For the 16th version of the company's CAD/CAM/CAE software, Unigraphics Solutions Inc. of St. Louis has enlisted the services of Process Wizards and Process Assistants to perform what the company is calling predictive engineering. In all, UG V16 contains 12 new modules covering CAE, CAM, and industrial design and styling.

Unigraphics Version 16 introduces PRISM technology, a Process Intelligent System for Manufacturing in which CAM users can make use of predefined manufacturing templates.

Process Wizards and Process Assistants are programs that contain the domain-specific knowledge and functions necessary to automate specific processes—or process threads—that run through industries such as automotive, aerospace, machinery, and consumer products. The tools provide an automated, repeatable method to guide the user through a set of specific tasks.

Process Wizards differ from Process Assistants in scope and complexity. For example, MoldWizard, the first Process Wizard introduced in July, automates the entire plastic injection mold tooling design process and represents a full-scale Unigraphics application. Process Assistants, which are new in version 16, are less comprehensive than Process Wizards and therefore automate shorter, less complex process threads. More than 20 Process Assistants for automated manufacturing are introduced in UG V16 CAM. Users interactively encode best practices to capture the specifics of a manufacturing process for later access and reuse.

UG/Scenario for Motion+, a CAE module being introduced with UG V16, supports static, kinematic, and kinetic (dynamic) simulations. Virtual prototypes are created and evaluated using a variety of motion objects, including joints, springs, dampers, motion drivers, forces, torques, and compliant bushings. Free-body motion and contact between bodies are also modeled and included in the simulation. Available results include interference checking, graphs, animations, MPEG movie output, and articulation. Users can create and evaluate multiple design "scenarios," testing and refining them until optimal system performance is achieved.

More than 20 Process Assistants for automated manufacturing are introduced in the Unigraphics Version 16 CAM.

The Scenario module in Unigraphics V16 also introduces the ability to automatically predict the best geometric and mechanical parameters for a component or assembly based on engineering performance. HyperOpt, an embedded optimizer from Altair Engineering of Troy, Mich., is used to automate size optimization and 3-D parametric shape optimization.

Design Studio, a new conceptual design module of UG V16, provides for direct manipulation of surfaces, dynamic texture mapping, and interactive analysis. The module extends Unigraphics' freeform surface style capabilities by adding texture mapping, clouds of points, and controlled surface deformation. Design Studio is associative with the rest of Unigraphics, allowing input from engineering, packaging, and manufacturing departments to be used early in the conceptual development phase.

NASA Uses Simulation To Make Docking Safer

In an attempt to avoid the type of accident that occurred on the Mir Space Station in 1997, the NASA Ames Smart Systems Group in Ames, Iowa, has developed a 3-D interactive simulation of how a space shuttle docks with a space station. This simulation is a preliminary step in the design of a computerized joystick control with various types of feedback that could be used for the International Space Station.

The Smart Systems Group is addressing the safety problem by applying neurocontrol technologies that can learn, in near real time, changes in spacecraft properties and performance characteristics. The simulated docking of the space shuttle is guided by computerized joystick control. This controller can "learn" the behavior of the space vehicle under different conditions—including a change in its mass properties—and use this knowledge to dock it safely and efficiently. By analyzing the behavior of the spacecraft and optimizing trajectory, the controller is able to minimize fuel consumption and maximize safety.

To develop the simulation, NASA Ames has been using Matlab from MathWorks Inc. (Natick, Mass.) for algorithm development and WorldToolKit software from Engineering Animation Inc. of Ames, Iowa, for the 3-D simulation.

"WorldToolKit brings to life the precise mathematical and physics calculations solved by Matlab," says Robert Mah, senior scientist with the Smart Systems Group. "These computations are visualized in a realistic 3-D simulation for navigating the shuttle and simulating the intricate movements that are vital to a successful space shuttle/ space station docking."

DesignSpace Helps Weight Loss Program

A long-time user of the finite element analysis software from ANSYS Inc. of Canonsburg, Pa., MPC Products Corp. of Skokie, Ill., also recently started using the software vendor's Windows-based DesignSpace package. MPC, which manufactures parts for the aerospace industry, was faced with designing a large support structure to be used in sizing and testing an actuator system for opening and closing a 3,000-pound aircraft cargo door. The test structure had to weigh less than 2,500 pounds and had to be designed in a few weeks.

DesignSpace from ANSYS Inc. calculates and displays the deformation of a structure that MPC designed to test an actuator system for opening and closing a 3,000-pound aircraft cargo door.

DesignSpace operates alongside PC-based solid modelers and enables design engineers to perform their own simulations in the early stages of product development. FEA is at the core of DesignSpace, but its operation is transparent to the user. Problem setup, specific commands, and input/output requirements are automated, so that designers can perform a simulation without having to learn the detailed operation of a more traditional analysis program.

