2. What modeling objectives: from design to research?

The first two paragraphs are concerned with mechanical analysis, "commonplace in design", and remain linked to classical notions of linear elasticity.

The third paragraph deals briefly with the vast field of manufacturing process simulation, mainly to discuss the results that these studies can provide for mechanical analysis.

Three paragraphs deal with the fields of mechanical expertise: non-linear analysis, fatigue and fracture analysis, probabilistic analysis. The use of these fields is growing, but the culture enabling them to be approached is less widespread. We have chosen to round off our analysis of usage with a brief presentation of a few concepts that can be used to initiate dialogue with software suppliers.

The final paragraph looks at current research avenues, to make the reader aware of future developments....