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CAE

What’s driving the automotive lightweighting revolution?

April 26, 2019 By WTWH Editor Leave a Comment

A perfect storm of social and regulatory changes, AI-driven generative design, and advances in additive manufacturing are bringing automotive lightweighting into the mainstream.

By Avi Reichental, CEO, Techniplas Digital

Since the widespread adoption of industrial technology began in the late 18th century, there have been only a handful of instances where a combination of social change, technological advancement and public policy converged to create the perfect environment to precipitate exponential change.

Today, we are witnessing just such a perfect storm in automotive lightweighting. The result will be a fundamental change in the way people and goods move from one place to another.

What exactly is driving the automotive lightweighting revolution, and how will its effects continue to emerge? To understand this, we need to take a deep dive into both the technological and social/regulatory sides of the equation.

Social and regulatory changes drive demand, but efficiency drives change
Environmental concerns like global warming are driving governments worldwide to demand changes from carmakers with strict emissions and fuel efficiency standards. In addition, consumers are beginning to take vehicle efficiency into account, and manufacturers are being forced to adapt.

But pure vehicle weight considerations are not the primary driving force behind the move to lightweighting. Manufacturers are prioritizing not only vehicular efficiency (of which weight is a key factor), but also overall manufacturing and operational efficiency.

Thus, social and regulatory demands have moved the ball into the manufacturing court. Yet what’s truly driving the lightweighting revolution and making it economically and ecologically viable to lightweight on a massive scale is the technological revolution that’s enabling the design and at-scale production of lightweighted parts.

AI-driven generative design is transformational
AI-driven generative design is lightweighting’s secret sauce.

The reason? Lightweighting by definition relies on either material substitution or reduction – achieving the same function with the same amount of a lighter material or less material. We’ve essentially reached the cost-benefit breaking point for material substitution, and thus the automotive industry has turned to material reduction for lightweighting. And material reduction is where AI-driven generative design truly shines.

AI-driven generative design transforms CAD from an electronic drawing board to a co-designer. Novel solutions created via generative design have shattered existing design paradigms, making the production of organically inspired structures – which can optimize materials usage and radically lower weight without compromising integrity – a reality.

Additive manufacturing brings generative design to life
Without the ability to produce amazing AI-driven designs at scale, the lightweighting revolution would be stuck in the laboratory. Thus, the final element of this “perfect lightweighting storm” is Additive Manufacturing (AM). Today, the automotive industry has the capability, tools, and experience to produce the complex and lightweight geometries created by generative design cost-effectively, rapidly, and at scale.

AM enables vehicle manufacturers to produce millions of the same parts or millions of one-of-a-kind parts. This turns conventional manufacturing wisdom on its head and provides automotive manufacturers a new degree of freedom that it has not previously experienced.

So where does lightweighting come in? The fact is that the components being created by generative design can only be practically manufactured using additive techniques.

Thus, the next generation of lightweighting is tied intrinsically to AM. And this is where things get fascinating. Because now, generative designs are being optimized for AM. Complex geometry is no longer a limitation, but an enabler. Tooling is no longer a must, and more parts can be combined into homogenous units at the design stage, without assembly – lowering part count and (you guessed it) weight.

The bottom line
Automotive manufacturers were early AM adopters – using it for design and prototyping for decades. They realized that this technology was a game changer, yet material performance, computing power and scalability were holding them back.

Today, processes are more cost effective, more scalable, and development cycles are shorter. Today, 3D-printed parts are being produced on a mass scale, and the foundation of traditional manufacturing is being rocked. With the addition of powerful and effective AI-driven generative design, automotive lightweighting today is limited less by technology than by pure imagination.

Filed Under: CAE, CAM, Make Parts Fast, Software Tagged With: techniplasdigital

Santa Tests New Sleigh Design With ANSYS

December 23, 2014 By Barb Schmitz Leave a Comment

As the year winds down and the holidays approach, new product introductions and corporate news grinds to a halt, leaving editors like myself on a somewhat desperate search for news to cover and share with readers.

So it was with great delight that I came across a blog post, written by Gilles Eggenspieler, a senior product line manager at ANSYS. It appears that Santa has been having some sleigh problems. His legendary mode of transportation–used to distribute toys and gifts globally–had broken down during delivery.

Designing a better sleigh

Fortunately he had to look no further than employees at ANSYS who decided to put their simulation and 3D modeling software to work to build Santa a better sleigh.

Santa had two key requests:

* The sleigh needs to be more deer-energy efficient
* The sleigh needs to protect Santa from harsh environments

Eggenspieler recruited three of his colleagues–Brian Bueno, Simon Pereira and Robin Steed–to assist with the redesign. Their first task was to study the current design. “One thing that was obviously clear to us was that Santa did not have any protection from the wind,” says Eggenspieler, “but using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation results also showed that the sleigh drag was very high.”

