A clustering tool for interrogating finite element models based on eigenvectors of graph adjacency

This note introduces an unsupervised learning algorithm to debug errors in finite element (FE) simulation models and details how it was productionised. The algorithm clusters degrees of freedom in the FE model using numerical properties of the adjacency of its stiffness matrix. The algorithm has been deployed as a tool called `Model Stability Analysis’ tool within the commercial structural FE suite Oasys GSA (www.oasys-software.com/gsa). It has been used successfully by end-users for debugging real world FE models and we present examples of the tool in action.