Adams 2022.2 is now available at the Software Download Center.

Click here to learn about What’s New in Adams 2022.2.

Hexagon Manufacturing Intelligence announces the launch of Adams 2022.2. The Adams 2022.2 release provides enhancements, including support for importing Romax models, arbitrary 3D contact stiction, Trike support for SPMM event, and inclusion of the Bearing/Gear AT toolkits in the Adams installation.

Cradle CFD 2022.1 is now available at the Software Download Center.

Click here to learn about What’s New in Cradle CFD 2022.1.

Some of the highlights of this release include:

• scFLOW:

• • Discrete Element Method (DEM) cluster models
  • DEM dynamic domain
  • Free surface analysis with mixed gas phase
  • Population balance model
  • Combination of overset mesh and radiation using view factor method
  • Dynamic Adaptive Mesh Refinement (AMR)

• scSTREAM:

• • Free surface (MARS method) analysis using cut-cell, multiblock, connected block
  • Free surface (MARS method) analysis with fluid evaporation
  • Individual temperature for 2-phases in free surface analysis

• scPOST:

• • Exploded view of assemblies and HeatPathView in 3D
  • Rigid display model for DEM clusters
  • IPC2581 file import
  • Remote connection post session of big data on Linux
  • AR view file export for Cradle XR

• Other tools & utilities:

• • 3D-ROM – Interpolation between FLD files using AI/ML/ROM (Reduced Order Model)
  • Parametric study for scFLOW in scMonitor

Marc 2022.2 is now available at the Software Download Center.

Click here to learn about What’s New in Marc 2022.2.

Marc2022.2 introduces a new plugin framework for organizing and easily deploying custom utilities. Furthermore, the install directory (mentat2022.2plugins) now ships a collection of plugins contributed by users. Mentat is highly customizable, with plugins, users can achieve serious productivity gains. Users are invited to try the plugins and contribute to the collection. Stay tuned for training webinars on plugin development.

Hybrid Contact for 3-D Models. The hybrid contact algorithm, an extension of the node-to-segment contact algorithm, is now available for 3-D models. This novel contact method is meant to simplify the model set up for cases where it is difficult to define the best possible combination of primary and secondary contact bodies. Applications can be found in e.g. self-contact and analyses involving global remeshing

MSC Apex 2022.2 is now available at the Software Download Center.

Click here to learn about What’s New in MSC Apex 2022.2.

Some main highlights of this release include:

• MSC Nastran Solver Integration

• • A new MSC Nastran integrated execution experience is available from within the MSC Apex user interface.

• CFAST Pre/Post Support

• • MSC Apex now supports the CFAST MSC Nastran fastener technology in both pre-processing and post-processing. In addition to adding these for CFAST, post processing is also now available for Spring (CELAS) and Damper (CDAMP) elements.

• MSC Nastran SOL 400 Nonlinear Enhancements

• • Adding to the already-existing SOL 400 capabilities, MSC Apex users can now enjoy subcase, step, and simulation settings enhancements, as well as post-processing enhancements such as the ability to view contact pair results and Subcase 0 results.

• Curvature-Based Mesh Refinement

• • Curvature-based mesh refinement is now available for facet bodies, resulting is higher quality meshes on facet bodies that have high curvature.

• Proximity Meshing for Shell Elements

• • For mesh seeds that are close to edges and curves, the proximity-based mesh refinement option allows users to locally refine their shell meshes, resulting in higher quality elements.

• Project Points & Nodes into a Sketch

• • When users are in Sketch mode, and existing points and nodes want to be referenced in that sketch, these points and nodes can now be projected into the sketch plane for further use.

• 3-Point Arc

• • Users can now create a 3-point arc outside of the sketcher tool, in full 3D space.

• Cutting Plane & Capping Performance Improvements

• • Adding to the 2021.4 technology that introduced Cutting Plane & Capping, this has now been further extended to support all state plots including fringe, displaced shape as well as scripting API support.

MSC Nastran 2022.2 is now available at the Software Download Center.

Click here to learn about What’s New in MSC Nastran 2022.2.

Some main highlights of this release include:

• High Performance Computing – Increased Robustness for ACMS Solver

• • ACMS has improved robustness for large, complex models – error messages have been improved, since reported errors were often not intuitive or easy to understand. There is also a new ACMS User’s Guide to help learning and understanding of ACMS

• High Performance Computing – Coupled Modes Performance

• • For automotive and aerospace engineers performing coupled modes analysis, they will now see a more representative modes calculation that includes fluid effects in the structure. Performance has also been improved for faster analysis without any loss of accuracy.