Santa’s sleigh with flow recirculation region in gray – the larger the recirculation regions, the larger the drag.
Santa’s sleigh with flow recirculation region in gray – the larger the recirculation regions, the larger the drag.

After studying Santa’s existing sleigh design, the team set up the task of designing a new one. Brian Bueno took the lead using ANSYS SpaceClaim software to design the new sleigh. Then Eggenspieler conducted the CFD simulation, and Robin Steed used his visualization skills to prepare the post-processed results, which were very promising.

Santa's new sleigh created in ANSYS SpaceClaim software.
Santa’s new sleigh created in ANSYS SpaceClaim software.

Apparently Santa was thrilled with the result, especially when he was told that if he gets delayed, he can safely switch the sleigh to supersonic speed. The team even added a stealth mode so Santa could be incognito, if necessary.

Santa's sleigh at supersonic speed, one can clearly see the shock wave occurring as soon as speed is about Mach 1.
Santa’s sleigh at supersonic speed, one can clearly see the shock wave occurring as soon as speed is about Mach 1.

The sleigh was built, and tests showed that CFD simulation predicted the sleigh performance pretty well. As of today, the sleigh successfully passed (hyper secret) FAA certification and Rudolph was just certified on this new equipment. You can read the blog post, Santa Puts ANSYS to the Test for New Sleigh Design here.

Happy Holidays everyone!

Barb Schmitz

Filed Under: CAE, News, SpaceClaim News Tagged With: ANSYS

COMSOL Releases COMSOL Server

December 19, 2014 By Barb Schmitz Leave a Comment

COMSOL announced yesterday the release of COMSOL Server, a new product designed specifically for running applications created with the company’s Application Builder. Released at the end of October, the Application Builder allows COMSOL Multiphysics software users to build an intuitive interface around their COMSOL model that can be run by anyone–even those without prior simulation experience.

COMSOL Server enables the distribution of applications, allowing design teams, production departments and others to share applications throughout an organization using a Windows-native client or web browser. By propagating the use of simulation throughout the organization, design cycles can be shortened and product quality greatly increased.

The dashboard and Application Library in the COMSOL Server web interface. From the app icon, you can launch an application, make it one of your favorites, and edit permissions. The dashboard also lets you view the apps that are already running as well as access other menu items such as the Monitor tool.
The dashboard and Application Library in the COMSOL Server web interface. From the app icon, you can launch an application, make it one of your favorites, and edit permissions. The dashboard also lets you view the apps that are already running as well as access other menu items such as the Monitor tool.

Build and Run Simulation Applications

COMSOL Server is the engine for running COMSOL apps and the hub for controlling their deployment, distribution, and use. After creating an app with the Application Builder, the server provides engineers and researchers with a cost-effective solution for managing how the app is used, either within their organization or externally to a worldwide audience.

“COMSOL Server provides an environment for running applications created in the Application Builder that is easy to access and use,” says Svante Littmarck, President and CEO of the COMSOL Group. “Using the Application Builder and COMSOL Server together, an R&D engineer, for example, has the tools to create applications that will best serve their specific industry in a format that is easy to use, quick to implement, and can be scaled for global benefit.”

With COMSOL Server, applications can be run in a COMSOL Client for Windows or in Google Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer, Safari, and other major web browsers. COMSOL Server can be hosted in a corporate network or in the cloud.

“COMSOL Server not only provides an effective way for engineers to distribute their applications, it also allows updates to be readily available to all users,” says Bjorn Sjodin, VP of Product Management at COMSOL, Inc. “Because applications are accessible through a web interface, as soon as a new version of an application is uploaded, app users will immediately have access to the latest version. Developers will also appreciate the fact that the applications can be password protected.”

To learn more about COMSOL Server and Application Builder, check out the recorded webinar “How to Build and Run COMSOL Simulation Apps.” Watch the archived version here.

Barb Schmitz

Filed Under: CAE, News, Simulation Software Tagged With: COMSOL

Using simulation to guide product design

December 10, 2014 By Barb Schmitz Leave a Comment

by Barb Schmitz, Senior Editor

Products vary in size, shape, complexity, and usage so it’s hard to generalize anything about product design. The processes by which companies create new products, however, are typically the same. First they define what the product will do (product specifications), and then they capture all of the things that will define the product (design intent).

Once that has been agreed upon, the design team creates detailed designs and tests these burgeoning product ideas to see if they actually behave in the real world the way in which they are designed. When or if they don’t, changes are made to the design and they are tested again. This testing was once conducted using physical prototypes, which is both costly and time-consuming to conduct.

Today this process is very different and more efficient, thanks to virtual testing using simulation software. Digital models are now put through their paces in virtual prototyping environments using simulation software, such as finite element analysis (FEA) or computational fluid dynamics (CFD). Often later in the cycle, physical prototyping testing is used to confirm the simulation results so product designs can be moved onto manufacturing.

