Company:European Space Research and Technology Center Products:Digimat Industries:Luft- & Raumfahrt | ESA/ESTEC - Thermo-mechanical Design of an Ultra-light Satellite Antenna Overview: Digimat offered the engineers at the European Space Research and Technology Center the tools they needed to bridge the gap between the Micro world and the Macro world. Using Multi scale modeling of advanced woven composite material Digimat can support a virtual design of an ultra light satellite antenna. Challenge:
Solution:
Results Validation: “DIGIMAT is able to bridge the micro to the Macro world. A great example of high--quality european know--how” Dr Julian Santiago Prowald, TEC--MSS Structures Section ESA/ ESTECBenefits:
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Company:L&L Products Products:Digimat Industries:Fahrzeugtechnik | L&L Products - Impact on a Stiffener for Lower B-Pillar Overview: Digimat provides L&L Products with state of the art simulation methods which aid engineers in product development. The key advantage provided by Digimat coupled to Radioss and other CAE software is a drastic predictability improvement for glass filled polyamide materials. With an improved predictability, optimal and robust lightweight design is possible in the future. Challenge:
Solution:
Results Validation: "The key advantage provided by DIGIMAT coupled to Radioss and other CAE software is a drastic predictivity improvement for glass filled polyamide materials. With an improved predictivity, optimal and robust lightweight design is possible in the future." F. Braymand, Simulation Manager at L&L Products
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Company:Integrative Simulation and Engineering of Materials and Processes Products:Digimat Industries:Luft- & Raumfahrt | ISEMP - Curing of Carbon Fiber Reinforced Plastics (CFRP) Overview: “Digimat enables the engineers at ISEMP to perform in-depth studies of complex and realistic microstructures. As they continue to invest into the future they now base their simulation approach on the Digimat software, improving their own research method as well as the education of a new generation of simulation engineers." Challenge:
Solution:
Results Validation: "DIGIMAT enables us to perform in depth studies of complex and realistic microstructures. As an invest into the future we base our simulation approach on the DIGIMAT software, both for our research and the education of a new generation of simulation engineers who will be experts in the modeling of materials." Prof. Vasily Ploshikhin, Airbus endowed chair for Integrative Simulation and Engineering of Materials and ProcessesBenefits:
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Company:CADF Products:Digimat Industries:Energie | CADFEM - Continuous Fiber Reinforcement in Wind Turbine Rotor Blades Overview: Digimat assisted the engineers at CADFEM to develop a more efficient wind turbine by closing the gap between advanced modeling of heterogeneous anisotropic and nonlinear materials. The possibility of taking into account the micromchanical properties of fiber reinforced plastics in wind turbines is another area Digimat can aid in the production process of green energy. Challenge:
Solution:
Results Validation: "DIGIMAT enhances our product portfolio and closes the gap towards advanced modeling of heterogeneous anisotropic and nonlinear materials. We see a large potential for taking into account the micromechanical properties of fiber reinforced plastics." Martin Kracht, Product Manager DIGIMAT at CADFEM GmbH - ANSYS Competence Center FEM in GermanyBenefits:
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Company:SOLVAY Speciality Polymers Products:Digimat Industries:Konsumgüter | Solvay - Fatigue Failure of Injection Molded Bow Limbs Overview: By using DIGIMAT the engineers at Solvay could clearly demonstrate the tight link between geometry, flow of material, fiber orientation and mechanical behavior. They successfully used the approach to evaluate the endurance of a number of different bow limb designs. Challenge:
Solution:
Results Validation: "By using DIGIMAT we could clearly demonstrate the tight link between geometry, flow of material, fiber orientation and mechanical behavior. We successfully used the approach to evaluate the endurance of a number of different bow limb designs." Laurent Hazard, CAE Senior Specialist, SOLVAYBenefits:
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Company:Optimec Consultants Products:Industries:Maschinenbau | Optimec Consultants Overview: Based in the Greater Montreal area in Quebec, Canada, Optimec Consultants is an advanced engineering consulting firm offering Computer Assisted Engineering (CAE) services and complete Finite Element Analysis (FEA) solutions, and is a certified reseller of the MSC Software product line. For the past year, major efforts have been directed towards maximizing the potential uses of templates for building and analyzing FEA models. Templates are powerful macros that allow automation and improve productivity. Template building is a very promising capability within the MSC SimXpert multidisciplinary simulation environment. The goal of developing templates is to use them internally and to offer personalized simulation solutions to existing clients and new industries looking to implement the Finite Element Method in their design process. This case study presents four key templates that have been developed specifically for the large machinery industry and for work in future developments. Challenge: Automating the modeling and analysis of large FEA models.Solution: The SimXpert template building capability permits
the creation of templates aimed at automating
repetitive processes. Building templates can be
done using actions library or via macro recording.
