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Siemens adds material modeling to Simcenter through acquisition of MultiMechanics

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Siemens announced that it has signed an agreement to acquire MultiMechanics, Inc., developer of MultiMech finite element software that helps companies virtually predict failure in advanced materials at an unprecedented level of speed and accuracy. The company plans to integrate MultiMechanics into Siemens Digital Industries Software, which will add the ability for customers to create a digital twin of materials by closely integrating materials engineering with part design, performance engineering, and manufacturing through the unique TRUE Multiscale technology for a broad range of material-driven applications. MultiMechanics’ technology helps companies to efficiently predict material properties and behavior, including failure starting at the microstructural level, at an unprecedented level of speed and accuracy. This unique technology will be incorporated into Simcenter software within Siemens’ Xcelerator portfolio, implementing materials engineering into the digital workflow and establishing a pervasive link between material developers, manufacturing process developers and part designers.

“The addition of this technology enables our customers to build a digital twin of materials, which will help to shrink the innovation cycle of new products and materials, possibly saving millions of dollars and several years in development and certification in aerospace, automotive and other sectors,” explains Jan Leuridan, Senior Vice President, Simulation & Test Solutions, Siemens Digital Industries Software. “Customers will have the ability to fully exploit the potential of advanced materials to optimize weight and performance in an efficient way that is not possible with classical, test-based, approaches.”

“We are excited to join Siemens and the Simcenter family,” says Flavio Souza, President and CTO, MultiMechanics, Inc. “The combination of the TRUE Multiscale technology of MultiMechanics with Simcenter 3D software will provide a strong basis for further innovation, enabling an expansion of scope of structural simulation to include multi-physics support for applications such as minimization of part distortion, prevention of voids during material flow, and prediction of visco-elastic acoustic properties.”

Digitalization, or the fourth industrial revolution, is happening today, causing disruption in the process and discrete industries, and blurring boundaries between domains, merging the virtual and real world, hardware and software, and design and manufacturing. In this dynamic environment, the ability to meet rapidly changing consumer preferences and requirements with insights and data is essential and can only be achieved through digital twins that represent and validate what is possible through a complete end-to-end workflow. Siemens‘ acquisition of MultiMechanics further expands the ability to create the most comprehensive digital twin by integrating structural computer-aided engineering (CAE) with detailed materials modeling through TRUE Multiscale technology, for a broad range of materials, including polymers, metals, composites, and ceramics. Manufacturing technologies such as injection-molding and additive manufacturing will see immediate applications, as the digital twin of materials can account for manufacturing variability and imperfections, identify the root cause of material failure at microstructure level, optimize material microstructure for best performance, and enable the creation and virtual testing of new material systems.

“We are confident that as part of Siemens, MultiMechanics’ technology can accelerate innovation in, and adoption of, complex materials, including the further penetration of composites in the automotive and aerospace industries,” said Nicolas Cudré Maroux, Chief Technology Officer of Solvay, a major customer and shareholder of MultiMechanics.

“The accuracy and speed afforded by MultiMechanics, and its efficient integration with commonly used commercial finite element software packages is changing the way we develop new materials and interact with our customers,” added Mike Blair, EVP Research and Innovation Composite Materials at Solvay.

The acquisition is due to close in November 2019. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Siemens Digital Industries Software
www.siemens.com/simcenter

 

nTop Platform 2.0 overcomes the geometry bottleneck

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nTopology announces the latest version of its computational-modeling software, nTop Platform 2.0, an engineering software that enables engineers to simultaneously consider geometry, performance and manufacturability within a single, reusable workflow. This release includes support for prepackaged, application-specific nTop Toolkits, letting engineers quickly learn and use its capabilities right out of the box.

nTop Platform was developed to solve engineering problems where geometry is a bottleneck. It can handle complexity and iteration with speed and ease. The prepackaged Toolkits and authoring capabilities can be used to automate engineering workflows, delivering efficiencies and scaling an organization’s best talent across the enterprise. With nTop Platform, teams can automate tasks that take hours, days or weeks with traditional design tools because of the ability to build reusable workflows.

nTopology is also partnering with industry leaders in additive manufacturing hardware to deliver new capabilities to their users. “The flexibility and high performance of nTopology software and its ability to package-up customer workflows helps us and our customers to create advanced Digital Foam,” says Fabian Krauss, Global Business Development Manager at EOS. “We use it in projects to create 3D-printed products with architected materials properties tailored to customer needs. It unlocks the true potential of generative design in additive manufacturing for Digital Foam and for many other applications.”

In addition to the new prepackaged Toolkits, nTop Platform’s authoring capabilities allow a company’s engineers to create their own proprietary toolkits, enabling secure knowledge transfer across the organization.

