Oct06Too

By DE Editors

October 25, 2006Dear DE Reader: The folks at ALGOR plan to unveil V20 of their software system at theAerospace Design Expo in Anaheim, beginning November 14. I have notseen this version of ALGOR yet, but I was duly impressed with a versionI saw some months ago at some trade show or the other as well as otherversions over the years. So, I look forward to my next meeting withthese folks. I have to confess two things. One, DE is a media sponsor of theAerospace Design Expo. Two, I’ve always had a soft spot for ALGORbecause some effete snobs view it as a blue-collar,dirt-under-the-fingernails sort of solution. That indictment has alwaysbeen thrown in my face, especially by, well ... nevermind. Suffice it say, blue collars are the folks who get the job done. Anyhow, ALGOR has been steadily advancing its software since it firstintroduced analysis on the PC back in 1980-something. Today, ALGOR is asuite of applications—core packages and analysis extenders in ALGORspeak—that offer a wide range of analysis and simulation toolstailored for an equally wide range of analysis requirements. Key to V20 is a new CAD/FEA modeling environment that leverages thesoftware’s single user interface and data exchange and MCADassociativity capabilities. The picture below and its caption intoday’s write-up will give you an idea of what this means for you. But, look, what you should really do is stop by the ALGOR booth at theAerospace Design Expo or click the links below to get some info onALGOR v20. Change your shirt and ream your fingernails before you do. Thanks, Pal.—LockwoodALGOR V20 Coming in NovemberDebut planned for Aerospace Design Expo 2006.According to a notice on its website, ALGOR, Inc. (Pittsburgh, PA) willbegin shipments of version 20 of its ALGOR CAE, design, analysis, andsimulation system next month. The company also has announced that itplans to preview ALGOR V20 at Aerospace Design Expo 2006, November 14 -16, in Anaheim, California. DE is a media sponsor of this Expo.Among the additions and improvements in ALGOR V20 are an integratedCAD/FEA modeling environment, support for design studies andoptimization, and a sparse solver for fluid flow, heat transfer, andlinear dynamic analyses. Miscellaneous features include a wizard forapplying bolt loads, texture display, and multipoint constraints.Expanded capabilities for Mechanical Event Simulation (MES) include newhyperelastic and viscoelastic material models and a reinforced (rebar)concrete element.All ALGOR software features are available in FEMPRO, the company’ssingle user interface for finite element modeling, results evaluation,and presentation. FEMPRO provides direct CAD/CAE data exchange and fullassociativity with most CAD solid modelers, simplifying the engineer’schoice when selecting tools for analysis.

< < Shown here is solid model (left) developed in KeyCreator MCAD sosftware from Kubotek USA of an airplane engineframe that is part of the Magnum aircraft designed by AviationEnterprises Ltd. ALGOR linear static stress analysis was performed(right) to determine the displacement and stress distribution inresponse to torque and weight loads applied to the mounts. Click toenlarge.

ALGOR V20 is said to provide full compatibility with industry-standardNASTRAN input and output files. Thus,NASTRAN and Femap users can leverage such ALGOR capabilities asstructured and unstructured hex-dominant solid meshing andcomplementary analysis tools such as CFD (computational fluid dynamics)and MES for nonlinear, multibody dynamics with large-scale motion,large deformation and large strain with body-to-body contact, whichallows engineers to see motion and its results, such as impact,buckling and permanent deformation.ALGOR software is available in a variety of core packages to meet most analysisneeds. Also offered are a number of analysisextension packages that leverage the core packages for additional analysis types and functions.For a complete breakdown of the new an improved featuresin ALGOR V20, click here. For a complete list of core and analysisextension packages, click here. Click here to go to the ALGOR, Inc. home page.

