PoDESL: An Integrated Declarative Domain-Specific Language Ecosystem for Finite Element Analysis in Engineering Education and Rapid Prototyping

Abstract

This paper introduces PoDESL (Portable Domain-Specific Language), a comprehensive open-source ecosystem designed to bridge the gap between commercial finite element analysis (FEA) software and educational/research needs. PoDESL integrates a human-readable declarative DSL, a modular finite element solver library, and a browser-based integrated development environment (IDE) into a unified platform for structural and thermal analysis. The DSL employs a block-structured syntax inspired by technical reporting, which is transpiled into executable Python code via a custom parser-transpiler pipeline. The solver library implements standard Galerkin formulations for trusses, frames, plane stress/strain, 3D solids, and heat conduction problems. The web-based IDE provides immediate feedback through visualization, reporting, and Abaqus export capabilities.

Validation against analytical solutions and established benchmarks demonstrates engineering accuracy with relative errors below 2% for static structural problems. Performance analysis shows that PoDESLexecutes approximately 1.4–1.6 times slower than optimized compiled solvers like CalculiX, a reasonable trade-off for its enhanced usability. Three case studies—parametric frame analysis, sequential thermo-mechanical coupling, and educational truss bridge analysis—illustrate practical applications.PoDESLsignificantly reduces the learning curve for FEA, making it suitable for undergraduate education, research prototyping, and industrial concept validation while maintaining computational rigor.