Specific scripts can also be coded using Python
programming language. SimXpert’s main
advantage over its competitors is its ease of use
and straightforward interface.Benefits:
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Company:Patrick Air Force Base Products:Adams Industries:Luft- & Raumfahrt | Patrick AFB Overview: Ejection seats must work perfectly every time they are used in an enormously wide range of altitudes, aircraft motion profiles, wind conditions and pilot weights while at the same time taking manufacturing variation into account. Physical testing of course plays a pivotal role in ejection seat design but time, cost and safety limit the number of situations that can be tested to far fewer than the number of potential ejection scenarios. Analysts at the Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC) at Indian Head, Maryland, and the 45th Space Wing at Patrick Air Force Base, Florida, have developed a model of an ejection seat using MSC Adams rigid body simulation software. During the model’s initial 5-year joint-force development process, Adams was the first professional dynamics software used to completely model the complex physics involved in the deployment of an ejection seat. Challenge: Improve ejection performance and safety.Solution: Adams was used to model the complex physics involved in the deployment of an ejection seat.Benefits:
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Company:Setforge Engineering Products:Patran Industries:Luft- & Raumfahrt | Setforge - Simulating the Electro-upsetting Process During Metal Forging Overview: When Setforge joined the group, Farinia took the opportunity to review its simulation resources. Nicolas Behr, Chief Project Engineer at Setforge Engineering explains: “We realized the limits of the tools we were using and that their maintenance cost was too high relative to their capacities. What’s more, because of some of the methods used by the group – especially electro-upsetting – we had to model and simulate the nonlinear multiphysics phenomena that characterize these technologies.” Challenge: Simulate the electro-upsetting process used to make very long sectional partsSolution:
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Company:Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation Products:Dytran Industries:Luft- & Raumfahrt | Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation - Certifying Helicopter Components Overview: Sikorsky, a world leader in the design and manufacture of advanced helicopters, reduces design bottlenecks with MSC Nastran Advanced Nonlinear. Challenge: Sporadic use of advanced finite element (FEA) software, such as nonlinear analysis by design engineers, can result in either excessive refresher training time or a bottleneck while in the queue for an analyst. The cause is a result of different types of solvers requiring different models. Commercially available translators can help, but still require significant amounts of cleanup.Benefits:
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Company:Meritor Products:MSCOne Industries: | MSC One helps Meritor virtually test a new braking algorithm Overview: Regulators are continually increasing the performance standards required of automobile manufacturers. An example is FMVSS 105 and 121 which define the performance of braking systems and are intended to ensure safe braking performance under normal and emergency conditions for heavy trucks and trailers. A typical change in these regulations is to reduce the distance required to stop the truck under emergency conditions. This can be achieved by designing bigger, heavier, more expensive brakes. Ragnar Ledesma, Principal Engineer for Meritor, took a different approach by addressing the algorithms used to control anti-lock braking systems used in nearly all mediumand heavy-duty trucks. Results Validation: The simulation showed the proposed control system brings the vehicle to a complete stop in less than 4 seconds in a stopping distance of 177 feet (54 meters), demonstrating a way to meet the requirements of a tougher regulation without major changes to braking hardware. The results show a nearly constant deceleration response at the driver seat as opposed to the cyclical response with conventional ABS braking. The explanation for the improved performance is explained by the simulation results. The wheel angular velocities and tire slip ratios do not fluctuate from their desired values; hence the new ABS control system can sustain maximum braking forces almost over the entire braking cycle. Benefits:
