddle Tabs

weld-on · 9 pipe sizes · S275 + SS304

free DXFfree DXF spur gear FEA

Spur Gears

3 numbers in · ISO 6336 rated

free DXFfree DXF + STEP sprocket FEA

Sprockets

chain no. + teeth · ISO 606

Custom & bespoke

Send us your part → we check it for strength and vibration, deliver a rated report, and optimise it lighter. See a worked example. Or send your load & envelope → we design the part for you. Rated, drawn, DXF + STEP.

Start an enquiry ›

We use more than one solver to cross-check our results

SOLIDWORKS Premium CAD + FEA

Our base CAD system. Its built-in FEA was used on the early parametric models that set the engine's parameters, and it's used on custom work. First released in 1995 and part of Dassault Systèmes since 1997.

CalculiX rates every part

An open-source 3D finite-element solver started in 1998 by Guido Dhondt, an engineer at MTU Aero Engines in Munich. Klaus Wittig wrote its pre- and post-processor.

MYSTRAN the cross-check

An independent open-source solver by Dr Bill Case. It reads Nastran-format models, the format NASA created for NASTRAN to design space vehicles (public since 1971). Re-solving our models, it matched CalculiX within 0.22 %.

Ratings are rounded down, never up. How we check: the methods paper ›

Sized in the browser, rated by in-house FEA — engineered, not estimated.

‹ All parts

——

Flat DXFFREE

Laser/waterjet cut file at this exact geometry. No sign-up.

STEP + FEA reportR150

3D STEP solid + the rated FEA report (stress · deflection · FoS · buckling).

Worked example · a demonstration piece

A motor bracket that passes the static check — and still cracks

The brief: a 4 kW, 4-pole motor (45.5 kg, running at 1450 rpm, which is 24.2 times a second) on a cantilever bracket bolted to a steel column. Two brackets — same motor, same bolts, same space.

Bracket A installed: a 4 kW motor on a 10 mm plate bracket bolted to a steel column, no gussets — **A · the obvious one** — as it would be built.

Bracket B installed: the same motor on a lighter bracket with two gussets, bolts clear of the gussets — **B · our redesign** — bolts, welds and spanner clearance checked as an assembly.

Bracket A rocking in its first natural mode at 25.4 Hz, with the motor tipping forward and back — **A · the obvious one.** 10 mm plate, no gussets, 13.2 kg. First natural frequency **25.4 Hz** — just 5 % above the motor’s running speed. It sits on its own resonance.

Bracket B in its first natural mode at 151 Hz, stiffened by two gussets — **B · our redesign.** 8 mm back plate, 5 mm shelf, two gussets, 10.4 kg. First natural frequency **151 Hz** — 6.2 times running speed. Nothing to resonate with.

	A · obvious	B · redesigned
Bracket mass	13.2 kg	10.4 kg (−21 %)
First natural frequency	25.4 Hz	151 Hz
Clear of running speed by 20 %?	No — 5 % away	Yes — 6.2×
Shaking amplified at the weld	about 10×, up to 25×	none
Weld factor of safety — motor weight only	6.6	47
Weld factor of safety — weight + belt pull	2.1	7.1
Deflection under load	1.9 mm	under 0.1 mm

The analysis mesh of bracket A coloured by stress, with a close-up of the hot weld root under the shelf — **Inside the analysis · A.** The mesh we solve, coloured by stress. The weld root under the shelf runs hot; the close-up shows where the weld stress is read.

The analysis mesh of bracket B on the same stress colour scale, staying cool — **Inside the analysis · B.** Same colour scale. The gussets carry the motor into the back plate and the weld roots stay cool.

One step further — C, built with the Forge’s own details

Same motor, same bolts, same column. C takes B and adds what a fabricator would ask for: parts that locate themselves, corners you can handle, and less steel where the analysis says it is not working.

Bracket C installed: the same motor on a bracket with a shelled back plate, lightened keyed gussets and rounded corners — **C · one step further** — shelled back plate, keyed lightweight gussets, rounded corners. 8.6 kg.

The analysis mesh of bracket C on the same stress colour scale as A and B — **Inside the analysis · C.** Same colour scale as A and B. With a fifth of each gusset web cut out and a window in the back plate, the weld roots stay cool.