Lightweighting Toolkit
● Quickly and easily reduce the weight and maximize the performance of parts.
● Shell parts in seconds no matter how complex the geometry.
● Apply variable wall thickness to shelled parts.

Architected Materials Toolkit
● Engineer functional materials that perform at any scale—hundreds of unit cells, or hundreds of billions.
● Design with multifunctional requirements from the start. Structural, thermal, acoustics, or aesthetics; all with total control at any length scale.
● Optimize unit cells to create unique material properties to perfectly suit the application. Increase surface area while reducing weight. Turn geometric complexity into a competitive advantage.

Design Analysis Toolkit
● Use fully integrated simulation capabilities to seamlessly analyze parts in a single, connected workflow.
● Drive geometric parameters directly from simulation results to achieve high-performance parts that meet functional requirements.
● Integrate with the simulation tools an organization already uses, including ANSYS, Abaqus, and Nastran.

Topology Optimization Toolkit
● Discover new and innovative designs early in the product development cycle.
● Apply multiple loading conditions and optimize for a variety of performance criteria including stress, displacement, stiffness, and weight.
● Use automated geometry reconstruction tools to quickly generate instantly editable geometry.

Additive Manufacturing Toolkit
● Position, orient and prepare parts for additive manufacturing from a set of common build platforms.
● Add lattice support structures easily and quickly
● Slice parts avoiding error-prone STL files and export manufacturing data directly to machines

nTopology
www.ntopology.com

COMSOL launches Version 5.5 of COMSOL Multiphysics

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COMSOL, a leading provider of software solutions for multiphysics modeling, simulation, and application design and deployment, announces the latest version of its COMSOL Multiphysics software. In version 5.5, the Design Module provides an entirely new sketching tool for easier creation and more versatile parametric control of geometry models. New and updated solvers speed up a range of simulations. Two new add-on products, the Porous Media Flow Module and the Metal Processing Module, further expand the product suite’s multiphysics modeling power.

Parametric sketching with dimensions
The Design Module provides a new sketching tool that makes it easy to assign dimensions and constraints to planar drawings for 2D models and 3D work planes. “We have carefully integrated the new dimensions and constraints tool in the Model Builder so that it becomes a natural part of the COMSOL Multiphysics workflow,” said Daniel Bertilsson, technology manager for mathematics and computer science at COMSOL. “The new tools for dimensions and constraints can be used together with model parameters in COMSOL Multiphysics to drive the simulation, whether for a single run, parametric sweep, or parametric optimization.”

Parametric optimization of fluid flow in a microvalve using the new sketching tool with dimensions and constraints capabilities available in the Design Module.

New solver technology for Acoustics Simulations
Ultrasound technology is becoming increasingly important in a range of applications spanning from process engineering and nondestructive testing to consumer electronics. New functionality based on the time-explicit discontinuous Galerkin method enables efficient multicore computations of ultrasound propagation in solids and fluids, including realistic materials featuring damping and anisotropy. The method also has low-frequency applications, such as in seismology. The included multiphysics capabilities can seamlessly combine linear elastic wave propagation in a solid and its transition to a fluid as an acoustic pressure wave, and back again. The new elastic wave functionality is available for users of the Structural Mechanics Module, MEMS Module, and Acoustics Module. The fluid-structure acoustics coupling is available in the Acoustics Module.

 

Sound pressure field in a car interior solved with the finite element method at 7 kHz using a specialized solver for wave propagation analysis.

For frequency-domain simulations, a specialized solver for wave propagation analysis makes it possible to handle higher frequencies (shorter wavelengths) using the finite element method. The new solver can be used to analyze enclosed structures such as that of a car cabin interior as well as other acoustics simulations.

Introducing the Metal Processing Module
The new Metal Processing Module makes metal phase transformation analysis accessible within the COMSOL Multiphysics environment for applications within welding, heat treatment, and metal additive manufacturing. “The Metal Processing Module makes it possible to predict deformations, stresses, and strains resulting from wanted or unwanted heat-driven phase changes in metals,” said Mats Danielsson, technical product manager at COMSOL. “The module can be combined with any of the other COMSOL products for virtually any kind of multiphysics analysis that includes metal phase change. We envision users combining this with, for example, the Heat Transfer Module for the influence of heat radiation, the Ac/dc Module for induction hardening, and the Nonlinear Structural Materials Module for highly predictive analysis of material behavior.”

 

Residual stresses in a spur gear after quenching, calculated using the Metal Processing Module.

Introducing the Porous Media Flow Module

The Porous Media Flow Module gives users within, for example, food, pharmaceutical, and biomedical industries a wide range of transport analysis capabilities for porous media. The new add-on product includes functionality for single- and multiphase flow in porous media, drying, and transport in fractures. The flow models cover linear and nonlinear flow in saturated and variably saturated media with special options for slow and fast porous media flows. The multiphysics simulation capabilities are extensive, with functionality that includes options for calculating effective thermal properties for multicomponent systems; poroelasticity; and transport of chemical species in solid, liquid, and gas phases.

