“While there are many initiatives around the globe to encourage scientific collaboration, there is unfortunately little coordination among these teams.” So says Frédéric Vacher, Head of Innovation for the 3DExperience Lab at Dassault Systèmes. Dassault created an online Open COVID-19 Community which is designed to be a place where engineers, designers and manufacturers worldwide can…

The recently concluded Realize LIVE in Detroit was billed as a premier industry solutions event for Siemens Digital Industries software users and partners. The keynotes, conference sessions, and expo were basically born out of Siemens combining its PLM Connection Americas event with other Siemens customer get-togethers. One of the big themes emphasized in Detroit was…

In a recent video I did with my esteemed colleague Paul Heney of Design World, I got the chance try out a BenQ PD2710QC computer monitor designed specifically for designers working in CAD, illustration, and animation. Most useful to design engineers is a CAD/CAM mode that renders better contrast on lines and shapes on technical…

by Christine Klier, PhD A common difficulty in the simulation of complex fluid flow problems is that not all geometry can be well represented using a single, contiguous grid. This is especially true for the case of relative motion between components. Overset grids can be used to track relative motions with computational efficiency and recent…

By Paul Heney, Editorial Director An engineering firm that designs seals for wind turbine bearings used finite-element analysis software to simulate the performance of a seal or gasket and then an optimizing package to runs through hundreds of design and material possibilities to find a best fit for a wind turbine’s wide operating range. “Reliable…

By Leslie Langnau, Managing Editor On the evening of April 20, 2010, Deepwater Horizon suffered a blowout while drilling in the Macondo Prospect, an area in the Gulf of Mexico 40 miles off the southeast coast of Louisiana. The platform caught fire; two days later, it sank. Many attempts were made to seal the well,…

Meshing for FEA and CFD is simple: Just start with your CAD model, break it up into a bunch of small pieces, and you’re all set to go. Provided, of course, that you don’t mind getting totally bogus analysis results. It’s more fair to say that the general concepts of meshing are simple, but that…

By Evan Yares, Senior Editor Will the availability of the high-performance cloud computing help drive use of CAE tools? The biggest problem with Computer Aided Engineering (CAE) is that too few people use it. There are several good reasons, but one that’s significant is money. CAE software licenses, and the big computers on which to…

By Evan Yares, Senior Editor & Analyst, Software Adams/Machinery makes analyst-level simulation practical for the rest of us. For engineers who build high-performance machinery, today’s CAD systems are a mixed bag. Most mainstream CAD programs include tools to evaluate part interference, and do kinematic motion studies. They often include closely integrated FEA, for studying linear…

Mentor Graphics couples its tools for component and system-level CFD CFD was once the exclusive realm of analysts with deep theoretical backgrounds and extensive experience. While those analysts still rule the realm, they’re no longer alone. The growth of early (often called “upfront” or “concurrent”) CFD tools has opened the field up to a new…

by Evan Yares, Senior Editor & Analyst, Software It’s more about domain knowledge than software ease of use A shift in CAE software started, quite a long time ago, when SolidWorks started including a basic version of Cosmos FEA with their eponymous CAD package. It was the beginning of the “red is bad, green is…

Finite Element Analysis has been around for a long time. Better than 50 years. Though it took awhile for computers to catch up with the processing and memory demands of FEA, today’s average PC is up to the task, even for challenging problems. Why, then, is FEA still thought of by many engineers as a…

When designing a new product, engineers can best predict its end performance by prototyping with a material as similar to it as possible. Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) thermoplastics use the same types of raw materials found in injection molding – and that’s why 3D printing is a wise choice. You’ll learn the unique properties of…

The viscosity of blood is widely regarded as an indicator of general health. When a blood vessel is damaged or broken, blood loss needs to be minimized, so a series of reactions begins to form a blood clot. A number of medical conditions adversely affect this process and in these cases patients are often prescribed…

Arktos Developments Ltd. (ADL), designer and manufacturer of an amphibious vehicle known as the Arktos Craft, uses Autodesk’s simulation software to prepare its products to operate in some of the world’s most environmentally demanding locations. Originally designed as an amphibious evacuation craft for Arctic offshore oil facilities, the Arktos Craft can move from -50° C…

Until recently, most finite element analysis (FEA) applications undertaken by design engineers were limited to linear analysis which provides an acceptable approximation of real-life characteristics for most problems. However, occasionally more challenging problems arise that call for a nonlinear approach. In this webinar, you will hear about real-world nonlinear applications and case studies associated with…

Much like a human arm with interconnected bones, muscles, and tendons, earth moving equipment components must harness a complex array of parts to perform in perfect synchrony. Key to an earth mover’s fluid movements is an array of hydraulic cylinders, located along the boom, arm and bucket, that act as actuators to convert hydraulic energy…

By Edited by: Laura Carrabine, Senior Editor NASA uses an innovative and cost-effective unmanned aircraft to gather earth science data around the world. It was designed by the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory and developed at NASA’s Ames Research Center. The Systems Integration Evaluation Remote Research Aircraft (SIERRA) is routinely deployed for environmental collection missions over…

Reprint Info >> Here are a few reasons why combining parametric and direct CAD offer benefits to you, your team, and the products you create. There are a few differences between parametric and direct modeling. The parametric paradigm provides an “engineer it” approach to design which requires you to anticipate and define feature constraints, relations,…

By Scott Bradley, Design Modeling, and Simulation Lead System Design, Evaluation Ltd. Hertfordshire, UK In the design of almost any new high explosive ammunition, the most complex and often problematic component is the fusing system. The fuse must incorporate a Safe and Arm device to ensure that the projectile may only enter the armed state…

By Andras Poppe, Mentor Graphics, Mechanical Analysis MicReD, Budapest, Hungary Amid all the promotion of solid-state superlatives – from data rate to feature size to LED light output – junction temperature is rarely discussed. That is because junction temperature (TJ) is an undesired but unavoidable side effect of high currents and switching speeds. A p-n…

By Lateef Uddin, Product Engineer, Drives and Motion Division of Yaskawa America, Waukegan, Ill A key goal in our product development process is to use design and analysis tools to reduce the number of prototypes we must build and test during the concept design phase. These software tools help us determine the best designs for…

Man-made satellites have to fit into a compact package. Briefly protected inside a rocket while blasted through the atmosphere, a satellite is launched into orbit to continue its unmanned mission alone. It uses gyroscopes, altitude thrusters, and magnets to regulate sun exposure and stay pointed in the right direction. Once stable, the satellite depends on…

A project using MapleSIM modeling software at the University of Manchester is helping to perfect the process of humanoid walking in robots. MapleSIM is a physical modeling and simulation tool built on a foundation of symbolic computation technology. It handles all of the complex mathematics involved in the development of engineering models, including multi-domain systems,…

Bresslergroup recently designed the next generation of CleanCut, a touchless paper towel holder that can dispense and cut any length of paper towel with the wave of a hand. Bresslergroup redesigned the inventor’s prototype to optimize the appliance for high volume, low cost manufacturing. The design firm used SolidWorks 3D solid modeling software throughout the…