Analyzing multiple design scenarios

quot;What-if" analyses run on a single FEA model give a better idea of how a product will really work. Product Manager Algor Inc. Pittsburgh, Pa. For years, simulation-software vendors have been preaching the sermon of studying everything in a product’s operating environment, not just one physical effect. But analysis software was largely geared towards analyzing only one effect at a time so the preaching was difficult to practice. Recent developments in computer hardware and software, however, have produced powerful, affordable systems that can quickly handle complex analyses. In addition, simulation software tools can analyze multiple effects on a single model. Finite-element-analysis software, such as our own, lets users define and analyze multiple design scenarios with a single FEA model. For example, the capability lets users perform a variety of linear dynamic analyses — modal, response spectrum, random vibration, frequency response, critical-buckling load and more — all on the same model without leaving the user interface. Results from each scenario are saved in a separate folder under the mainmodel folder. This lets users switch between design scenarios and immediately access results. This ability to set up, analyze, evaluate, and share results for multiple design scenarios benefits applications that must group multiple models, easily move between different analyses, or conveniently compare results, such as in: To illustrate the advantages of design scenarios, consider that just one FEA model could be used in these five analyses: Doing this would generate 11 sets of results. Of course, analysis time will be longer than Scenario 1 alone, but a small percentage of the time needed to set up and run 11 models. Tools for analyzing multiple physical effects, as in design scenarios, is another step in the evolutionary trend: black-box analysis. Analysts won’t need to know FEA details, such as solver selection, material models, or finite-element