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Company:Transmisiones y Equipos Mecánicos S.A. de C.V. Products:Adams Industries:Fahrzeugtechnik | Transmisiones y Equipos Mecánicos S.A. de C.V. Overview: Joel Ortiz is a Concept Engineer at Transmisiones y Equipos Mecánicos S.A. de C.V. (TREMEC) in Querétaro, Mexico. TREMEC is a leading producer of rear wheel drive light duty manual transmissions. Ortiz and other TREMEC engineers are responsible for ensuring that the performance of TREMEC transmissions matches up to demanding customer expectations. In the past, the only method available to resolve performance issues in prototypes was to go through the time-consuming and expensive process of making modifications to the prototype and hoping for the best. Challenge: In testing an early prototype of a six-speed manual transmission, jumps were seen in the force applied to the shifter lever and felt by the driver of the vehicle. These jumps in shifting effort, called nibble by transmission manufacturers, do not affect the performance or durability of the transmission, but they are important because the reaction force against the gear shift helps define the shift quality of the transmission for the driver.Solution: Ortiz created a virtual prototype of synchronization mechanism in Adams with 17 parts including the shift rail, fork, roller detent, gear synchronizer cone, inner synchronizer ring, blocker ring, strut, sleeve, intermediate ring, clutches and gears. The geometries of these parts were based on the measurements of the prototype transmission. Benefits: Ortiz used a virtual prototype to reduce nibble by 93% from the early
prototype to the production model, contributing to rave reviews from
automotive journalists. | ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Company:Diagnostic Simulations, Inc. Products:Marc Industries:Medizintechnik | Diagnostic Simulations, Inc. - Designing Palatal Implants Overview: Dr. Paul Buscemi was the VP of Research and Development at Restore Medical Inc. in Medina MN, now a part of Medtronic. Paul and his team were responsible for conceptualization and realization of a new tongue implant to treat sleep apnea. Challenge: Restore Medical’s challenge was to build a simple, innovative, minimally
invasive, palatal implant. The R&D group needed to get insights beyond
airway closure to study the effect of the implant on critical tongue
functions such as speech and swallowing. Solution: Using MSC.Software’s CAE products Paul and his team were able to perform a complete analysis of a new human tongue implant design. Benefits: Using MSC.Software technology, Paul’s R&D team created an accurate model of tongue musculature and motion. The model was used to design and test a virtual prototype for a new tongue implant and its effects. | ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Company:Products:Dytran Industries:Rüstung | Agency for Defense Development - Airframe Survivability Research | ![]() ![]() |
Company:TI Automotive Products:SimManager Industries: | TI Automotive - Focus on design simulation Overview: When leadership at TI Automotive—a global supplier of fuel storage and delivery systems for cars and trucks— evaluated the company’s product development process, it discovered repeated design and test cycles. MSC gave the engineers at TI Automotive the essential tools they need to save time and money, by reducing prototyping. Challenge: The problem that TI faced was that simulation was disconnected from the design process. Compounding the situation
was that in going from CAD geometry to simulation models,
many data translations or fixes were necessary. TI really only
had one simulation expert in the company, which kept analysis
from being scaled across the enterprise.Solution: Using design simulation to support its product development process would enabled TI to account for complexities of manufacturing upfront, and, additionally, would move simulation from the desktop of one expert engineer to that of many engineers.Benefits: Since TI implemented an engineering simulation
solution from MSC Software, the supplier of enterprise simulation solutions. The benefits have been significant.
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Company:BMW Group Products:Industries: | BMW Group - High Performance Computing Overview: In early 2007 the computer assisted engineering process chain at BMW was reviewed in order to identify possible bottlenecks in the future caused by the increasing size of simulation models. Under the name “Model of The Day After Tomorrow” the group of functional design body and fitting developed the largest known FEM model for a system-benchmark. Challenge: Identify the theoretical limits and bottlenecks of today's computing rsoruces | ![]() ![]() ![]() |