With the development of the economy, more and more enterprises have paid more attention to the practical value of CAE in design and production from the past purely focusing on the common software for finite element CAD.
The full name of CAE is Computer Aided Engineering, that is, computer-aided engineering, but at present, it is more prominent in an approximate numerical calculation method that uses computer-aided solutions to complex engineering and product reliability.
Specifically, through the engineering application of some simulation tools, To a certain extent, it can save the design or production cost of the enterprise.
Main CAE software
The following is a brief overview of the commonly used general-purpose finite element analysis software currently on the market for everyone to understand.
At present, it is better promoted in the market, and the main ones with better application are:
1. Anshi Asia Pacific Company: ANSYS APDL, ANSYS Workbench, Fluent, CFX, Icepak, ICEM, Ansoft.
Anshi Asia Pacific’s ANSYS may be the most comfortable for Chinese people, thanks to its earlier entry into the Chinese market and its better cultivation in the education market.
In recent years, the well-known fluid analysis software Fluent and CFX, and the electromagnetic simulation software Ansoft have been successively acquired, making it more powerful in the field of multidisciplinary simulation.
Among them, ANSYS APDL is the classic version we often say. The interface is relatively “old”, and the operability is not very user-friendly, but it has complete functions.
The application of APDL language is its characteristic. It is difficult for beginners to master, but proficiency can improve analysis efficiency. Get twice the result with half the effort.
ANSYS Workbench is a collaborative simulation environment developed in response to the tide of manufacturing informatization in recent years (that is, the fluid-solid thermomagnetic coupling is more convenient), and the operation is simple, modular, process-oriented, and easier to use. Although the ANSYS solver is called, there are a few special functions that still need to be realized through APDL when performing structural strength analysis.
Both Fluentt and CFX are leaders in the field of fluid analysis and are more recognized in the industry. Another well-known is another company’s Star CCM.
Icepak is a simulation tool for simulating the heat dissipation of electronic products or systems. It has a good ability to handle the mesh of curved surfaces.
It is known that the Fluent solver is called for calculation. Similar products include Flotherm of another company, Mentor, whose market recognition seems to be better than Icepak. For detailed information, friends, go online and dig deeper.
ICEM is a tool for pre-processing, especially for the sub-grid processing of flow field analysis, which is the best, and can divide very beautiful hexahedral grids. This is very beneficial for fluid analysis calculations that require high mesh.
Ansoft is an electromagnetic analysis tool, but I haven’t used it myself, and I don’t know much about it, but according to my friends’ understanding, it is highly recognized in the field of electromagnetic analysis.
In addition, in the field of display dynamics, it has cooperated with Ls-Dyna. Ls-Dyna is a very powerful display dynamics analysis tool, which is also recognized by many peers. I also have a free pre- and post-processing tool LSPP, and its official website has corresponding tutorials.
Fatigue analysis has cooperated with N-code, and N-code’s calculation ability in high and low cycle fatigue should be regarded as one of the top. (Fatigue analysis tools are currently more recognized by MSC.Fatigue, FE-Safe)
2. MSC Corporation: MSC. Patran, MSC. Nastran, MSC. Marc, MSC. Adams, MSC. Dytran, MSC. Simxpert, MSC. Fatigue.
MSC’s specialty product is its solver MSC.Nastran. Due to its unusual relationship with NASA, MSC.Nastran has established its industry status and is widely used in the aviation industry and military industry at home and abroad. MSC.
Patran is used in conjunction with it, mainly for pre- and post-processing. Patran is a general pre- and post-processing tool, and it can also be used as other CAE software for pre- and post-processing.
(Remarks: It is understood that some other companies’ Nastran software on the market was developed from part of the code released by the anti-monopoly commercial lawsuit around 2000.)
Marc’s non-linear analysis and calculation capabilities are outstanding, and it is known that it is highly recognized in manufacturing powerhouses such as Germany and Japan.
However, after being acquired by MSC, the marketing was not satisfactory, but the software itself is still very powerful.
Adams is a leader in the field of multi-body dynamics analysis, and has developed a professional simulation module for the automotive field. It is understood that the solvers of the motion simulation modules of many 3D CAD software on the market benefit from Adams.
Dytran is a display dynamic analysis tool for problems such as instantaneous collisions and explosions. Mainly calculate three-dimensional problems.
Simxpert is a software from MSC that integrates the previous core products. It seems that it wants to find a breakthrough in data management and coupling.
3. Altair companies: Hypermesh, Optistruct, Radioss, Hyperview, Hyperstudy.
The first thing I knew about Altair was through its meshing tool Hypermesh. Its surface mesh processing ability is stronger than its 3D mesh processing ability.
In recent years, it has gradually improved the ability of many solid meshes, and its geometric modeling function is weak. , the repair function is not bad, and it is more than enough for the grid subnetting of automobiles and mechanical products. Another sub-network tool with the same name in the same field is ANSA.
Altair has two solvers, Optistruct and Radioss. The former focuses on linear analysis and optimization, while the latter focuses on nonlinear capabilities, especially collisions.
It is widely used in the automotive field, especially Radioss itself started in the automotive industry.
4. Dassault Simula: Abaqus, Isight, Tosca, FE-SAFE, Simpoe-Mold, Simpack.
Dassault is world-famous, so I won’t go into details. These software are basically acquired by acquisition.
The most famous is Abaqus, which has developed by leaps and bounds after being acquired by Dassault, especially after the development of a more friendly pre-processing module.
Abaqus has a deep historical relationship with the previous Marc, so I won’t say more, so the nonlinear ability is also very good.
Because the market promotion is late, the popularity lies more in the education market, and the latecomer trend is worth looking forward to.
(Note: Basically every version of Abaqus has a Chinese version, which can reduce the adverse interference caused by English)
Tosca focuses on the optimization calculation of structural analysis, but it seems to be better than Optistruct in terms of nonlinear optimization capabilities.
Isight is very outstanding in its ability to do multi-disciplinary optimization, because it has not been used before, so it is impossible to describe it in detail.
Simpoe-Mold focuses on the injection molding analysis of plastic products, but its function is slightly inferior to that of another company’s mold flow analysis tool MoldFlow. The reliability and acceptance of MoldFlow is much wider.
Simpack is a multi-lift dynamics software
5. Other CAEs
ADINA: The software is small, but the nonlinear capability is not inferior to the finite element tool of abaqus, but the pre-processing ease of use is not good;
COSMOS: Acquired by Dassault’s SolidWorks, and renamed SolidWorks Simulation, suitable for design engineers;
ALGOR: Now acquired by AutoDesk and renamed Autodesk Mechanical Simulation, suitable for design engineers;
ProCast: casting simulation software;
Ideas, Femap+NX Nastran: Siemens CAE analysis software;
Mentor: Flotherm, FloEFD (named Flow Simulation in cooperation with SolidWorks), FloMaster, focusing on flow field heat dissipation of electronic products, etc.;
Midas: The finite element tool of the Korean POSCO Group, the domestic version is fully Chinese;
FEPG: finite element automatic production system is an excellent finite element software in China. It is an excellent tool for those who are familiar with the principles and theories. It is now developed, operated and managed by Tianjin Yuan Calculation Company. Prizes.
Contact Person: Alex Chu
WhatsApp/ WeChat: 0086 18968677763
Email: sc10@solidcomould.com
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