I am a Mechanical Engineer and an FEA beginner. I consider myself to be familiar with Solidworks but not Simulation nor FEA in general. Although I have a B.S. degree the coursework on FEA was not much more than "press these buttons, make pretty graphs, there's your answer".

 I think its important to have a decent textbook on FEA and since Simulation is used a great deal it seems reasonable that the text would work with that software. I have gone through most, if not all, the information and tutorials in the help window in Simulation but I'd like more. One area in particular that I would like to gain more experience in is determining the validity of an analysis. Everything that is done I simplify and then back up with hand calculations but I know that Simulation must have its own checks. I'd like to learn more about what those checks are and additionally what I should be looking for and checking myself in the analysis. I've learned a few things but I'd imagine there is much more out there. Any texts that you find helpful or recommend would be greatly appreciated. best,