Simulation speeds up decision-making
Every step of the product development process is littered with questions, most of which can be answered in multiple ways. How big should it be? How strong does it need to be? Can we reduce its weight? If we reduce its weight or use less material, will it affect its strength? Can we use a different material? Answering these questions as accurately and quickly as possible has a direct impact on both the cost and speed of product development.

After all, engineering is all about asking many questions, making mistakes, changing things, and on and on until you arrive at an optimum solution or design. Calculations, prototypes, and analysis are all tools that provide guidance to engineers as the design moves through the design cycle. Most product geometries are too complex for hand calculations and physical prototypes are costly and built too late in the cycle to be used to optimize designs upfront.

Simulation has emerged as the best way to do all of that quickly and at least cost—both in terms of actual cost and time to market. Originally conducted later in the design process, there is abundant evidence that suggests that products should be simulated throughout the design process. In fact, most agree that simulation should start at the very beginning of the design cycle, during concept development, to quickly vet the ideas being considered and put designs on the best path.

How analysis is used in product design
The shift from simulation tools being used for product validation to an essential part of upfront design requires a paradigm shift involving changed processes, new tools and new ways of thinking for engineers.

Engineers are increasingly turning to simulation early in the design cycle, during concept development. At this stage of design, the product geometry is basic so multiple iterations using simulation can be done quickly so product designers can quickly answer ‘what if’ iterations and move forward with the best design alternative.

“With product design, it’s important to get off to a very good start,” said Bernt Nilsson, senior vice president of Marketing at COMSOL. “When you’re implementing simulation, you want to start in the very early stages, or conceptual design phase. At this stage, when you want to get a basic proof of concept going, you want very simple models. That means you’re using very basic geometry, avoiding including too many details that would slow down the analysis.”

Having some level of integration between CAD and analysis enables engineers to test ideas, adjust designs, explore, and verify to confirm that designs are on the right track, minimizing the risk of flawed designs moving forward when changes are most costly. In other words, design-integrated analysis enables design teams to explore more design variants in less time.

Who should be using simulation tools?
The reality is that simulation tools are as a whole being underutilized at most companies. Possibly the problem is more cultural, than technological. Many engineering managers have not mandated or allowed a process change that leverages simulation. In addition, the question as to who should be using these tools continues to be debated.

Mentor-Graphics-FloEFD-software
Mentor Graphics’ FloEFD software provides a unique range of capabilities required for challenging lighting applications and types of lighting, including LEDs.

A recent CIMdata report cites complexity as one of the underlying issues preventing more widespread adoption. To make simulation software easier to use, several vendors developed simulation packages that are directly integrated with CAD systems. By and large, however, these CAD-integrated simulation software were also not widely embraced by the industry.

Many believe this is due to the fact that not many engineers and product designers–for whom these products were developed–understand the underlying fundamentals of simulation. According to the CIMdata report, “democratization is about simplifying the application of the tools and making them more widely available. It is not for these powerful tools to be used by those who do not understand the product and engineering issues.”

Mentor-Graphics-FloTHERM-XT
By making it easier and faster to mesh complicated shapes and geometries, Mentor Graphics’ FloTHERM XT software democratizes the use of thermal simulation.

Many vendors maintain that only simulation or R&D experts should use simulation tools; that these tools should not be “dumbed down” for engineers to use. Others maintain that simulation will not meet its potential in terms of benefits to the design process until it is widely embraced by design engineers.

Simulation tools are typically offered as standalone software or as CAD-integrated software. With the latter, the simulation tool is launched directly from within the CAD environment, the simulation uses native CAD geometry, and many of the pain-provoking steps of traditional simulation—such as meshing—has been automated. There are benefits to both approaches.

“Fully integrating simulation capabilities within the native design environment of mechanical design engineers provides them easy and direct access to the benefits of up-front simulation throughout their design stages,” said Robin Bornoff, PhD, Market Development Manager, Mentor Graphics Mechanical Analysis Division. “Whether it’s Creo, CATIA V5 or Siemens NX, being able to simulate a design without suffering the pain of data interoperability with standalone simulation tools puts simulation directly under their control.”

Several CAD vendors, such as SolidWorks, contend that simulation tools should be embedded in the CAD software to best enable engineers to leverage their use. “Nowadays, all product engineers can leverage their mechanical engineering knowledge to design better products using 3D CAD and simulation tools,” said Delphine Genouvrier, Senior Product Portfolio Manager, SolidWorks Simulation. “With CAD-embedded simulation, every engineer involved in product development can apply corrective action on the design that is triggered by the insights provided by the simulation results.”

SolidWorks-CAD-software
By tightly integrating SolidWorks CAD software with powerful simulation capabilities, users can test against a broad range of parameters during the design process, such as durability, static and dynamic response, assembly motion, heat transfer, fluid dynamics, and plastics injection molding.

Other vendors have focused on automating functions within their software that enable engineers and product designers to use simulation tools without having the domain expertise of experts. “CFD simulation has historically required knowledge of the underlying algorithms to be able to select appropriate options for a given application,” said Bornoff. “Automating such choices liberates the design engineer from this pre-requisite, allowing them to focus on their given design challenge and not the numeric of the tool employed.”