Simulation of a packed bed latent heat storage tank, using the Porous Media Flow Module.

Simplified Shape and Topology Optimization with the Optimization Module
Users working with mechanical, acoustics, electromagnetics, heat, fluid, and chemical analysis have been able to perform shape and topology optimization in COMSOL Multiphysics for many years. The Optimization Module now offers simplified setup of shape optimization with new built-in features such as moving boundaries parameterized by polynomials and built-in support for shell thickness optimization. A new smoothing operation for topology optimization ensures higher-quality geometry outputs that can be used for additional analysis and additive manufacturing. COMSOL Multiphysics now has general support for import and export of the additive manufacturing formats PLY and 3MF, in addition to the STL format that is already available.

Shape optimization of a sheet metal bracket using the Optimization Module. The structure is subjected to a bending load resulting in ridges in the optimal design.

Nonlinear Shell Analysis, Pipe Mechanics, and Random Vibration Analysis
A wide range of nonlinear analysis options are now available for shells and composite shells, including plasticity, creep, viscoplasticity, viscoelasticity, hyperelasticity, and mechanical contact. The mechanical contact modeling functionality has been extended to support any combination of solids and shells, including solid-shell, solid-composite shell, and membrane-shell. Depending on the type of analysis, these improvements will be available to users of the Structural Mechanics Module, Nonlinear Structural Materials Module, and Composite Materials Module.

For users of the Structural Mechanics Module, a new user interface for pipe mechanics provides functionality to perform stress analysis of pipe systems. The new functionality can handle a variety of pipe cross sections and can include effects from external loads, internal pressure, axial drag forces, and temperature gradients through the pipe wall.

Users of the Structural Mechanics Module can now perform random vibration analysis to study the response to loads that are represented by their power spectral density (PSD).

This allows users to include loads that are random in nature, such as turbulent wind gusts or road-induced vibrations on a vehicle. The loads can be fully correlated, uncorrelated, or have a specific user-given correlation.

The Multibody Dynamics Module provides new functionality for analyzing rigid and elastic chain drives with automatic generation of the large number of links and joints needed for modeling chain drives.

 

Elastic chain drive analysis in the Multibody Dynamics Module. Colors and arrows show the velocity and velocity direction, respectively, in the chain and sprockets.

Compressible Euler Flow and Nonisothermal Large Eddy Simulations
Users of the CFD Module will get new interfaces for compressible Euler flow and nonisothermal large eddy simulations (LES). In addition, the flow interfaces for rotating machinery now support the level set and phase field methods as well as Euler–Euler and bubbly flow. The Heat Transfer Module comes with a new interface for lumped thermal systems, an equivalent circuit modeling approach for heat transfer simulations. Radiation in semitransparent (participating) media now supports multiple spectral bands, and a new open boundary formulation for convective flow reduces solution time by 30%.

Multiscale Wave and Ray Optics, Piezoelectric Shells, and PCB Ports
The Ray Optics Module can now be combined with the RF Module or Wave Optics Module for simultaneous full-wave and ray tracing simulations. This enables multiscale modeling, such as analyzing a waveguide beaming into a large room, where using a full-wave simulation would be computationally prohibitive. Combining the AC/DC Module and the Composite Materials Module, users can now analyze layered materials with both dielectric and piezoelectric layers in thin structures. In the RF Module, a set of new ports for vias and transmission lines makes setup much quicker and gives more control to the user for modeling of printed circuit boards.

Efficient Distribution of Standalone Applications
COMSOL Compiler enables you to create standalone applications based on COMSOL Multiphysics models with specialized user interfaces that have been built with the Application Builder. Compiled applications require only COMSOL Runtime — no COMSOL Multiphysics or COMSOL Server license is required. “Since the release of COMSOL Compiler last fall, we have seen great response from our Application Builder users with this new possibility of distributing their applications in standalone form,” said Daniel Ericsson, application product manager at COMSOL. The latest version of COMSOL Compiler has a new compile option for generating minimum-sized files for easier distribution. When the user launches an application for the first time, where the new compile option has been used, COMSOL Runtime is downloaded and installed, if needed, from COMSOL’s website. Only one instance of COMSOL Runtime is needed for applications using the same COMSOL version. COMSOL Runtime has a size of about 350 MB and an application file can be as small as a few MB.

The COMSOL Runtime installer for standalone applications created with the Application Builder and compiled with COMSOL Compiler.

