Fast, high-quality, one-step assembly meshing

Citation

(2002), "Fast, high-quality, one-step assembly meshing", Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology, Vol. 74 No. 1. https://doi.org/10.1108/aeat.2002.12774aab.018

Fast, high-quality, one-step assembly meshing

Keywords: Assembly, Meshes

ALGOR, Inc., a maker of software for mechanical engineers, has launched a new one-step assembly meshing for generating high-quality, unstructured FEA meshes more quickly. One-step assembly meshing enables engineers to obtain a high-quality finite element mesh for complex CAD assemblies on the first pass with one button click and no need for transitional mesh refinement.

"One-step assembly meshing will save engineers time and effort in setting up models for all analysis types including Mechanical Event Simulation and structural, linear dynamic, thermal, electrostatic, fluid flow and multiphysics analyses," said Michael Bussler, president and CEO of ALGOR, Inc. "These advancements are particularly valuable to engineers utilizing our InCAD technology for seamless CAD/CAE integration."

The company asserts that its mesh engines create high-quality meshes on the first pass because they build solid "brick" (eight- or 20-node) or hybrid meshes (combines bricks on model surface with tetrahedra inside) inward from a quadrilateral surface mesh. One-step, high-quality tetrahedral (four- or 10-node) meshing is also available. In addition, ALGOR provides built-in transitional meshing tools for areas of the, model that have greater engineering concern.

Surface and aspect ratio checks reportedly enable engineers to get high-quality meshes on the first pass with default settings. Because brick and hybrid meshes can represent complex geometry with fewer nodes than tetrahedral meshes at the same, high level of accuracy, analyses for brick and hybrid meshes process faster than for tetrahedra.

The software enhancements that have led to this breakthrough in speed and ease-of-use include refinement of the surface and aspect ratio checks that are at the heart of ALGOR's meshing technologies. In addition, automatic surface mesh matching for assemblies has been fully integrated with all of ALGOR's mesh engines.

Engineers who prefer to exercise greater control over the meshing process still have the option of generating surface and solid meshes in separate processes or modifying the default mesh settings.

ALGOR customers with current software upgrade subscriptions can get the new improvements at no charge by requesting this latest release. ALGOR software is available for PC workstations running Windows NT, ME, 95, 98 or 2000.

ALGOR, Inc., has also announced that its DesignPlus core package has qualified for Certified Select status within the Solid Edge Voyager Program offered by UGS. ALGOR's DesignPlus for Solid Edge is said to provide a fully associative CAD/CAE solution for static stress analysis with linear material models, steady-state and transient heat transfer analysis, linear dynamic analysis and pre-and post-processing tools all within an intuitive Windows-native interface. We are also informed that additional analysis capabilities such as Mechanical Event Simulation, electrostatic, fluid flow and multiphysics analyses can be plugged into DesignPlus for the same associativity all within the same easy-to-use interface. This interface includes right-click functionality for applying, modifying and removing loads, constraints and finite element properties for all analysis types.

The company also reports that its DesignPlus also includes automated design optimisation, feature suppression, a midplane mesh engine for converting thin, solid parts into plate/shell elements and ALGOR's full suite of meshing tools. We are also informed that when ALGOR and Solid Edge reside on different computers, DesignPlus includes built-in Direct Memory Image Transfer (DMIT) technology, which offers the same seamless integration realised when ALGOR and Solid Edge reside on the same computer.

"As a Certified Select Voyager Partner, ALGOR's DesignPlus provides full associativity with Solid Edge across the full line of finite element analysis, Mechanical Event Simulation and multiphysics software utilising the same easy-to-use interface regardless of your modelling or analysis needs," said Michael Bussler, president and CEO of ALGOR, Inc. "The range of finite element capabilities ALCIOR offers within Solid Edge enables engineers to minimise their products' time to market."

"UGS is pleased to grant ALGOR Certified Select status within the Solid Edge Voyager Program," said Kris Kasprzak, Voyager program manager at UGS. "ALGOR's FEA-based simulation capabilities are a valuable addition to the range of complementary software the Voyager Program promotes to its users."

ALGOR software is available for PC workstations running Windows NT, ME, 95, 98 or 2000.

Details available from: ALGOR, Inc.,Tel: +1.412.967.2700.