Bridging the gap: how engineers and analysts can work together
Some highly complex design scenarios require specialized tools, such as multiphysics simulation software, which typically requires the expertise of R&D and simulation specialists. This, however, doesn’t mean that simulation results are not of use to product designers and engineers. High-end simulation developers have worked hard to create capabilities that facilitate this interaction between the simulation specialists and the product engineers. Providing better ways for these two groups to collaborate enables the design process to be iterative and benefit from insights provided by simulation results.

“You have this interaction between the simulation expert and the design engineers so you need tools that support that collaboration. We’ve invested a lot into making it easier to combine COMSOL with CAD, because it’s crucial to get that right,” said Nilsson. “Our LiveLink products enable you to take a large CAD assembly and combine or link it with your simulation in COMSOL. You have this bidirectional link so when you make a change to the CAD geometry, it is automatically updated in COMSOL.”

COMSOL-model-of-an-air-filled-shell
This COMSOL model of an air-filled shell and tube heat exchanger shows water flowing through the inner tubes. Simulation results reveal flow velocity, temperature distribution, and pressure within the vessel.

When CAD-embedded simulation tools are being deployed, the interaction between the engineers and the specialist looks slightly different. Engineers deploy the simulation tool for optimization of design concepts and analysts use the tool later to do final validation.

“Product engineers can detect early potential product issues, improper behavior and compare their design ideas with ‘what if’ scenarios,” said Genouvrier. “So when the analyst receives the product later in the process, it has already been optimized and tested for product performance so they can then focus on final validation or complex simulations, using their expertise in advanced analysis rather than doing product optimization. This is a win-win situation for the entire company.”

The reality is that at each company, simulation experts are small in number compared to the number of engineers so careful consideration must be made in terms of how to make best use of their time.

“Analyst experts are few and far between in the context of the number of design iterations that are considered during the design process,” said Bornoff. “The question is how best to utilize their competence. ‘Turning the handle’ to simulate each design iteration can and should be done by the designer. When a problem is identified, then that is the time to involve the analyst. Not because they have experience in using an ‘advanced’ simulation package, but because they have the domain expertise to be able to identify and recommend a remedial design solution.”

CAD-embedded-CFD
By using CAD-embedded CFD, engineers can optimize the proposed design immediately and inside their preferred CAD environment. They compare configuration and parametric study capability inside FloEFD for Creo enables engineers to understand the influence of a variety of changes in the geometry or boundary conditions on the results without leaving the Creo tool.

Design culture must adapt to maximize benefits
In order to truly maximize their investment in analysis tools, companies need to stop propagating the idea that simulation can’t drive design; it can only validate them. Without a process change, designs being validated digitally are the ones that would have been validated through physical prototyping. So where’s the value add?

Better user training is also in order. Users need to better understand what simulation results are telling them, either about the design or about the quality of the simulation. Additional training on input properties, material properties and failure mechanisms will empower them to make better decisions and look further to find the optimal configuration

Whether simulation tools are being used by specialists or by product engineers—or both—simulation holds the key to reduced physical prototyping, higher-quality, more optimized products, and faster design cycles. The key being that design optimization must happen early in the design cycle when changes can still be made without significant rework, lost cycle time or significant expense.

Reprint info >>

COMSOL
www.comsol.com

SolidWorks
www.solidworks.com

Mentor Graphics
www.mentor.com

Filed Under: CAE, CAM, CFD

APEI Builds First Multiphysics Simulation App with the Application Builder

November 21, 2014 By Barb Schmitz Leave a Comment

Last month COMSOL announced the release of version 5.0 of its COMSOL Multiphysics software, which includes the Application Builder. The Application Builder, which allows COMSOL software users to build an intuitive interface to run any COMSOL model, has been very well received by the engineering community and users are already building applications and exploring the benefits of sharing their models with colleagues and customers worldwide.

Application Builder Expands Access to Simulation

One such company is Arkansas Power Electronics Intl. (APEI), a manufacturer of high-power density and high-performance power electronics products. APEI has found that the Application Builder can provide enormous benefits throughout the organization.

“I’m building applications to help us expedite our design processes,” says Brice McPherson, a Senior Staff Engineer at APEI. “Our engineers often spend time running analyses for the sales or manufacturing departments to find model results based on diverse conditions and requirements. The Application Builder will be hugely important for accelerating our work in this respect; any colleague outside of the engineering team will now be able to confidently run these studies by themselves, with no learning curve.”

The first application built by APEI looks at fusing current and ampacity of wire bonds – very small wires used to interconnect semiconductor devices with their packages. “Designing a new wire bonding scheme for a power semiconductor usually requires a simulation specialist, who needs to spend time setting up the model and analyzing the temperature increase under a variety of conditions,” says McPherson. “We decided to use this common design request to take a first look at the Application Builder and to aid our colleagues working in manufacturing.”