Highlights in Version 5.5:

–New sketching tool with dimensions and constraints

–Fast linear elastic wave simulations

–New Metal Processing Module for welding, heat treatment, and metal additive manufacturing

–New Porous Media Flow Module for food, pharmaceutical, and biomedical industries

–Improved tools for shape and topology optimization for mechanical, acoustics, electromagnetics, heat, fluid, and chemical analysis

–Import and export of the 3D printing and additive manufacturing formats PLY and 3MF

–Editing tools for repair of STL, PLY, and 3MF files

–Structural analysis of nonlinear shells, pipe mechanics, random vibration, and chain drives

–Compressible Euler flow and nonisothermal large eddy simulation (LES)

–Rotating machinery with level set, phase field, Euler–Euler, and bubbly flow

–Lumped thermal system equivalent circuits

–Multiple spectral bands for radiation in participating media

–More efficient open boundary condition for convective heat transfer

–Use of thermodynamic database properties in any simulation type

–Combined full wave and ray optics simulations

–Piezoelectric and dielectric shells

–New PCB ports for vias and transmission lines

–Link images to Microsoft PowerPoint presentations

–Create your own add-ins for customizing the Model Builder workflow

–Minimal file size standalone applications with COMSOL Compiler

Availability
COMSOL Multiphysics, COMSOL Server, and COMSOL Compiler software products are supported on the following operating systems: Windows, Linux, and macOS. The Application Builder tool is supported in the Windows operating system.

To browse version 5.5 release highlights, visit: www.comsol.com/release/5.5

To download the latest version, visit: www.comsol.com/product-download

COMSOL

PTC to acquire Onshape

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PTC announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Onshape, creators of Software as a Service (SaaS) product development platform that unites computer aided design (CAD) with data management and collaboration tools, for approximately $470 million, net of cash acquired.
The acquisition is expected to accelerate PTC’s ability to attract new customers with a SaaS-based product offering and position the company to capitalize on the inevitable industry transition to SaaS. Pending regulatory approval and satisfaction of other closing conditions, the transaction is expected to be completed in November 2019.

Located in Cambridge, MA, Onshape was founded in 2012 by CAD pioneers and tech legends, including Jon Hirschtick, John McEleney, and Dave Corcoran, inventors and former executives of SolidWorks. Onshape has secured more than $150 million in funding from leading venture capital firms and has more than 5,000 subscribers around the world. The company’s software offering is delivered in a SaaS model, making it accessible from any connected location or device, eliminating the need for costly hardware and administrative staff to maintain. Distributed and mobile teams of designers, engineers, and others can benefit from the product’s cloud nature, enabling them to improve collaboration and to dramatically reduce the time needed to bring new products to market – while simultaneously staying current with the latest software.

This acquisition is the logical next step in PTC’s overall evolution to a recurring revenue business model, the first step of which was the company’s transition to subscription licensing, completed in January 2019. The SaaS model, while nascent in the CAD and PLM market, is rapidly becoming industry best practice across most other software domains.

Onshape will operate as a business unit within PTC, with current management reporting directly to PTC President and CEO Jim Heppelmann.

Barclays acted as exclusive financial advisor to PTC on the transaction.

PTC
www.ptc.com

Dassault Systèmes introduces SOLIDWORKS 2020

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Dassault Systèmes introduced SOLIDWORKS 2020, the latest release of its portfolio of 3D design and engineering applications. SOLIDWORKS 2020 features enhancements, new capabilities and workflows that enable users to accelerate and improve product development, from conceptual design to manufactured products.

By seamlessly connecting to the 3DEXPERIENCE platform, SOLIDWORKS 2020 addresses the emerging trends and business needs in the global marketplace that require competitive organizations to seek new levels of collaboration and agility to more quickly and cost-effectively deliver new categories of experiences to their customers.

With SOLIDWORKS 2020’s hundreds of new enhancements, users can benefit from an array of choices and opportunities to improve system performance in their daily operations, streamline workflows and extend their design to manufacturing ecosystem from the desktop to the cloud with seamless connection to the 3DEXPERIENCE platform.

Among the hundreds of new enhancements in SOLIDWORKS 2020 are:

–New Detailing mode and graphics acceleration for drawings: This mode lets users open their drawing in seconds while maintaining the ability to add and edit annotations within the drawing. Detailing mode is useful if users need to make minor edits to drawings of large assemblies or drawings with many sheets, configurations, or resource-intensive views.

–Make Part Flexible is a new capability that allows users to display the same part in different conditions in the same assembly. For example, the same spring exists twice in the same assembly, but in two different conditions – compressed and not compressed. Make Part Flexible is useful in many design applications such as springs, bellows, hinges, o-rings and just about any part that can flex or change condition.

–Improvements to SOLIDWORKS PDM, the SOLIDWORKS Electrical connector and a new SOLIDWORKS PCB connector allow for complete electronics design and data management – including the secure storage, indexing and versioning of all user data – while enabling tighter collaboration between ECAD and MCAD teams.