October 18, 2006Dear DE Reader: Notonly am I a hipster editor and revered (and reviled) diatribist for agreat magazine for engineers, I am a Dad. Thus, I am a doofuss. Example:I assembled all sorts of stuff that my 18-year-old daughter needed asshe stepped off to college. That is, I bought her a canvas toolbag. Ifilled it with screwdrivers, pliers, and all the tools you need in apinch. You would have thunk I placed a milk bucket under a bull. So,I endeavored to do better with the notebook. Thinking logically, Iscouted out ruggedized notebooks. After all, I reasoned, she’s tough onstuff. Her room was strewn with the carcasses of MP3 players, CDs, diskdrives, and other electronic stuff glued together with spilled matter.Only a ruggedized would survive the storm in the dorm.“Um,thanks, but no, pop,” she said in that eye-rolling kind of way thatflashes “you do not get it” like some sign on the Vegas strip.Toobad. Rugged notebooks are a thing of beauty. They may not make it inthe overly ironic world of college freshmen, but they’re the best forreal-life fieldwork.Panasonicjust introduced two such beauties: The CF19 convertible tablet PC andthe CF-30 notebook. Both are dual-core systems and Mil-SPEC certified.But their extraordinarily bright displays are what’s really cool. Thesenew Toughbooks are made to be comfortably readable in sunlight.Check out the write-up below. Don’t bother showing it to your kids. They just do not get it. But I know you will. Thanks, Pal.—Lockwood Rugged Computers Feature Bright ScreensPlenty of Nits to make new Toughbooks daylight-readable.Panasonic Computer Solutions Company (Secaucus, NJ) has introduced apair of new rugged Intel Core Duo-based Panasonic Toughbook computers:The CF-19 convertible tablet PC and the CF-30 notebook. TheseMIL-SPEC-certified notebooks incorporate daylight-readable screens andsuch rugged features as magnesium alloy cases, sealed keyboards andports, flexible internal connectors, and shock mounting.The CF-30 notebook PC and CF-19 convertible tablet are certified to theMIL-STD-810F standard, tested to withstand drops, shocks, vibration,and temperature extremes. Also, they are sealed and rated at IP54(ingress protection) level for water and dust resistance. Othercertifications include UL1604 Class 1 / Div. 2.Panasonic claims that these units deliver the brightest displaysavailable. The CF-19 tablet features a 550 Nit (candelas per squaremeter) screen with a low-reflection coating. The CF-30 has a 1,000-NitLCD, which is said to provide the brightness mobile workers require touse computers in direct sunlight. The new CF-19 and CF-30 Toughbook areavailable with touch screens for use in vehicle-mounted environments,and both units are backwards compatibility with existing vehicle mountsolutions for previous generation Toughbooks.The new CF-19 and CF-30 rugged Toughbooks incorporate what Panasoniccalls a “wireless-ready” design that allows users embedded access todata networks from major wireless carriers. Both are also said to shipwith optional integrated radio modems to access UMTS/HSDPA-basedsolutions from Cingular Wireless and the EV-DO networks of Sprint orVerizon. Additional wireless options include WLAN, WWAN, GPS, andBluetooth.Security features include a cable lock slot, Trusted Platform Module(TPM v1.2) security chip, and an optional fingerprint scanner. TheCF-30 can also be configured with an optional SmartCard reader.Features and specifications of the CF-30 notebook include a 1.66GHzIntel Core Duo processor, 2MB L2 cache, 667MHz FSB, 80GB or 60GBremovable hard disk, and 512MB of DDR2 SDRAM (expandable to 4,096MB).Its 13.3-inch display offers 1024 x 768 resolution with brightness of1000 Nits (touch screen models) or 500 Nits (non-touch screen models).Dimensions are 2.8 x 11.9 x 11.3 inches (HxWxD, including handle). Itweighs 8.2 lbs, and the battery is good for approximately 6 hours,depending upon use.The CF-19 convertible offers 7 hours of battery life, depending on useconditions. Among its features and specifications are a 1.06GHz IntelCore Duo processor with 2MB L2 cache, a 533MHz FSB, 80GB hard drive,and 512MB SDRAM standard, expandable to 4096MB. Its 10.4-inch display’sresolution is 1024 x 768 with 550 Nit brightness or 470 Nit with touchscreen.  The CR-19 weighs 5 lbs.Both of these Windows-using Toughbooks will be available in December2006. The estimated street price for a base model CF-30 is $4,699. Theestimated street price for a base model Panasonic Toughbook CF-19 willbe $4,199. For more information, click here.