A tab in the APEI application  helps the user select the appropriate wire diameter, loop geometry, and number of wires to find the maximum current the bonds can carry without overheating.
A tab in the APEI application helps the user select the appropriate wire diameter, loop geometry, and number of wires to find the maximum current the bonds can carry without overheating.

“The Application Builder let us build a powerful, yet easy-to-use application,” says McPherson. “When dealing with power, we have to be mindful of how much current we can safely transfer through the wires. This is heavily dependent on the geometry of the wire and the loop. One function of the app we created uses a parametric sweep to show how the number of wires affects the peak wire temperature at a set current. Previously, we had to look these values up using tables that we generated from many sweeps in COMSOL Multiphysics,” McPherson continues. “Now we can have a clean, simple application to get that data without requiring an engineer, and the results are more accurate than what we would have achieved using the tables, since the information provided in the app is generated on a case-by-case basis.”

The team at APEI envision using the Application Builder for countless other projects in the months to come, including applications to automate and streamline the calculation of wire bond inductance, package thermal performance, inductor and transformer design, and layout analysis, just to name a few. “The Application Builder surpassed my expectations,” McPherson concludes. “It’s very easy to use – our first application was running smoothly in minutes. The Form Editor is powerful and accessible, as it uses the same structure, format, and interaction as the COMSOL environment. If you can build a COMSOL model, it takes little effort to build an application, and the benefits will be felt by many APEI employees.”

Learn more about COMSOL Multiphysics with the Application Builder by watching this video.

Barb Schmitz

Filed Under: CAE, News, Simulation Software Tagged With: COMSOL

IronCAD Releases Multiphysics Integration

November 14, 2014 By Barb Schmitz Leave a Comment

Earlier this week, IronCAD released a new seamlessly integrated Multi-Physics module. Multi-Physics for IronCAD (MPIC) is the latest generation of integrated CAD/FEA for general entry to advanced design simulations. The software focuses on ease of use and provides fully coupled Multiphysics with stress, thermal, and electrostatic analysis.

Traditional FEA solutions are not particularly well suited for quick, in-process design analysis. With MPIC, users at any skill level will be able to use full FEA capabilities. Seamlessly integrated, users can simply add material, forces or constraints, and the AutoSolve meshes and returns analysis results. Any modifications to the IRONCAD model enables an analysis re-solve in seconds.

With MPIC, users at any skill level will be able to use full FEA capabilities. Seamlessly integrated, users can simply add material, forces or constraints and the AutoSolve meshes and returns analysis results.
With MPIC, users at any skill level will be able to use full FEA capabilities. Seamlessly integrated, users can simply add material, forces or constraints and the AutoSolve meshes and returns analysis results.

As part of the IronCAD Gold Partner Program, a node-limited version of MPIC is included with full product capabilities with the standard IRONCAD solution. Beyond the included version, customers can purchase a full accuracy basic version, advance version, and add-on functionality. MPIC is available for purchase through IronCAD distributors along with product licensing and technical support.

Cary O’Connor, vice president of marketing at IronCAD says, “Our goal was to help our customers solve complex multi-physics tasks quickly and accurately. MPIC is an advanced multi thread FEA application with fast solver technology that can process large models with millions of equations in minutes. Even though the included version is node-limited, MPIC’s technology gives our customers extended capabilities to quickly and accurately test their product designs.We believe that all IronCAD customers can benefit from increased design productivity.”

Chuck Paulsen, business director of AMPS Technologies states, “We designed MPIC to deliver a video game-like experience to analysis but behind the scenes, the advanced and robust AMPS technology provides a true what-if analysis tool for designers who need to pre-check, concept-proof, and experiment with different design scenarios. Collaboration with IronCAD offers a win-win solution for customers with innovative and easy-of-use solid modeling combined with completely integrated multi-physics analysis.”

Multi-Physics for IronCAD and technical information is available for immediate download here.

Filed Under: 3D CAD Package Tips, CAE, Simulation Software Tagged With: IronCAD

Mentor Graphics Releases Enhanced Flowmaster Tool

November 5, 2014 By Barb Schmitz Leave a Comment

Mentor Graphics Corporation just released a newly enhanced version of its popular Flowmaster tool for advanced thermo-fluid analysis simulation. Several new capabilities include a new Functional Mock-up Interface (FMI) and enhancements to secondary air analysis for its Flowmaster simulation software solution for thermo-fluid systems.

The Flowmaster product is used at every stage of development, from concept through design optimization and validation, providing minimized design effort to accurately simulate complex systems. The latest release contains new functionality addressing the specific needs of the automotive, aerospace, process/energy and gas turbine industries.

Flowmaster now features a new FMI, which enables usage of Flowmaster models in an open-source environment, thereby allowing systems engineers to use models created by different simulation tools in a truly collaborative environment.

