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Getting started

These pages take you from a Windows computer without Python to your first flange fatigue analysis. No programming experience is needed: every command is given in full, and every step tells you what you should see.

There are two ways of using PyFlange:

  • Without writing code

    Describe the flange in a text file (a case file) and run the analysis with one command. Results are written to JSON, CSV or Excel files.

    Good for routine checks and for Monte Carlo simulations of a single flange.

  • With Python scripts

    Build the flange model in a short Python script. You have access to every intermediate quantity and you can run parameter studies, plots and batches.

    Good for design iterations and for anything the command line does not cover (for example T-flanges).

Both ways use the same model and give the same results.

The steps

  1. Install PyFlange: install Python, open a terminal and install the package. About 10 minutes.
  2. First analysis without code: download an example case file, run a fatigue analysis and open the results in Excel.
  3. First Python script: write, run and modify a short script that computes a bolt force curve.

When you are done, continue with the tutorials.

Already familiar with Python?

Install the package with pip install pyflange and go straight to the tutorials.