DesignSpace prompts users for straightforward information, such as material type and direction of loads after the CAD model is created. Without any further user intervention, the package performs required calculations in the background and supplies requested performance information in graphical form. Bending areas are animated on the screen, for example, with numerical values showing the precise location and amount of deformation. The package shows a green flag for okay and red if there is a problem. Wizards are available for checking particular parameters, including stress, vibration, and thermal.

Steve Pec, project engineer at MPC, used DesignSpace to develop the test structure. He developed an initial design concept on his AutoCAD system, then transferred the geometry to Autodesk Mechanical Desktop for visualizing the structure in 3-D, checking its size and motion envelope, and determining the assembly's center of gravity. The configuration consists of a framework approximately 11.75 feet high and 15 feet long made of quarter-inch-thick, 5 x 5-inch hollow rectangular steel tubing welded together. The cargo doorframe is suspended from the structure on a set of overhead hangers and secured at the bottom using steel brackets. The door itself is driven by an MPC actuator.

"The test structure had to hold the door with the same stiffness and rigidity as an actual airframe," said Pec. "Even a few degrees of angular deflection could prevent the door from opening and closing properly. A major consideration was the weight of the structure, which had to be light enough to be easily transported with handjacks from one part of the facility to another."

Pec did not have time to verify the design with full FEA analysis or prototype testing. So, along with classical hand calculations, he used DesignSpace to verify that structural deformation and stresses were within acceptable limits, thus avoiding overdesign and added weight. MPC was able to complete the project in five weeks from concept to delivery.

Silicon Graphics Installs Linux Cluster

Silicon Graphics Inc. of Mountain View, Calif., recently installed the company's first 128-processor Linux cluster at the Ohio Supercomputer Center in Columbus, Ohio. As the adoption of the Linux operating system expands across all marketplaces, Ohio scientists, educators, and engineers can begin to use the state's largest Beowulf cluster for scalable high-performance computing.

Beowulf clusters like OSC's are specialized supercomputers that are gaining popularity in the technical and enterprise computing market because of their high performance at a relatively low cost. Beowulf clusters are used for solving very specific types of problems through what is known as parallel decomposing.

The OSC Linux cluster will consist of 32 SGI 1400L servers, each with four 500 MHz Intel Pentium III Xeon processors. Each SGI 1400L server is preloaded with the SGI Linux Environment with Red Hat Linux 6.0.

Ohio's research community will be able to access the Beowulf cluster through OARnet, the state's high-performance network providing Internet connectivity to more than a million Ohioans. OSC's computers and visualization equipment include Cray T3E and Cray T94 supercomputers, two SGI Origin 2000 servers, and several Silicon Graphics 320 and Silicon Graphics 540 visual workstations (Cray Research LLC is a wholly owned subsidiary of SGI).

Algor Adds Program for Shock Analysis

A new program from Algor Inc. of Pittsburgh enables engineers to analyze a model using the Dynamic Design-Analysis Method (DDAM), a U.S. Navy standard procedure for shock design.

All mission-essential equipment onboard surface ships and submarines must be qualified for shock loads, such as from depth charges, mines, missiles, and torpedoes. Algor's new DDAM software is an optional extender to the company's FEA or Mechanical Event Simulation family of software products. After performing a vibration analysis to determine the mode shapes and natural frequencies, the user conducts a DDAM analysis using an input spectrum of shock design values (displacements or accelerations).

The input spectrum values are provided automatically by the software, based on data from unclassified U.S. Navy documents (primarily Naval Research Laboratory Report NRL-1396). Algor's DDAM analysis processor uses the NRL summation method to combine the peak responses for all mode shapes and then calculates overall displacements/ stresses. Results can be viewed for each mode shape with Superview, Algor's visualization software. Algor's new DDAM software is available for PC workstations running Window NT, 95, or 98.

Parametric Offers Student Edition

Parametric Technology Corp. of Waltham, Mass., and Journey Publishing have released Pro/Engineer 2000i Student Edition, which includes integrated capabilities for creating detailed solid and sheet metal components, building assemblies, designing weldments, and producing fully documented production drawings and photorealistic renderings. The student edition also includes Parametric's Behavioral Modeling technology, which will allow students to create designs that are driven by specific objectives and desired functional behavior.

The new software package also includes Parametric's On-line Help CD, tutorials from Pro/Engineer Tutorial by Roger Toogood of the University of Alberta (PDF files on CD), and discount coupons for books written specifically for students on Pro/Engineer 2000i.

The Pro/Engineer 2000i Student Edition is available to degree-seeking students, faculty, and staff for educational use only. This product may not be used for commercial, professional, or for-profit purposes. The software is priced at $299 and runs on a Pentium class PC. Orders may be placed in university bookstores or at the Journey Publishing website at www.journeyed.com.

The new student edition is part of the PTC Education Program. The company also recently made a $19.2 million (U.S.) grant to the United Kingdom Schools' CAD/CAM Initiative, a joint partnership between the U.K. government (Department for Education and Employment), Warwick (University) Manufacturing Group, and PTC.


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