	B · redesigned	C · one step further
Bracket mass	10.4 kg	8.6 kg (−17 % on B, −34 % on A)
First natural frequency	151 Hz	142 Hz — 5.9× running speed
Weld factor of safety — weight + belt pull	7.1	6.0 — still twice our acceptance level
Deflection under load	under 0.1 mm	about 0.1 mm
Buckling of the lightened gusset	—	54× the load
Fit-up	gussets held square by hand	gussets key into cut slots — they locate themselves

What changed from B

Keyed gussets. A tongue on each gusset drops into a slot cut in the shelf and in the back plate, plate thickness plus 0.3 mm — the same detail as our saddle tabs. No jig, no holding it square while you tack.
Lighter gussets. A truss cut-out takes the unworked middle out of each web. A cove at the root keeps the corner weld clear; the tips are chamfered.
Shelled back plate. A 150 × 140 mm window between the gussets, clear of the bolts and the slots.
Rounded corners. R20 on every exposed corner, for the hands that fit and service it.

Said plainly

C trades a little margin for weight: the weld factor of safety goes from 7.1 to 6.0, still twice the 3.0 the brief asks for.
C was solved twice — a solid model and a shell model built a different way — each on two mesh sizes. The table carries the worse of the two.
Belt tension and tracking are set on the driven side, so C needs no slotted holes.

What a static check misses

Bracket A passes the check most people do — under the motor’s weight its welds have a factor of safety of 6.7. Its problem is dynamic. Every small unbalance, misalignment and belt pulse arrives 24 times a second, almost exactly the rate the bracket wants to swing at. The motion builds at the welded root, and that is where brackets like this crack. Thicker plate doesn’t fix it. Geometry does.

How we know

The method was proven on textbook cases first — within 0.5 %.
Results hold on three different mesh sizes.
A stays resonant when the motor’s mass, centre of gravity and inertia are varied.
A second, independent model of B, built a different way, agrees within 1 %: 152.6 Hz against our 151.5 Hz. Where the two models differ on a stress, we publish the worse one.
Checked as an assembly — bolt heads, weld toes and spanner clearance — not just as a stress plot.
Welds and bolts checked by hand to EN 1993-1-8.

Said plainly: the column is modelled as rigid. A real one is slightly softer, which lowers every frequency — for A, closer to running speed. On a live installation we would confirm with a bump test.

Analysis of your part

Static and natural-frequency check · mode shapes · written verdict and report. A redesign, if you need one, is quoted after the analysis.

from R4 500 excl. VAT

report in 5 working days from a complete brief

Send us your part ›

A complete brief: your model (STEP) or a dimensioned sketch · the loads · running speed, if anything rotates · material · how it is fixed.

① Send us your part

Upload your CAD or STEP. We run an independent 3D FEA, deliver a comprehensive rated report — stress, deflection, factor-of-safety, buckling and natural frequencies — then come back with an optimised, lighter version.

Independent 3D FEA · solved and cross-checked
Comprehensive rated report
Optimisation & lightweighting

② Send us your parameters

No model yet? Give us the load, the envelope and the material. We design the part for you, rate it, and hand back the drawing, DXF and STEP — ready to cut.

Designed from your spec
Rated & dimensioned
DXF + STEP delivered

Start a custom enquiry

Tell us what you need and we'll reply from forge@makanik.co.za. This sends straight to us — no email app needed. Got a model or drawing? Reply to our answer with it attached.

What "rated" means: we rate the design, you make the part. Each rated pack carries an engineered rating, solved by FEA for the load case, material and conditions printed on its drawing, and rounded down. Materials, bolts, hole clearances, tolerances and the safety factor come from the EN and ISO standards named on each drawing; the rating method itself is ours, set out in each FEA report. It holds for a part made as drawn, from the stated material, welded and installed as the drawing states. We supply the files; the cutting, material, welding and installation are outside our control, so the finished part and its application are your check. This page is a sizing aid: where a preview differs from the pack, the drawing and FEA report govern. Not for lifting or life-safety use unless independently certified. Terms, section 6.