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Engineering Softwares

Animator


		Animator3 was originally designed as a post-processor for highly nonlinear dynamic applications such as LS-DYNA or similar codes. The program is based on years of experience in project work for the automotive industry. Earlier versions of the program had been exclusively developed for the automobile manufacturers VOLKSWAGEN and AUDI.

The great success it had within these companies encouraged GNS to rewrite the code using the C programming language as well as OpenGL and MOTIF. Since its first appearance on the market in 1996, Animator3 has received a great deal of recognition. It is now used by a wide range of companies within engineering.

Animator3 is the perfect animation tool for handling extremely large finite element models.
Animator3 offers maximum speed using very little memory.
Animator3 offers comprehensive functionality to easily
and carefully verify and validate the results of even the most complex calculations.
Models can be animated using a variety of different modes such as wire frame mode, shaded mode with or without element mesh, edge mode, and, of course, fringe mode. The different modes can also be combined within one model to get excellent graphics to efficiently present simulation results to designers or product managers.
Curves of nodal and element time history data can be plotted while running the animation just by picking them with the mouse.
Cross section views can be animated, and cross sections of the undeformed geometry can be compared to any deformed state.
A 3D option is also available allowing use of all the above features with real 3D animation.

Generator

The strong increase of regulations concerning the crashworthiness of automobiles and the impact protection of occupants requires the continual computational verification during the development process. The American FMVSS201 standard defines an injury criterion for a head which impacts the upper interior car structure.

Generator2 is a tool that allows the user to set the various positions and angles defined in this standard simply and quickly.

Generator2 offers the following features:

• Support of PAM-CRASH, LS-DYNA and Radioss input formats
• Dialog for an easy input of the FMH (free motion headform) position and shot direction
• Control of penetrations with the car structure
• Cross section view to find the impact point of the FMH
• Automatic calculation of the maximally allowed vertical angle (FMVSS201) with a recursive contact algorithm
• Output as PAM-CRASH, LS-DYNA (large, mlarge) or Nastran format
• Template controlled support of PAM-CRASH transform cards (TRSFM)
• User defined replace of the FMH in an existing input deck

The user interface and command syntax used are equivalent to that of Animator3, so users don't need much training if you are familiar with our postprocessor.

Generator2 is available for HP-UX, IBM AIX, sgi IRIX, SUN Solaris and Linux.

Indeed

The INDEED software system offers a unique range of innovative high-precision calculation models for the simulation of forming processes, i.e.

In connection with experimentally validated material laws, problems encountered in daily practice can be quickly described and a highly exact solution obtained. The process-oriented, intuitively operated user interface facilitates data set-up and the analysis of results.
The INDEED simulation package is based on the incremental finite element method (FEM). This means that the balance between inner and outer loads is determined in each incremental load step. The spring-back of the formed part can be determined with only one unloading step due to the elastic component in the material law.

A comparison between the simulation results and the specifications of the part to be manufactured allows the method planer and toolmaker to initially carry out the required modifications on the virtual model instead of on the tool itself and to check the effects.

Allowance for draw beads, blank holder segmentations and operational sequences from cutting to seaming is just as much a part of the capabilities of INDEED as the incorporation of additional tools and tailored blanks into the calculation.

INDEED has been optimized for the simulation of deep-drawing processes as a result of a close cooperation with German automobile companies. But its general implementation also makes it readily adaptable to user-specific forming processes. INDEED is used, for example, on a daily basis by leading manufacturers in the area of hydroforming.

INDEED is continually updated and adapted to technological innovations in close cooperation with the users. The intensive exchange of experience among users, technology partners, material manufactures and universities guarantees that INDEED will continue to meet future demands.

Finite Elements
INDEED offers a variety of elements for the simulation of forming processes. Depending on the planning stage, the user decides whether a quick design solution or a more exact one is required. The membrane element is highly suitable for design solutions in the optimization process. This element is able to provide valuable predictions about the feasibility of a planned process in a short period of time. It is preferably used in method planning and tool design in the first half of the design process.

Highly accurate results allowing reliable conclusions can be obtained with the solid shell element that was specially developed for the deep-drawing process. In addition to excellent bending and membrane characteristics, the element formulation includes the change of thickness as an independent degree of freedom. In contrast to the classical shell element, this allows an efficient description of the friction contact on both sides. A further advantage: is that membrane element and the shell solid element work with the same tool description so that models can be easily interchanged.

Material Models
The successful numerical simulation of metal forming requires realistic material laws for the mechanical description of the materials used. Material laws for different steel and aluminium alloys are available in INDEED. The implemented material models allow modelling of large plastic deformations. The general strain hardening which occurs during the forming process has been validated experimentally by extensive bi-axial tests for various materials. The elastic component in the material law enables the determination of the stress distribution in the thickness direction in connection with the kinematics of the shell element. This makes realistic springback prediction possible.

Pre- and Postprocessing
The XINDEED user interface is a very effective tool for processing data and analysing the results. It is based on a step-by-step procedure that takes the user through the necessary stages with ease and precise results.

The tool surfaces are taken over from the CAD system and are automatically triangulated. The outline of the blank is all that is required to produce the finite element mesh. Holes and weld lines can also be taken into consideration. The interactive dialogue prompts the user for the data necessary to describe deep-drawing processes as well as the hydroforming of pipes and blanks. A wide range of tools is available to assist in the analysis of the results. In addition to single-image displays, animation of the forming process offers an especially effective means to judge material flows. A freely defineabel cross-section of the part and rotatable display of the strains in the Forming Limit Diagram (FLD) round off the analysis procedure.

Systems Requirements
INDEED can be used on all Unix workstations and servers and on personal computers with LINUX. INDEED is highly vectorized and parallelized and users have the option of employing very efficient parallel computers based on current and future standards.

Evaluator


Evaluator has a crash interface which can read results from these codes: • PAMCRASH • RADIOSS • LS-DYNA With the interface up to eight calculation results can be stored and compared. The calculator can be used to modify data.

For reading NVH results Evaluator has different interfaces:
• NASTRAN (op2 and punch-files)
• PERMAS

With these interfaces Evaluator can read:
• transfer functions
• modal participation factors
• kinetic and strain energies
considering Animator3 group files

Evaluator has several interfaces such as:

• general for ascii data
• PAMCRASH
• RADIOSS
• LS-DYNA
• NASTRAN (op2 and punch-files)
• PERMAS
• RGB, PNG images
Evaluator can be run interactively or in batch mode like Animator3.
Evaluator provides different objects which can be arranged on pages:
• x-y plots (linear and logarithmic scale)
• bar charts
• polar plots
• colormaps
• images
• text
• circles
• lines
• arrows
• templates
• macros

Plot-data can be modified by:
• filters
• special occupant safety calculations (HIC, VC)
• addition
• multiplication
• integration
• derivation

There are export interfaces such as:
• Postscript
• PDF
• RGB
• PNG
• general ascii
• binary data

The idea is to create a report once interactively and later (i.e. for variants) let Evaluator run in batch mode. This saves a lot of time and the results are nice looking diagrams.
Evaluator can be used interactively by picking objects or using menus. An alternative is to enter commands directly on the command line. Due to the batch ability of Evaluator every user action results in a generated command which is stored in a session file (eva.SES).