MSC Nastran 2012 Available

By DE Editors

MSC Software has released Nastran 2012. The single solver can perform multidisciplinary analyses including linear statics,  dynamics, and implicit and explicit nonlinear for simulation of common and complex application use cases, the company says.

New methodology for contact detection through the new segment-to-segment approach improves the fidelity of contact analysis. Other enhancements include implementation of non-symmetric stiffness matrix for sliding friction and finite sliding capability for deformable bodies.

Through collaboration with Intel, MSC has enhanced Nastran to take advantage of the Advanced Vector Extension (AVX) on Intel’s Sandy Bridge processor on the Windows operating systems in addition to its support for Linux systems completed earlier in 2012. Users with this processor can automatically benefit with improved performance as the AVX is designed to help with numerically intensive applications, the company says.

MSC Nastran’s nonlinear analysis solution can run analyses in both distributed and shared-memory parallel modes (DMP and SMP,  respectively). This productivity enhancing capability is now available to execute nonlinear element stiffness, stress and force calculations,  providing improved parallel scalability and applicability for a wider range of nonlinear applications. Improved I/O caching is also now implemented to reduce wall time for large engineering models.

Enhancements to MSC Nastran’s explicit solver’s DMP technology also enable users to achieve performance gains for complex fluid structure interaction problems.

For more information, visit MSC Software.

Sources: Press materials received from the company and additional information gleaned from the company’s website.