Femap 10.2 Streamlines FEA Modeling

The latest release of the Femap finite element analysis (FEA) software from Siemens PLM Software ushers in an array of new features designed to extend interactive modeling and analysis capabilities while increasing program performance.

The productivity enhancements in Femap 10.2 are aimed at streamlining the processes required to create accurate models that can determine the structural, dynamic and thermal performance of complex engineered parts, assemblies and systems.  Femap 10.2 includes new features to ensure model accuracy, facilitate the creation of model meshes and to help engineers visually evaluate analysis results.

Part of Siemens' PLM Software's Velocity Series, Femap 10.2 adds a wide variety of customer-driven enhancements, including new features to improve the entire computer-aided engineering (CAE) process from pre-processing model creation, to solver integration, to post-processing data handling, visualization and analysis. The Interactive Meshing Toolbox introduced in the earlier Femap version 10 now has additional functionality that enables faster, interactive creation of the finite element mesh model. It also includes a new feature editing capability that allows the user to move features such as holes or surfaces while the meshed model is automatically updated to reflect the change.

The software's new topology optimization capability lets users apply loads and constraints to material encompassing the entire available design envelope. This helps minimize weight while maximizing stiffness by removing unnecessary material to create an optimized shape, Siemens PLM officials say. In addition, the suggested shape can serve as a starting point for successive iterations, significantly reducing the time needed to arrive at a final design.

Finally, Femap 10.2 contains several enhancements that improve the speed and accuracy of the post-processing analysis process, including a new feature for working with beam elements. Users now have the ability to quickly and easily view the stress contours in beam cross sections, eliminating the need for time-consuming iterative analysis and dramatically improving the ability to detect areas of concern. Faster data handling also enables Femap to process recovered output data in significantly less time, and a new post-processing toolbox consolidates functional elements in the user interface for enhanced ease-of-use.

Femap works with all of the industry's leading finite element analysis (FEA) solvers, and with the 10.2 release, the software supports a new edge-to-face contact feature for NX™ Nastran software. This level of solver integration and support helps ensure accurate analysis results and interoperability in a broad range of engineering environments, according to Siemens PLM officials.