 October 11, 2006 Company says upcoming releases of ANSYS and FLUENT to support 64-bit HPC. ANSYS, Inc. (Canonsburg, PA) today, September 19, announced that theupcoming releases of its ANSYS 11.0 and FLUENT 6.3 multiphysicssimulation solutions will include 64-bit support for Microsoft WindowsCompute Cluster Server 2003. ANSYS says that by enabling HPC(high-performance computing) on the Microsoft Windows platform, userswill be able to deploy CAE at a higher level than before. This, inturn, will decrease the time required for simulations and increasingthe accuracy of results. According to the company, ANSYS 11.0 and FLUENT 6.3 take advantage ofthe Microsoft MPI (message passing interface) software layer in WindowsCompute Cluster Server 2003 for data communication between processorson the cluster. The new releases will also use the Microsoft JobScheduler in Windows Compute Cluster Server 2003 for launching andcontrolling jobs on the cluster. ANSYS reports that to validate its commercial robustness of theupcoming releases, it recently solved a 100 million-degree-of-freedomstructural analysis problem using Windows Compute Cluster Server 2003on an HP ProLiant cluster. No time metrics were provided. Figure 1(right) is an example of the type of the complexity that can beundertaken on a 64-bit platform. “Before 64-bit-enabled Windows Compute Cluster Server 2003, ]users]would need a shared memory machine or Linux cluster to solve 100million-degree-of-freedom models and beyond.  It’s very excitingto deliver this type of performance with Microsoft Job Schedulerintegrated with ANSYS Workbench to our ]users],” said Mike Wheeler,vice president and general manager at ANSYS, Inc., in a press statement. For details, go to ANSYS by clicking here. 

 October 4, 2006Dear DE Reader:Awhile back, a bunch of folks from MSC briefed me on all sorts of stuffcoming down the road. I have to pause and thank Bob Thomas fororganizing this. Bob is one of the best communications consultants inthe business. He deserves a raise, MSC.Anyway,one of the items on the agenda was SimXpert. This is the open-the-gatescomponent in the MSC SimEnterprise product suite. You’ll find a link toa write-up on SimEnterprise in today’s Pick of the Week but, suffice itto say, SimEnterprise creates the MSC vision of the engineeringenterprise environment of the 21st Century. You know, all that neatstuff like seamlessly integrated multi-CAE, disbursed workgroups, valuechain, etc. Think of it as an innovation enabler on steroids.Now,SimXpert is for you expert analysts out there and those people withwhom—note the proper grammar—you work. SimXpert lets you bringtogether multidisciplinary CAE to solve something big. The cool part isthat its Template Studio enables you to buildapplications—templates—out of that expert analyst’s CAE simulationprocess knowledge. You can then push down the template onto less-expertengineers and push your analysis expert up to her or his limit.SimXpertis cool stuff. It, and the SimEnterprise Suite, is how you must work tocompete globally. Check it out through the links below.Thanks, Pal. — Lockwood  Multi-CAE Environment Fosters Knowledge Re-UseMSC’s SimXpert enables analysts to template best practices.MSC.Software (Santa Ana, CA) recently announced SimXpert. SimXpert,says MSC, can accelerate the speed and accuracy of multi-disciplinarysimulation, automate simulation processes and tasks, capture knowledge,and improve your analysis process and, by extension, your company’sinnovation abilities and business productivity.Designed for the expert engineering analyst, SimXpert enables companiesto build, share, and execute best practices for simulationstandardization throughout the enterprise. A key functionality ofSimXpert is that it enables your top analysts to capture theirsimulation process knowledge. This knowledge can then be wrapped intotemplates where it can be re-used by less-expert analysts or engineersrepeatedly as needed. Further, SimXpert enables your top analysts withmulti-disciplinary simulation capabilities including structures,motion, thermal, and crash analysis. All of which can also be capturedand formed into templates for knowledge reuse by less-expertengineering staffs.SimXpert is a component of MSC’s recently announced SimEnterpriseproduct suite (click here to go toMSC for more on SimEnterprise). SimEnterprise enables open connectivitybetween designers, analysts, and other simulation stakeholders forcollaborative simulation. It has an integrated solver andpre/postprocessing environment, including MSC’s MD Nastran. Otherfeatures include a multi-discipline common data model and native CADinteroperability, which eliminate the need for data translationSimXpert’s Template Studio is what enables expert analysts to authorsimulation best practices and standards as well as capture simulationknowledge and perform quick task automation. Once created, SimTemplatescan be managed by MSC’s SimManager (click here for DE’s write-up) as well as shared with a variety ofusers, such as design engineers, via MSC’s SimDesigner, the company’sCAD-embedded simulation suite that enables design engineers andengineering teams to execute simulation studies earlier in the designprocess.The SimXpert multi-disciplinary CAE environment is now available toorganizations participating in MSC.Software’s Empower Program. TheEmpower Program enables companies to familiarize themselves on usingMSC’s enterprise simulation solutions prior to general availability,which, in the case of SimXpert, will follow shortly.For more information about SimXpert and MSC. SimEnterprise solution, go to MSC.Software by clicking here.