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September 2008 |
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| What trends are affecting the way users use your software? There are a number of trends affecting the way users use our software. For many electromechanical designs, a lot of work is still done using two dimensional and rotationally symmetric models. This is due to the very quick learning curve, short modeling times and very fast solutions. This enables designers to test out new ideas for practical purposes, in real time. However, due to tighter integration with CAD software and the ability to repair CAD models, more design is now being done in full three dimension. This is driving the exchange of data to become more seamless. For a designer using multiple FEA programs, the interchange of data becomes crucial. Optimising a part for maximum electrical characteristics may not allow proper cooling to take place. Thus, being able to move geometry between an electromagnetic analysis to a CFD analysis becomes important. In terms of weight reduction, new optimisation and search algorithms will be employed within the software to maximise torque in a motor, for example, but minimise weight. What’s holding your software’s ability back? The main software limitation by far is the interoperability with CAD software. Users of our software are often very surprised by the amount of learning and dedication required to get robust answers from 3D simulation. Importing 2D geometry for FEA simulation is now virtually trivial in the better FEA packages. This is certainly not the case in 3D. First of all, there is no universal standard for geometry models. IGES has been around for a long time but its implementation from vendor to vendor can vary. STEP is a definite improvement but can be quite large and cumbersome. Then all the CAD vendors have their internal formats. Whatever the geometry format is, advanced algorithms are required in conjunction with users to read CAD files and quickly generate geometry appropriate for FEA. This includes removing unnecessary features, stitching surfaces and so forth. If you talk to most engineers who have relied on software simulation and ask them about claims for promised functions and feature, the reality is most will have a good laugh. I am sure most designers are in the “I’ll believe it when I see it” mode. To help reduce this problem at Integrated we are working directly with engineers to find out what is needed to solve their problem. Then, during the development process we are constantly soliciting their input. As well as this we have become a lot more realistic with our time lines. Developers of simulation software often know what is needed and would like to have these new ideas to the market place as soon as possible. So the new idea would be implemented but all the other details surrounding the new idea were not fully thought out, this is now being done. What is the next big step for your software? The next big step is to combine finite element analysis with system simulation software. Ultimately parts are designed to be part of an assembly which will be part of the end product. Designers of the final product want to see how the various parts interact in the final design. Thus, being able to include finite element analysis within a system simulator will move the bar one step closer to virtual prototyping. How do you see the software industry evolving in the next five years? Two major forces will drive the software industry over the next five years. The major driving force will be the increased interoperability between different software products. This means that software within each company must not only communicate data seamlessly, but the analysis of a component or part will have to be done taking into account thermal, mechanical, electrical and system effects simultaneously. The second force will be the drive for more parallisation and distributed computing - still the major limiting factor for many designers is the speed of computation. Ideally, thousands of iterations on a part are needed to achieve the optimal design such as minimizing weight, maximizing cooling, maximizing band width and so forth. Ultimately, these all reduce costs and increase reliability. |
Automotive engineers use our electromechanical and electromagnetic CAE tools for a variety of design problems, including electric motors, solenoids and actuators. All involve a finite element or boundary element type of solution. System simulation may entail modeling the whole anti-lock braking system, for example. For such systems we need to combine electric, mechanical, and thermal effects to determine the complete time response of the system. Integrated has Lorentz, our particle tracking and beam analysis software. Although it may not be used for components, it can be used for its construction. For example, the design of welding, machines and paint spraying involve modeling of complicated particle flow. LINKS Ansys: multi-physics analysis pays off. Read more... Integrated: Electromagnetic CAE tools that combine FEA and simulation. Read more... Lotus: vehicle dynamics made quick and easy. Read more...
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