Dynamic biomechanical model
 

Hello, I'm new to the field of FEA and was hoping to get some tips/help here. I wish to perform analysis on a medical bracing device that connects to bone tissue to ensure that no undue damage is done to any local biological material. The brace moves in order to perform the corrective action on the bone.
I have made the basic models in SolidWorks 2008 and, to the best of my admittidly poor knowledge, they are completely defined. I first tried to create a simulation in SW2008, but had problems when trying to set the incremental adjustments for the brace. A colleague suggested that I run the model in ANSYS workbench 11, as she is with her project, but again I cannot create a suitable simulation based on my requirements.

My questions are; Is there a better software environment I should be using to perform the FE model and analysis? It doesn't bother me too much if it requires me to reproduce the model and discard my SW2008 files. What kind of model is this (ie- flexible dynamic)? Are there any places I can search to better understand either of the programs I mentioned first?

Thanks in advance for bearing with me. Any more information required, please contact me.

You may want to post this in a more "structural engineering" based forum as opposed to a CFD forum.

However, I believe quite a few people use Abaqus, which is now called SIMULIA, and is owned by those who mkae Solidworks so you should be able to use your files.

Here is the website:

http://www.simulia.com/