• Segment-to-Segment Node Penalty in Permanent Glue Contact

• • For analysis tasks that require nonlinear contact (SOL 400), users will now experience smoother results, greater accuracy, and increased robustness.

• SOL 400 Bolt Modeling

• • A new bolt modeling method extension has been developed to include bolts modeled with shell and line elements, which can be a simpler modeling method and easier for modeling large numbers of bolts in a single model.

• Heat Transfer Chaining Analysis

• • The current thermal chaining capability HSTAT has been extended for a more convenient single analysis run.

• Rotordynamics Kinks and Offsets Enhancement

• • Effects of rotor kinks and offsets are no longer limited to the .f06 file only, and have now been extended to include .h5 and .pch files.

• Composites: Cuntze-Bold Material Model

• • Aerospace engineers who simulate failure behavior of unidirectional and woven composite materials can now model using thin shell structures with support for layered solids. This extends the composite failure and materials modeling capabilities currently available.

• External Modules Support for Superelement Modeling

• • This new capability allows for external superelement modeling capabilities within Modules, where external modules can be added to other models with Modules.

• Poroelastic Material 1D Analytical Trim

• • Automotive engineers now have an alternative approach to modeling multilayered trim components, which reduces computational cost, allows for easier and faster model setup, and in can be a better approach for high frequency analysis.

• HDF5 Results File Improvements

• • MSC Nastran .h5 results files now export in the new I4 format (instead of I8), resulting in a more efficient, faster, and less data-heavy results file. This is now comparable to the .op2 results file performance.

• CAEfatigue Integration

• • For engineers performing fatigue analysis, scalar response time history output has now been added for damage and factor of safety calculations. This continues the multi-release project of adding CAEfatigue features to MSC Nastran Embedded Fatigue (NEF).

Patran 2022.2 is now available at the Software Download Center.

Click here to learn about What’s New in Patran 2022.2.

Some main highlights of this release include:

• Flexible Glued Contact for Additional Solutions

• • In the Structures Preference for MSC Nastran SOL 107, 108, 109 and 110, users can now define and apply flexible glued contact (also known as cohesive glued contact) via the segment-to-segment method, which is a useful alternative to physically modeling bolts or bolted connections. This project adds onto the already-supported MSC Nastran SOL 101, 103, 105, 111, 112 and 400 solutions.

• Smooth Contact Postprocessing Based on Frequency-Defined Output

• • Users need to define the smooth contact surface on their model when preparing an MSC Nastran input deck and must be able to visualize the resulting smooth contact surfaces for verification after the analysis in post processing. Now, the user can define this contact type with a new parameter, OSPLNFRQ, on BCPARA to control the spline output frequency.

• Support of Nodal Penalty Based Surface-to-Surface Contact Modeling

• • The recently added MSC Nastran functionality Nodal Penalty Based Surface-to-Surface Contact Modeling is now supported in Patran. With this new feature, Patran will write out METHOD, S2SNP on BCPARA in the user’s MSC Nastran deck. This will be a parallel implementation to the currently supported Node-to-Segment and Segment-to-Segment Contact Modeling methods.

• Additional Customer-Requested Enhancements

• • New support for Expand & Collapse of Elements/Solid associated face/vertex/edges entities.
  • Selection of entities from a set of available Groups (and Supergroups).
  • Customizable color coding of Entity IDs based on Type.
  • New capability showing the entities count.

• HDF5 I4 Format Reader Support

• • Performance issues in writing an hdf5 file for large models with large numbers of subcases takes time, and therefore MSC Nastran developed the new i4 compressed HDF5 format. Patran now supports the new parameter for requesting this format and also can read the new i4 HDF5 format.

• Contact: Interference Fit and Clearance Support

• • For contact modeling in Patran, Interference Fit and Clearance is now supported, which includes a time-dependent interference closure value along a user-specified direction. The initial release of this support will help users define a gap or overlap between contact bodies. Unlike the stress-free option, the contact body nodes will not move.

• Contact Body/Pair Results Post-Processing Support

• • Patran now reads results associated with global contact variables such as resultant force, resultant moment, translational velocity, rotation center/axis, etc. Associated with this, Patran has also improved the existing XY plot and “Select Run Cases” interface so that large numbers of global variables, contact bodies, and body pair results can be read.

• Pyramid Elements Post-Processing

• • Pyramid elements are critical for a node-to-node transition from tetrahedral to hexahedral elements, and this element type is now supported in Patran. This will be a multi-release project, and for this first phase, only post processing is supported.

• MSC Nastran SOL 600 Deprecation

• • Patran will no longer support MSC Nastran SOL 600, due to the new and improved MSC Nastran SOL 400, along with the Implicit Nonlinear preference in Patran.