“Mentor Graphics’ new Functional Mock-up Unit (FMU) model export capability is a hugely important development for system integrators who are looking for a standardized, zero-cost solution to tool coupling,” said Hassen Hadj-Amor, product manager at D2T, a 20-year powertrain development engineering company providing services including simulation as well as equipment and software such as xMOD, a heterogeneous model integration environment. “The new Flowmaster tool provides users with a simple solution for the creation and export of network meta-models, ready for use in FMI environments, such as the xMOD simulation platform developed by IFP Energies Nouvelles.”

Mentor Graphics' Flowmaster simulation software is used at every stage of development, from concept through design optimization and validation, providing minimized design effort to accurately simulate complex systems.
Mentor Graphics’ Flowmaster simulation software is used at every stage of development, from concept through design optimization and validation, providing minimized design effort to accurately simulate complex systems.

What’s New

Flowmaster now provides an enhanced secondary air solver and a natural circulation capability. The secondary air feature provides solver algorithms that improve the stability and accuracy of modeling flow through rotating parts—critical for predicting temperatures and centrifugal pressure rise in the secondary air systems of gas turbines.

The natural circulation capability simulates fluid circulation in a closed loop system without a pump through the combination of gravity and heat energy changes. Natural circulation occurs in traditional power plant designs and is critical for analysis in the power generation market.

Several key new enhancements further improve existing Flowmaster product usability. The parametric studies capability now provides users with greater flexibility in setting up their design study inputs through highly productive and intuitive options. Smart modelling is enabled for effortless creation of new design spaces.

The other new major enhancement relates to the Monte Carlo simulation functionality, where unique random value generation for each instance of a parameter as well as individual calculation of mean, sigma, minimum and maximum has been added. Monte Carlo simulation provides the examination of small thermal variation effects in input values – enabling the tool to be used for risk analysis and quality control environments, such as Six Sigma (DFSS).

“Our latest release of Flowmaster contains enhanced usability, collaboration, and user experience features requested by our customers from audits we conducted,” stated Roland Feldhinkel, general manager of the Mentor Graphics Mechanical Analysis Division. “We are committed to providing our customers with best-in-class technologies and our Flowmaster solution provides the functionality required for a broad range of markets.”

The newly enhanced Flowmaster product with the FMI interface, parametric studies, Monte Carlo simulation, secondary air and natural circulation features is available now. More information on Flowmaster is available on the Mentor Graphics web site.

Barb Schmitz

Filed Under: CAE, News Tagged With: Mentor Graphics

COMSOL Releases COMSOL Multiphysics 5.0 and the Application Builder

November 3, 2014 By Barb Schmitz Leave a Comment

On Halloween, COMSOL released the newest version of its popular software, COMSOL Multiphysics 5.0, as well as an Application Builder product. Thanks to the addition of the Application Builder, COMSOL users can now design specialized applications to provide researchers, designers and manufacturers with access to multiphysics simulation.

COMSOL Version 5.0 also features extensive product updates and three new add-on products. With the Application Builder, COMSOL users can now build applications for use by engineering and manufacturing departments, expanding accessibility to their expertise.

The Application Builder

The Application Builder enables engineers to create an application based on their COMSOL Multiphyics model. The Windows version of the Application Builder provides all the tools needed to build and run simulation apps. Any COMSOL model can be turned into an application with its own interface using the tools provided with the Application Builder desktop environment.

Using the Form Editor, the user interface layout can be designed, while the Methods Editor is used for implementing customized commands. Based on the project at hand, engineers can now easily build a specialized application to share with colleagues and customers that includes only the parameters relevant to the design of a specific device or product.

This application was created using the Application Builder available in COMSOL Multiphysics and a model of a Li-ion battery pack. The user can test different operating conditions, battery geometries, and other parameters in order to find the desired thermal behavior.
This application was created using the Application Builder available in COMSOL Multiphysics and a model of a Li-ion battery pack. The user can test different operating conditions, battery geometries, and other parameters in order to find the desired thermal behavior.

Three new add-on modules released

These add-ons include: Ray Optics Module, the Design Module, and LiveLink for Revit.

Ray Optics Module. For engineers working in application areas, such as building science, solar energy, and interferometers, the Ray Optics Module can be used to analyze systems in which electromagnetic wavelength is much smaller than the smallest geometric detail in the model.

Key features include the ability to compute the trajectory of rays in graded and ungraded media, and the modeling of polychromatic, unpoloarized, and partially coherent light.

Design Module. Expands the available toolset of CAD functions to include the following 3D CAD operations: loft, fillet, chamfer, mid surface, and thicken in addition to CAD import and geometry repair functionality.

LiveLink for Revit. Allows COMSOL users to interface with Autodesk’s building information management (BMI) software. With LiveLink for Revit, users can seamlessly synchronize a geometry between Revit Architecture and COMSOL, enabling multiphysics simulation in architectural design.

