Products: July 2004

The D870P is suitable for high-end business, engineering, and graphics applications such as 3D modeling or AutoCAD. The 17-inch display, for example, allows users to work efficiently with any spreadsheet or accounting application without needing to scroll from left to right. Number crunching is simplified with a 102-key desktop-like keyboard with a separate numeric keypad.To get information on additional features, visit eurocom.com. Price: $2,196.

The Mirage D870P notebook computer from Eurocom Corporation received the most Reader Service responses in our April 2004 issue. Vote for your favorite product from this issue.

SimDesigner 2004 for CATIA V5 Also Exports/Imports to LS-DYNA

Users of CATIA can streamline and automate building and testing virtual prototypes by simulating stress, motion, heat transfer, and other physical attributes of components and assemblies with SimDesigner 2004 r3 for CATIA V5R13 from MSC.Software Corp. (Santa Ana, CA; website). Using the SimDesigner suite of CATIA V5-embedded simulation tools, CATIA users can simulate components and systems before they are built, shaving time and money off the design and physical testing process.

SimDesigner can simulate an array of engineering disciplines, ranging from composites to flexible bodies to fatigue. SimDesigner 2004 r3 for CATIA V5R13 includes four new modules specifically for product development organizations: GWL, SCP, SFA, and SDF.

SimDesigner Gateway for LS-DYNA (GWL) enables model export to the LS-DYNA input file format and enables import of the subsequent execution results back into SimDesigner for visualization and verification. The SCP composites module enables engineers to create models and perform simulation studies on laminate composite structures. The SFA module allows fatigue simulation with an advanced fatigue solver, while the ADAMS/Flex-based SDF module lets you simulate and evaluate part flexibility within a system or mechanism using SimDesigner Motion.

Other enhancements to SimDesigner include support for CATIA V5 updates, thermal analysis using the embedded MSC.Nastran thermal solver, modal frequency response analysis, new capabilities for importing finite-element models, and more accurate modeling of real-world mechanisms. For more information on SimDesigner for CATIA V5, go to simdesigner.mscsoftware.com.

Data Translation Announces Royalty-Free Executables for Instant Signal Measurement

DT Measure Foundry 4.0.6 and DT Measure Foundry/Real-Time Streaming 4.0.6 are test and measurement builders that let users create executables for royalty-free distribution. Developed by Data Translation, Inc. (Marlboro, MA; website) so users, VARs, and OEMs can automatically compile and link executables and generate installation setup files at a fraction of the time it usually takes, the update ships with a Ready-to-Measure executable in the Dynamic Signal Analyzer (DSA) with four high-speed, high-accuracy instruments. There’s an oscilloscope that streams and analyzes signals on up to 8 channels in real time and opens files from disk for postanalysis. A spectrum analyzer performs up to a 128K point FFT on one or all 8 channels and opens files from disk for post analysis. A digital voltmeter has 24-bit resolution for 6.5 digit DVM on all 8 channels; and a function generator for standard and arbitrary waveforms loads and plays from .WAV, .DCF, or ASCII files.

DT Measure Foundry/RTS 4.0.6 also provides decimation filtering and supports standard .WAV file formats for direct access to the DT9841 Fulcrum II converter. It uses the DT9841 DSP data acquisition board to transfer data to and from a host computer in real time.

Features include access to The MathWorks MATLAB Script functionality for numerical computation, scientific graphics, and signal processing, and access to Microsoft Excel for control within DT Measure Foundry using the Excel Live Link to log, graph, and save data in real time. Visit the Data Translation website for system requirements. Price: $1,295 (DT Measure Foundry 4.0.6); $2,495 (DT Measure Foundry RTS 4.0.6, includes Dynamic Signal Analyzer Example and Automatic configuration of DSP).

Latest CFX-5 Leverages More ANSYS Technology

CFD (computational fluid dynamics) toolset CFX-5.7 offers further integration into the website family of analysis technologies, according to ANSYS, Inc. (Canonsburg, PA; ansys.com). Because of tighter integration, version 5.7 provides superior performance, enhanced interoperability with other ANSYS tools, and more accessible complex physics and multiphase simulations, resulting in improved processes and reduced product time to market.

CFX-5.7 also includes extensions in physical models, such as new Lagrangian coal and droplet combustion models and new turbulence models that predict laminar to turbulent transition. It can include ANSYS DesignModeler for geometry creation or CAD import along with a special version of ANSYS ICEM CFD, which provides a robust meshing capability when applied to industrial CAD models. Another ANSYS meshing tool, CFX-Mesh, which has been implemented in the ANSYS Workbench Environment, delivers CFD meshes for flow and heat transfer predictions that require boundary layer resolution in the near wall region.

Where the interaction of a fluid around the solid is important, CFX-5.7 introduces a fluid structure interaction (FSI) capability. A simple, one-way transfer of data from a CFX solution to ANSYS enables 5.7 to pass information between a fluid and structural simulation. CFX 5.7 can interact dynamically with ANSYS stress analysis for complex fluid structure interactions requiring bidirectional effects.

3G.Design Expands FEA MCAD Connectivity with CATIA Native Files

The developers of 3G.author, PlassoTech Inc. (Los Angeles, CA; website) have expanded its 3G.Design Simulation/Optimization Suite 2004 MCAD connectivity so that users can read CATIA V4 and V5 native files, as well as Autodesk Inventor, Pro/Engineer, Solid Edge, and SolidWorks files, and use 3G.author’s FEA solvers. PlassoTech says the expansion means design engineers can take advantage of 3G.author’s model refinement technology for fast and accurate results on their desktops.

