RustFEA

A Finite Element Analysis (FEA) library and GUI written in Rust. Provides efficient, robust tools for solid mechanics simulations with both direct and explicit solving capabilities.

Try the Web Demo | Documentation

Features

• Pure Rust - No external C dependencies; builds anywhere Rust builds
• Desktop & Web - Native app plus WebAssembly version (try it)
• Modern Solvers - faer (Cholesky/LU) for direct solving, explicit time integration for dynamics/contact
• Multiple Element Types - C3D8 (8-node brick), C3D20 (20-node quadratic brick), C3D4 (4-node tetrahedra)
• Contact Mechanics - Penalty method contact via explicit solver
• Section Cuts - Interactive clipping planes with 2D cross-section view and PNG export
• VTK Export - Standard VTK and pure-Rust VTK HDF output for ParaView

Quick Start

# Build the library
cargo build --release

# Run an example simulation
cargo run --bin read_input -- examples/tube_benchmark.toml -v

# Run the GUI (native desktop)
cargo run -p rust_fea_gui --release

See gui/README.md for GUI-specific documentation and WASM build instructions.

Project Structure

├── src/              # Core FEA library
│   ├── elements/     # Element formulations (C3D8, C3D20, C3D4)
│   ├── bc/           # Boundary conditions (fixed, load, contact, pressure)
│   ├── simulation/   # Simulation orchestration
│   ├── solver.rs     # Direct sparse solver (faer)
│   └── io/           # File I/O (TOML, VTK, mesh formats)
├── gui/              # egui-based graphical interface
├── examples/         # Example simulations and mesh sources
├── test/             # Integration tests
├── benches/          # Criterion benchmarks
└── reports/          # Validation reports and comparisons

Mesh Support

Import meshes in these formats:

• .inp - Abaqus format (recommended via Gmsh)
• .bin.xz, .json.xz, .bin, .json - RustFEA internal formats

Gmsh geometry files are in examples/mesh_src/*.geo.

Elements

Element	Nodes	Order	Description
C3D8	8	Linear	Hexahedral brick
C3D20	20	Quadratic	Hexahedral brick with mid-edge nodes
C3D4	4	Linear	Tetrahedral

Boundary Conditions

• Dirichlet - Fixed displacement (clamped faces/nodes)
• Neumann - Applied loads, pressure, torque, body forces
• Contact - Node-to-segment penalty contact (explicit solver only)

Solvers

Direct Solver

Uses faer for sparse Cholesky decomposition (symmetric positive-definite systems) with LU fallback. Pure Rust with SIMD optimization, ~1.5-2x faster than UMFPACK on typical FEA matrices.

Explicit Solver

Central-difference time integration for dynamics and contact problems. Element-by-element assembly avoids global matrix formation.

Output Formats

• VTK (.vtk) - Legacy VTK format for ParaView
• VTK HDF (.hdf) - Modern HDF5-based format (pure Rust via hdf5-writer)

Benchmarks

Run the validation benchmark suite:

cargo run --bin run_benchmarks --release

Results compare against analytical solutions for cantilever beams, torsion shafts, hollow spheres, and Hertzian contact.

Building

Native

cargo build --release

WebAssembly

cd gui
./build_wasm.sh

See gui/README.md for detailed WASM instructions.

License

Apache License 2.0

Author

A project by John Dews-Flick