New features in COMSOL

* Multiphysics. Predefined multiphysics couplings now include: Joule heating with thermal expansion; induction, microwave, and laser heating; thermal stress; thermoelectric and piezoelectric effect; non-isothermal flow; optoelectronics; plasma heat source; acoustic-structure interaction; thermoacoustic-structure and aeroacoustic-structure interaction; and acoustic-porous and porous-structure interaction.

* Geometry and Mesh. Create geometry from an imported mesh and call geometry subsequences using a linked subsequence. Also now includes faster handling of large arrays and CAD assemblies.

* Optimization and Multipurpose. The Particle Tracing Module now includes the accumulation of particles, erosion, and etch features. Multi-analysis optimization has also been added.

* Studies and Solvers. Improved simulation of CAD assemblies, support for extra dimensions, and the ability to sweep over sets of materials and user-defined functions. Improved probe-while-soloving, unit support for parametric seeps and the ability to search for eigenfrequencies within a given interval have also been added.

*Materials and Functions. Materials can now be copied, pasted, duplicated, dragged and dropped. Link to Global Materials using a Material link when the same material is used in multiple components.

*Mechanical. Model geometrically nonlinear beams, nonlinear elastic materials, and elasticity in joints using the products for modeling structural mechanics. In the Heat Transfer Module, thin layer, film, fracture and rod as well as cryogenic damage and parallelized radiation has been added. The Acoustics Module has two new methods for modeling high frequency or geometrical acoustics: Ray Acoustics and Acoustic Diffusion.

* Fluid. Create automatic pipe connections to 3D flow domains in the Pipe Flow Module. The CFD Module is expanded with two new algebraic turbulence models, as well as turbulent fans and grilles.

* Electrical. The AC/DC Module, RF Module, and Wave Optics Module now contain a frequency- and material-controlled auto mesh suggestion that offers the easy one-click meshing of infinite elements and periodic conditions. The Plasma Module now contains interfaces for modeling equilibrium discharges.

* Chemical. The Chemical Reaction Module now contains a new Chemistry interface that can be used as a Material node for chemical reactions.

For a deeper dive into all the new functionality included in COMSOL Multiphyics 5.0 and the Application Builder, check out the COMSOL web site here.

Barb Schmitz

Filed Under: CAE, News Tagged With: COMSOL

MSC Releases SimManager 2014 for CAE

October 17, 2014 By Barb Schmitz Leave a Comment

MSC Software Corp. announces that the release of SimManager, which delivers both simulation process and data management enhancements. This new release focuses on user interface improvements that make the software easier to use and provides direct integration with CAE application, such as MSC Software’s Adams, Patran and Marc, as well as ANSA from Beta CAE Systems.

New features and enhancements include:

Adams/Car – SimManager Portal and Integration

Adams/Car integration into SimManager addresses a key challenge of automotive industry by providing a platform for cooperation and global team participation in full vehicle multibody dynamics simulations.

Adams/Car-SimManager integration is achieved through a client plug-in installation, providing direct access to SimManager directly from Adams/Car interface. The plug-in provides users the ability to retrieve models from SimManager, edit, and publish to SimManager.

Adams/Car integration into SimManager addresses a key challenge of automotive industry by providing a platform for cooperation and global team participation in full vehicle multibody dynamics simulations.
Adams/Car integration into SimManager addresses a key challenge of automotive industry by providing a platform for cooperation and global team participation in full vehicle multibody dynamics simulations.

SimManager Client Integration

This release offers direct integration of SimManager into many of the CAE pre- and post-processing tools commonly used by engineers. The integration provides direct support to retrieve a model, input or results files from SimManager, and make modifications and publish changes back to SimManager without leaving the native application.

Direct integration is provided for the following products:
* Patran 2010-2014
* SimXpert 2012-2013
* Marc Mentat 2012-2014
* Adams/Car 2011-2013
* ANSA 15 (Beta CAE Systems)

Explorer Desktop Client

Windows Desktop Explorer for SimManager provides access to SimManager directly from your desktop, provides direct support for engineers to retrieve a model and related files and make updates that can be uploaded back to SimManager.

Work Request Workflow Enhancements

Work Request introduced in SimManager 2010 provides the ability to define standard work and tasks as well as provide the status on progress and performance of a specific task. Several enhancements have been made to Work Request in the new release providing a robust workflow management system.

Integrated VCollab 3D Model Viewer

Providing robust visualization of CAD and CAE models as well as CAE results significantly improves the “Visual IQ” of SimManager. SimManager 2014 integrates VCollab and VMove directly with SimManager as an optional module. VCollab is a vendor-neutral, ultra-compact, web-friendly generation and viewer for CAD, finite element analysis (FEA) and CAD data.

SimManager with VCollab generates lightweight web-friendly 3D snapshot and 2D images. Results can also be displayed for interactive post processing from within a Web browser.

Several other enhancements have been implemented to improve security, ease of use, and performance. The user interface and navigation have also been enhanced to improve user experience.
For more details about the new release, please register for the new release webinar on the MSC Software site.

