Hey everyone! Back for another 2010 Simulation What’s New Blog. This one covers a little bit of everything.

Auto-Recover
There is now an option to backup and recover mesh and solution data. To set this up, go to Tools, Options. On the System Options tab, select Backup/Recover. You will see the option to “Save auto-recover info after meshing and after running a simulation study”.

If you use this option, keep an eye on how large your backup folder gets. I can imagine this could make this blow up pretty fast.

Solver Window Improvements
Similar to the changes that were made to the mesh progress window, the Solver Window has been upgraded as well. You can opt to see a condensed solver window like this:

or a more extensive solver window like so:

Fatigue Analysis
You now have to be in a fatigue study to enter an S-N curve. Not sure of the reasoning for this one yet. I wonder how it will affect the creation of custom materials. It is now possible to use the stress values from a specific solution step of nonlinear and linear dynamic analysis for fatigue studies. In a damage plot, damage is now shown as a percentage versus a fraction as it used to be.
A new Fatigue Check Plot has been added to static studies for Simulation Professional seats. It alerts you to areas of the model that may need further investigation due to fatigue issues. It is a “blue is good, red is bad plot” so the red area should get further attention in the form of a fatigue analysis. A single constant-amplitude fatigue event, either fully-reversible or zero based, is used to generate the plot.

Design Study
A new Design Study has been added. This is basically a combination of the old Design Scenarios and the Optimization module. Just as before, the user specifies variables, ranges and goals and the software goes through all the possible combinations to determine the best solution. There is an extensive tutorial on how to use this in the What’s New Document for further investigation.

Offsets for Composites
Previously, the software always positioned the surface used to define the composite shell in the center of the stackup. Now, it can be positioned either in the center, top, bottom or anywhere in between. This is done by specifying an offset ratio. An Offset Ratio of zero, places the surface at the center of the shell. 0.5 places it at the top surface of the shell. -0.5 places it at the bottom of the shell. Interpolation between these values can place the shell anywhere in between as well.

Beams
Beams are now supported for Nonlinear Studies. They have improved the Neutral Axis Detection. Many of you may have noticed that Simulation previously had a hard time detecting beam lengths that were relatively short compared to their width. Anything with a length to width ratio of less than 3 was an issue. The Define Beam Neutral Axis command allows the user to over-ride this. It is now possible to edit the Torsional Rigidity and Shear Factor for Beams. Beams can now be bonded to curved shells and sheet metal bodies. Beam information can also now be added to reports and saved out as an edrawing.

That wraps up this blog entry. As always spay and neuter your pets and if you have any questions, refer to the 2010 What’s New Document or contact us on the support line. See you next time!