With SOLIDWORKS 2020, and the 3DEXPERIENCE.WORKS portfolio, the 3DEXPERIENCE platform offers a growing set of cloud-based solutions that work together to help manage every aspect of developing concepts, designing products, and manufacturing and delivering them. Solutions like 3D Sculptor, which includes the xShape (sub division modeling) application, 3D Creator featuring the xDesign (parametric modeling) application, 3D Component Designer (data management), Project Planner, and Structural Professional Engineer (advanced simulation), enable users to reduce friction in their design to manufacturing process.

As announced at SOLIDWORKS World 2019 earlier this year, all these cloud-based solutions will be part of the 3DEXPERIENCE.WORKS portfolio.

“We aren’t just bringing powerful new capabilities to the SOLIDWORKS portfolio everybody knows and loves, but also extending it to the cloud through the 3DEXPERIENCE platform, the only holistic digital experience platform in the world. We’ve built a bridge to our platform-based portfolio, empowering our users to take advantage of 3DEXPERIENCE.WORKS offerings,” said Gian Paolo Bassi, CEO, SOLIDWORKS, Dassault Systèmes. “This gives organizations the environment and the applications to truly embrace the Industry Renaissance and its spirit of discovery for new ways of inventing, innovating, collaborating and producing.”

“Since 2002, Omax has used SOLIDWORKS applications to design every part of the fastest and most precise waterjet cutting technology in the industry,” said Eric A. Beatty, Senior Mechanical Designer, Omax Corporation. “Omax will continue to innovate and develop its waterjet machines and accessories with SOLIDWORKS 2020, which offers game-changing power, performance, and collaboration in the field by opening up access to the value creation process to everyone, everywhere, on any device.”

Dassault Systèmes’
www.3ds.com

Simcenter 3D accelerates electromagnetics simulation processes

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The latest version of Simcenter 3D software includes enhancements for low- and high-frequency electromagnetic solutions to help accelerate electromagnetics simulation processes. This version advances simulation capabilities with increased multidisciplinary integration capabilities, faster CAE process, increased openness and scalability, and enhanced capabilities to integrate with the digital thread.

Including electromagnetic simulation into Simcenter 3D enables engineers to perform electromagnetic simulation faster than with traditional simulation tools and streamline multiphysics workflows between electromagnetic and other physical simulations.

Additional enhancements to Simcenter 3D include:
• Faster CAE Processes: A new immersed boundary method helps engineers spend less time modeling for computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis. Engineers can also instantaneously compute new configurations for flexible hoses and pipes after a design configuration change.
• Open and Scalable Environment: Engineers can use calculated vibrations from common third-party finite element (FE) solvers, ANSYS and Abaqus, and apply those vibrations as loading in a structural or vibro-acoustic solution in Simcenter 3D, which can lead to a better understanding of how vibrations will impact perceived sound by end-customers.
• Tied to the Digital Thread: An enhanced interface between Simcenter 3D and Simcenter Testlab software helps engineers better collaborate with colleagues in the test group. New capabilities available in Teamcenter Simulation help engineers quickly identify which simulations are impacted after a design change.

Siemens Digital Industries Software
new.siemens.com/global/en/

Updates in CAD focus on better simulation

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While the latest upgrades to major CAD systems don’t make major changes to the way those programs operate, they do include significant updates. Here’s a look at some of the biggest enhancements and key features of these programs.

Jean Thilmany, Senior Editor

CAD packages continue to see regular updates, whether a major release, or the minor updates that happen throughout the year. Some updates include major enhancements or new features, as is the case with NX, which now includes machine learning and artificial intelligence features. The company will quit bringing out yearly NX updates, as the software is now offered on continuous release.

Other popular programs like Creo, Solid Edge, SolidWorks, and Autodesk Fusion 360 have seen changes as well. More than one company has changed the way in which they name the new versions of their software and several boast new or enhanced simulation capabilities.

Here’s a look at the most recent updates.

NX from Siemens PLM

In February, Siemens announced an update to its NX CAD software, which now includes machine learning and artificial intelligence features that, by following users’ patterns over time, come to automatically predict their next steps and anticipate their needs.

The programs do this by monitoring the actions of the user and following their success and failures. In that way, the features determine how to serve up the right NX commands and also modify the user interface accordingly, says Bob Haubrock, senior vice President, product engineering software at Siemens PLM Software.

Machine learning is increasingly used in the product design process because it has the power to process, analyze, and learn from large volumes of data, he adds. In this way, designers can more efficiently use software to increase productivity. The ability to automatically adapt the user interface to meet the needs of different types of users in various departments can increase CAD adoption rates at a company, continues Haubrock.

In another recent change, Siemens PLM Software began delivering NX using a continuous release model. This means the software updates are produced in short cycles and are released when needed, at any time.

