Dassault Kicks Abaqus FEA up a Notch

Dassault Systemes iskicking it up a notch with its Abaqusunified finite element analysis (FEA) software, adding new capabilities to takeadvantage of high-performance computing along with features to better simulatefracture and failure analysis and noise and vibration, among other areas.

An overarching theme of the 6.9release is to leverage innovative advancements in HPC technology along withmechatronics capabilities to make simulation technology available to a muchbroader community, according to Steve Crowley, director, SIMULIA ProductManagement. "This is consistent with the growing recognition of the value ofsimulation as an integral part of your business process," Crowely says.

As such, a key highlight of the new Abaqus 6.9 release, fromDassault's SIMULIA brand, is the implementation of the Extended Finite ElementMethod (XFEM), a powerful tool for fracture and failure analysis via itsability to simulate crack growth along arbitrary paths that don't correspond toelement boundaries. Such a feature could be used in the aerospace industry, forexample, to help predict the durability and damage tolerance of compositeaircraft structures, or in the energy sector to evaluate the growth of cracksin pressure vessels.

There are additional features on the analysis front. A newco-simulation method lets engineers combine both implicit and explicit solversinto a single simulation, greatly reducing computation time. With thisapproach, automotive engineers could combine a substructure representation of avehicle body with a model of the tires and suspension to see how the vehiclewould respond when running over potholes. There are also easier-to-use methodsfor defining contact interactions in a model, which come in handy when modelingcomplex assemblies like gear systems and hydraulic cylinders.

These new, multi-levelsubstructuring techniques dramatically improve performance for large scalenoise and vibration problems, Crowleysays. In addition, they, along with the new co-simulation method, are examplesof advancements in mechatronics that take advantage of new HPC platforms tohandle rapidly growing model sizes in a more cost-effective manner, heexplains.

In the modeling and visualization arena, Abaqus 6.9 sports avariety of new surface meshing enhancements making it easier and faster to meshcomplex parts. In addition, a number of geometry import and repair tools havebeen augmented to allow automatic or selective stitching of part bodies andedges with a user-specified tolerance value.

Dassault Kicks Abaqus FEA up a Notch A