Using "factor of safety" to Post-Processes Different Yield Strengths

The factor of safety is the ratio of the allowable stress to the actual stress. For our purposes, in Hyper Works, a factor of safety of 1 indicates that the stress is at the yield stress. A factor of safety of less than 1 represents likely failure. A factor of safety of greater than 1 indicates how much the stress is below the allowable limit. Even if a customer has no specific “Factor of Safety” requirements, this feature can allow us to post process complicated models with multiple yield strengths of material on a single legend by using a percentage of yield stress, rather than actual stress. This vastly speeds up post processing and improves the chances that all areas of concern will be caught and addressed.