The model gives NX users faster access to new enhancements and quality improvements, while reducing the efforts needed to effectively deploy NX, Haubrock says. “With automatic updates, customers do not have to search for updates online and will not miss critical fixes. The NX Update mechanism will automatically notify and install important updates as they become available.”

With continuous release, users can turn on “automatic updates” within their system to ensure they always receive the updates. The approach helps reduce the cost, time, and risk of delivering changes by allowing for more incremental updates to applications.

Thus, NX will no longer be identified by a release number and will only be referred to as NX. In other words, there will be no NX13.

The CADmaker says it’s the first major CAD, CAM, and analysis vendor to deliver its products in this way.
The company says the new approach will enable Siemens’ NX users to:
–Receive enhancements faster to help boost productivity
–Have a consistent schedule for updates
–Better plan for the adoption of new technologies
–Reduce deployment costs

Creo from PTC

In February PTC released Creo Simulation Live, which allows engineers to perform simulation in real time on their parametric models because ANSYS simulation capabilities have been integrated with the Creo CAD tool.

Creo Simulation Live, from PTC, lets engineers perform simulation in real time on their parametric models because ANSYS simulation capabilities have been integrated with the Creo CAD tool.

“Every time you make a change in your model, you’ll see the consequences instantaneously in the modeling environment,” says Brian Thompson, PTC senior vice president, CAD segment.

“The goal is to remove the barrier between the CAD and CAE world,” says Andrew Leedy, a PTC applications engineer. “This is targeted toward the engineer or designer rather than the analyst.”

The simulation software runs linear, structural, thermal, and modal analyses. The solver uses GPU rather than CPU for instantaneous analysis, Leedy adds. “So as soon as you make changes to the model it updates the graphics that drive the simulation.

The capability to simulate and design simultaneously helps engineers understand the implications of what they’re making, he adds.

The integrated tool also eliminates the need for the engineer to mesh the model before running a simulation and does away with the post-processing step.

The integrated simulation software from ANSYS is called Discovery Live.

“Engineers can ask ‘What if I add this hole, what will it do to the model?’” he said. “This works on top of the model, it works directly within the environment an engineer is used to.”

The CAD software does require a graphics card that supports the ANSYS tool.

Solid Edge from Siemens PLM

Solid Edge 2019 brings a new naming convention to the tool, which will now be referred to by the year in which it is released. This makes it easier for engineers to identify the release they’re using as well and to identify the products within the Solid Edge portfolio, says Ben Weisenberg, applications engineer at product lifecycle management company Prolim. Weisenberg frequently details Solid Edge updates to the CADmaker’s user community.

Solid Edge 2019, from Siemens PLM, makes it easier for engineers to identify the products within the Solid Edge portfolio. The most significant updates for mechanical designers are tools that allow engineers to model and simulate the entire production process along with the final product.

The most significant updates for mechanical designers are tools that allow engineers to model and simulate the entire production process along with the final product, Weisenberg says.

These include the convergent modeling tools that designers can use to integrate mesh models directly into their workflows. They can use these tools for the milling, casting, and molding of generative designs and 3D printed designs.

Manufacturing constraints allow engineers to optimize the weight and strength requirements of their model. A new design-for-cost feature shows the anticipated cost of the part, to help keep product development on track and within budget.

Updated simulation capabilities include:
–Enhanced structural and thermal simulation, including transient heat transfer.
–Time-based history analysis enables simulation of thermal and cooling performance.
–Free surface flow simulation, lighting and radiation capabilities allow digital “what if” analysis.
–The ability to display simulation results on geometry faces to help engineers make more informed judgments about the model.

SolidWorks from Dassault Systèmes

New features to the program, released in September 2018, let product development teams better manage large amounts of data and capture a more complete digital representation of a design. The program also offers new technologies and workflows that improve collaboration and enable immersive, interactive experiences during design and engineering.

SolidWorks 2019, from Dassault Systèmes, is powered by the company’s 3DExperience platform, which runs the CAD, simulation, and other tools on which designers and engineers rely. Those applications on the 3DExperience platform are tailored to SolidWorks users and mid-market companies.

Other new features include the capability for engineers to interrogate or rapidly make changes to a model through an enhanced large design review capability. Another upgrade gives teams a way to communicate with others not involved in design. With this feature, viewers of the CAD design can add markups to parts and assemblies and then export the marked-up designs as a PDF.

The most recent update from Dassault Systèmes involves the Works portfolio, which will bring applications like SolidWorks together with business solutions like a company’s enterprise resource planning (ERP) system. Typically, ERP systems track all pertinent companywide business processes, including accounting, supply chain, and human resources.

When parent company Dassault Systèmes launched SolidWorks 2019, executives stated that the CAD tool was “powered” by the company’s 3DExperience platform, which runs the CAD, simulation, and other tools on which designers and engineers rely.