A simulation wizard guides users through setup—where simulation type, material properties, loads, and boundary conditions can be specified. The 3G.author method features contact analysis for assemblies, which includes separation between different parts with variable distances. Visit the company’s website for more information and a free demo CD-ROM.

NE/Nastran FEA Adds Advanced Solutions, Robustness, and Speed

NE/Nastran V8.3 adds a number of enhancements to its FEA (finite element analysis) program including new advanced dynamic solutions, a more robust shell element, and a new spot weld element. The update from Noran Engineering, Inc. (Westminster, CA; website) also includes solver support for parallel processing, a faster Lanczos eigensolver, and more than 50 other enhancements.

Among the features is a new model interpolation to allow mapping of data from one simulation mesh to another. The method can be used for 2D or 3D models with scalar or vector data like temperatures from a heat transfer model or pressures from a CFD model mapped to a structural model. No alignment is required between the input data to be interpolated and the target mesh. There’s also an aircraft-specific tool, Tension-only Quad Elements, which eliminates redundant models and repetitive work functions and cuts analysis cycle time for airframe, wing, and fuselage analysis.

The new solutions include Direct Frequency Response for more accurate and efficient analysis of high-frequency systems, adaptive time stepping in Linear Direct Transient Response, and Complex Eigenvalue Analysis for solving problems in acoustics, rotating bodies, and many other physical effects where damping or asymmetric stiffness/mass is required. Support is now provided for substructuring and super element generation. Price: From $2,900.

Cimatron E 5.1 Provides Enhanced Numeric Control Capabilities for Toolmakers

Cimatron Ltd. (Givat Shmuel, Israel; website) has released Cimatron E 5.1, adding new functionality to the toolmaking solution, including enhanced 5-axis milling, multicutters finish routines, and features to prolong tool life and improve machining efficiency in deep cavities.

Cimatron E encompasses a set of easy-to-use 3D design tools in a unified solid-surface wireframe-modeling environment so users can manipulate imported data or create part designs with equal ease. In the design process, 5.1 integrates tools to split part geometry, finds and implements changes, creates electrodes and inserts, and details tooling components.

During manufacturing, Cimatron E implements 2.5- to 5-axis toolpaths with a focus on toolmaking, high-speed machining, knowledge of actual stock remaining, and templates to improve programming productivity and cut time.

Enhanced features include 5x trimming to remove residual material, trochoidal pitch to improve HSM roughing, reduce plunge and entry feeds according to the actual remaining stock to prolong tool life, finish corner feed and variable layers, and more. For more information, visit the company’s website.

View Latest CAD Formats and Far East Documents

Spicer Corporation (Kitchener, ON; website) has revamped a major component of its universal viewing solution for ECM, PLM, and reprographics applications. Imagenation 7.4 and Image aoX 7.4 give users the power to view and mark up AutoCAD 2004 and preliminary AutoCAD 2005, SolidWorks 2D, SolidWorks 3D 2004, DWF 6, and Compressed MI formats generated in Far Eastern languages while maintaining content accuracy throughout the project lifecycle.

Far East text support in DWG, DXF, DWF, and DGN has been vastly improved with formatting and font substitution for Japanese, Korean, and Chinese characters in Imagenation 7.4. Scanning editions of Imagenation benefit from an update to Contex Toolkit 1.5.4, which adds the new Chroma TX and Crystal TX line of scanners to the natively supported scanner family. In addition, Imagenation now provides FireWire interface support for rapid data transfer from supported scanners. New features include support for PDF 1.5; the ability to save Compressed SMF files; support for Spatial Binary SAT format (.SAB), which is similar to Spatial SAT; and many enhancements to Word, Excel, and PowerPoint documents. Image aoX combines the flexibility of ActiveX controls with Imagenation’s proven capabilities, enabling integrators to create custom universal viewing and markup solutions for .NET environments, the Web deployment, corporate networks, or the desktop. Download a free evaluation copy of Imagenation or Image aoX at the company’s website.

Solve Acquisition Problems in Minutes

DASYLab from Omega (Stamford, CT; website) is a data acquisition and control solution that allows users to view a flowchart directly on the screen. Module icons are placed on the screen and connected with wires in a schematic diagram, which represents the flow of data through the system. Each icon represents an input, operation or output function. Real-time acquisition rates of up to 800KHz and online display of up to 300KHz can be achieved. The actual rates depend on the data acquisition board and other hardware used.

DASYLab’s function modules include analog input (ADC), analog output (DAC), triggers, digital I/Os, function generators, action operation, digital filters, spectral/ FFT analysis, and mathematical, statistical, and logical operations. Output modules allow for file writing, DDE output, and various types of displays, including strip charts, x-y graphs, digital and analog meters, and bar graphs. The module icons can be connected manually or, using the integrated autorouter feature, wire paths will be determined automatically.

Results of acquisition and analysis can be displayed in numerous ways from graphs to digital meters. The operator can interact with the displays while the system is running; and with DASYLab Plus, changes can be made automatically based on system events. You can test flowcharts by using simulated signals from the signal generator, generate complex wave forms, and there’s a sequence generator to generate even more arbitrary functions, combining ramps and curves. Price: From $1,275.