Riveted joint rack analysis

A method to analyze a rack with riveted joints is provided. The method includes importing a computer aided design (CAD) model of a rack and finding all annular edges in the CAD model with a predefined parameter. The method further includes gathering coordinates of nodes on the found annular edges, calculating average coordinates for the nodes of each found annular edge and identifying the average coordinates as a center point for each found annular edge. The method also includes identifying pairs of proximal center points and, for each pair of proximal center points, connecting the nodes on the found annular edges with the corresponding center point with rigid constraints and generating a beam element connecting the proximal center points in accordance with the rigid constraints.