How should I apply boundary conditions for a real-world load in my FEA bracket?

[Ronald.C]

I’ve been trying to model a simple bracket in my CAD software, but my stress results look way off compared to my hand calculations. I finally sat down with a decent finite element analysis tutorial, and while it helped, I’m still unsure about how to properly apply boundary conditions for a real-world load case. It feels like a small mistake in setup completely changes the outcome.