Those applications continue to run on the company’s 3DExperience platform and are tailored to SolidWorks users and mid-market companies. They have been folded in the 3DExperienceWorks portfolio.

SolidWorks executives term the new portfolio a “business experience platform.” It provides software solutions for every organization within a company—from design to enterprise resource management, says Bernard Charlès, vice chairman and chief executive officer for Dassault Systèmes. “It’s a way for mid-market companies to tie all processes together, from design to manufacturing.”

Use of the applications across the platform should improve collaboration, manufacturing efficiency, and business agility, he added. Companies can accomplish their work using one cohesive digital innovation environment instead of using a complex series of point solutions that requires jumping between applications and interfaces, Charlès, says.

The software on the platform includes SolidWorks, analysis, simulation, manufacturing, and ERP applications. It is available on-premise and in the public or private cloud. The platform connects data and streamlines business and design processes by providing dashboard templates, managed services, access to industry-focused communities and user groups, and applications specific to a variety of job roles, Charlès says.

Autodesk

Like other CADmakers Autodesk has consolidated its design, simulation, and other computer-aided engineering capabilities in one product, Fusion 360, which is available as a cloud-based product. The product unifies design, engineering, and manufacturing into a single platform, according to Autodesk.

Fusion is a 3D modeling took that includes simulation, visualization, rendering, CAM, and other functions within a single interface. It also includes a 3D animation tool and 2D drawing tools. The product runs on both Windows and Macintosh systems.

In March, updates to that product included the capability to know when a teammate is working on your design at the same time to avoid doing work that will be over-ridden by another designer. When someone is working on the same design, an icon is displayed in the toolbar. By using a mouse to hover over the icon, a designer can see who is working on the same design. If one person makes a change to the design and saves it, the icon in the toolbar will change, letting the designer know that the design now has a newer version.

The toolbar has been updated to include quick access tools and documents tabs that line up with one another for more space on the design desktop.

Also new is a hole-tap tool called taper tapped, which allows designers to choose among a variety of thread types.

Autodesk also maintains its AutoCAD and Inventor CAD tools with no plans to immediately discontinue those products. Those two CAD systems usually see a new release in March of each year; though as of press time Autodesk hasn’t announced 2020 versions of AutoCAD or Inventor.

At Autodesk University in November 2018, Greg Fallon, vice president of business strategy at Autodesk, did announce updates to a collection of tools that work inside Inventor as well as a suite of specialized toolsets now available with AutoCAD.

Two years previously at Autodesk University 2016, company officials said they expect to maintain Inventor for another five to ten years and plan to continue updating it and enhancing functions. The Inventor emphasis will continue to be on industrial machinery design, officials said at that time.

While Inventor may be phased out in favor of Fusion 360, this has not been explicitly stated by Autodesk executives.

As ever, there are too many CAD packages to include in a single roundup. Other applications include IronCAD, TurboCAD, OnShape, Catia, and KeyCreator. All these will include new and updated features in future updates.

As designers and engineers know, when it comes to CAD software, the key phrase is, constant evolution.

Ansys
www.ansys.com

Autodesk
www.autodesk.com

Dassault Systèmes
www.3ds.com

PTC
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NX Software now includes Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning features

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The latest version of NX software includes an expansion of the Digital Innovation Platform that has been enhanced with machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities. These new features can predict next steps and update the user interface to help users more efficiently use software to increase productivity.

The ability to automatically adapt the user interface to meet the needs of different types of users across multiple departments can result in higher adoption rates, leading to a higher-quality computer-aided technology (CAx) system and the creation of a more robust digital twin.


Machine learning (ML) is increasingly being leveraged in the product design process for a competitive advantage. ML can deliver valuable business insights quickly and efficiently, and it has the power to process, analyze, and learn from large volumes of data. AI and ML can also be used to monitor the actions of the user, their success and failures, to dynamically determine how to serve up the right NX commands and or modify the interface and leverage learned UI usage knowledge for CAx environment personalization.

“There’s always been a capability-usability tradeoff with CAD applications. The more expansive it gets, the more difficult it is to use and master,” said Chad Jackson, Chief Analyst at Lifecycle Insights. “The Adaptive UI in NX, however, circumvents that issue. It guides users, new and old, to the right function at the right time. Many will benefit.”

The Siemens Digital Innovation Platform is continually expanding to enable customers to create the most comprehensive digital twin of a product, the production environment and of the performance of the product. Integrating ML and AI into NX software offers benefits of speed, power, efficiency and intelligence through learning, without having to explicitly program these characteristics. Customers can enhance the design process and reduce time to market.