Barb Schmitz

Filed Under: CAE, News, Simulation Software Tagged With: MSC Software Corp.

Previewing COMSOL Multiphysics 5.0 and the Application Builder

October 8, 2014 By Barb Schmitz Leave a Comment

Today, COMSOL gave its users a sneak peek at the pre-release of its flagship product, COMSOL Multiphysics 5.0, as well as an Application Builder product at its annual user event, COMSOL Conference 2014 in Boston, MA. COMSOL users can now design specialized applications to provide researchers, designers and manufacturers with access to multiphysics simulation.

Version 5.0 features extensive product updates, three new add-on products, and the new Application Builder. With the Application Builder, COMSOL users can now build applications for use by engineering and manufacturing departments, expanding accessibility to their expertise.

The Application Builder

The Application Builder enables engineers to create an application based on their COMSOL Multiphyics model. The Windows version of the Application Builder provides all the tools needed to build and run simulation apps. Any COMSOL model can be turned into an application with its own interface using the tools provided with the Application Builder desktop environment.

Using the Form Editor, the user interface layout can be designed, while the Methods Editor is used for implementing customized commands. Based on the project at hand, engineers can now easily build a specialized application to share with colleagues and customers that includes only the parameters relevant to the design of a specific device or product.

This application was created using the Application Builder available in COMSOL Multiphysics and a model of a Li-ion battery pack. The user can test different operating conditions, battery geometries, and other parameters in order to find the desired thermal behavior.
This application was created using the Application Builder available in COMSOL Multiphysics and a model of a Li-ion battery pack. The user can test different operating conditions, battery geometries, and other parameters in order to find the desired thermal behavior.

Three new add-on modules released

These add-ons include: Ray Optics Module, the Design Module, and LiveLink for Revit.

Ray Optics Module. For engineers working in application areas, such as building science, solar energy, and interferometers, the Ray Optics Module can be used to analyze systems in which electromagnetic wavelength is much smaller than the smallest geometric detail in the model.

Key features include the ability to compute the trajectory of rays in graded and ungraded media, and the modeling of polychromatic, unpoloarized, and partially coherent light.

Design Module. Expands the available toolset of CAD functions to include the following 3D CAD operations: loft, fillet, chamfer, mid surface, and thicken in addition to CAD import and geometry repair functionality.

LiveLink for Revit. Allows COMSOL users to interface with Autodesk’s building information management (BMI) software. With LiveLink for Revit, users can seamlessly synchronize a geometry between Revit Architecture and COMSOL, enabling multiphysics simulation in architectural design.

New features in COMSOL

* Multiphysics. Predefined multiphysics couplings now include: Joule heating with thermal expansion; induction, microwave, and laser heating; thermal stress; thermoelectric and piezoelectric effect; non-isothermal flow; optoelectronics; plasma heat source; acoustic-structure interaction; thermoacoustic-structure and aeroacoustic-structure interaction; and acoustic-porous and porous-structure interaction.

* Geometry and Mesh. Create geometry from an imported mesh and call geometry subsequences using a linked subsequence. Also now includes faster handling of large arrays and CAD assemblies.

* Optimization and Multipurpose. The Particle Tracing Module now includes the accumulation of particles, erosion, and etch features. Multi-analysis optimization has also been added.

* Studies and Solvers. Improved simulation of CAD assemblies, support for extra dimensions, and the ability to sweep over sets of materials and user-defined functions. Improved probe-while-soloving, unit support for parametric seeps and the ability to search for eigenfrequencies within a given interval have also been added.

*Materials and Functions. Materials can now be copied, pasted, duplicated, dragged and dropped. Link to Global Materials using a Material link when the same material is used in multiple components.

*Mechanical. Model geometrically nonlinear beams, nonlinear elastic materials, and elasticity in joints using the products for modeling structural mechanics. In the Heat Transfer Module, thin layer, film, fracture and rod as well as cryogenic damage and parallelized radiation has been added. The Acoustics Module has two new methods for modeling high frequency or geometrical acoustics: Ray Acoustics and Acoustic Diffusion.

* Fluid. Create automatic pipe connections to 3D flow domains in the Pipe Flow Module. The CFD Module is expanded with two new algebraic turbulence models, as well as turbulent fans and grilles.

* Electrical. The AC/DC Module, RF Module, and Wave Optics Module now contain a frequency- and material-controlled auto mesh suggestion that offers the easy one-click meshing of infinite elements and periodic conditions. The Plasma Module now contains interfaces for modeling equilibrium discharges.

* Chemical. The Chemical Reaction Module now contains a new Chemistry interface that can be used as a Material node for chemical reactions.

For a deeper dive into all the new functionality included in COMSOL Multiphyics 5.0 and the Application Builder, check out the COMSOL web site here.

Barb Schmitz

Filed Under: CAE, News, Simulation Software Tagged With: COMSOL

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