Siemens PLM Software
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• Latest Simcenter 3D release reduces transmission modeling time by 80%

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Manufacturing is changing with the advent of new materials and production methods, making it more challenging to ensure that as-manufactured parts match the as-designed shape. In the latest release of Simcenter 3D, Siemens PLM Software introduces cutting-edge simulation capabilities, stronger connections to the broader Simcenter portfolio, and an expansion of the integrated multi-disciplinary environment to cover an extended simulation solution footprint, which will help engineers reduce the time, cost and effort required to predict product performance. The simulation solution has also been updated to include simulation of the additive manufacturing process and to cover areas such as transmission simulation, aerostructure margin of safety analysis and fluid-structure interaction.

“In order to build accurate digital twins of their products, companies are demanding more innovations in their simulation software,” said Jan Leuridan, Senior Vice President, Simulation & Test Solutions, Siemens PLM Software. “We are continually innovating new ways to streamline simulation processes and deliver greater accuracy. This release integrates more physics and technologies into the Simcenter 3D environment, to help our customers predict real world performance.

Simcenter 3D can automate the creation and simulation of transmission simulation models within a single, integrated environment. Integrating this traditionally multi-step, error-prone process into a single tool can reduce the engineer’s effort by up to 80%, leading to a more efficient simulation process. “Creating a complex transmission multibody model is a time-consuming process, often requiring the use of multiple software tools,” said Horim Yang, Senior Research Engineer, Hyundai Motor Company. “Simcenter 3D is well suited for our engineering purposes and can reduce the overall time spent on transmission modeling and simulation.”

The latest release of Simcenter 3D offers new ties to the digital thread through synergies with the Simcenter portfolio. New connections between Simcenter 3D and Simcenter STAR-CCM+ software enable aero-acoustics and aero-vibro-acoustic simulations, allowing customers to eliminate the source of unwanted noise for improved cabin comfort. Simcenter 3D can also connect with the routing application within NX software to obtain electrical cord layouts and connection points. Simcenter 3D can then simulate electrical cord deformation within moving assemblies so engineers can make sure wire harnesses don’t get caught on moving parts and adjust as needed to cord routing.

Other new features of Simcenter 3D 2019.1 include:
• Simcenter 3D Aerostructures can streamline the end-to-end aircraft structural analysis and margin of safety process by up to 30%.
• Topology Optimization is more robust, easier to use, and adds design objectives or constraints for structural integrity of a part when subjected to critical loads.
• A new additive manufacturing process simulation tool helps manufacturers achieve a quality print that matches the desired shape on the first try, saving resources, cost, and time.

Siemens PLM Software
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LensMechanix 18.9 improves OpticStudio file loading and usability, offers updates for Creo and SOLIDWORKS

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The latest version of LensMechanix helps optomechanical engineers load a wider range of OpticStudio files into LensMechanix—including files with off-axis components, such as reflective systems—and run multiple ray traces for all configurations with fewer clicks.

With the new version of LensMechanix for Creo, users can now identify the power incident on mechanical components to validate system performance. In addition, they can easily position the optical system within an existing mechanical assembly.

Updates to both LensMechanix for SOLIDWORKS and Creo:
• Load a wider range of OpticStudio files into LensMechanix: LensMechanix now supports the Compound lens, Boolean Native object, and components that convert to Grid Sag. When loading an OpticStudio file, LensMechanix creates the component geometry of the supported components after the conversion to non-sequential.

• Convert and load off-axis components: Now, with support of the Grid Sag component, users can load optical systems that have off-axis lenses such as some head up displays, mirrors with finite substrates, surfaces with decentered apertures, and more complex aspheric surfaces.

• Run multiple ray traces for all configurations with fewer clicks: Engineers now have the option of running multiple ray traces for all configurations with fewer clicks. In previous versions, users had to create a prototype for each configuration and run a ray trace for an individual configuration. Now, users can select the configurations they want to run a ray trace for and see results for the different configurations faster than before.

Updates to LensMechanix for Creo:
• Surface power: Engineers can now view the power incident on any mechanical or optical component, as well as the flux and irradiance on any specific component at different resolutions. Viewing the power loss can help determine which faces of the mechanical component are causing power loss in a system so that it’s possible to make changes to the geometry or apply more absorbent scatter profiles.

• Position with references: With the new release, when loading an OpticStudio file into Creo, optomechanical engineers can load the optical system as a floating assembly, easily dragging and positioning the optical assembly within an existing mechanical model without having to manually float or fix components. This can ensure that you designers can position the optical assembly in the correct position if they are working with an existing assembly.

Update to LensMechanix for SOLIDWORKS
• Experience performance improvements with large assemblies: Loading times and assembly responsiveness has been improved while working with large SOLIDWORKS assemblies. Performance improvements were seen with assemblies of up to 750 components.

Engineers can get a free trial of LensMechanix for Creo Parametric or SOLIDWORKS: https://www.zemax.com/products/lensmechanix-trial

Zemax
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