In case you haven’t heard, Dassault Systèmes announced a really exciting acquisition today. The SIMULIA brand is expanding with the addition of FE-DESIGN to the growing 3DEXPERIENCE platform. This will extend SIMULIA market leading solutions for design optimization. Check out the News Release for the official statement.

If you’re unfamiliar with FE-DESIGN products, you’ve been missing out! Headquartered in Karlsruhe, Germany, FE-DESIGN developed TOSCA Structure and TOSCA Fluid, two leading optimization technologies for both FEA and CFD simulations. These tools provide exceptional advantages to the simulation analyst, helping to create innovative and more easily manufactured design early in the product development process to deliver better products to the market faster.

• TOSCA Structure is the market leading technology for structural optimization, leveraging a variety of FEA packages. It allows for rapid and reliable design of lightweight, rigid and durable components and systems. Using topology optimization with TOSCA Structure technologies can help determine optimal design proposals during the design concept phase. Further detail improvements through shape and bead optimization make these designs ready for production and manufacture.
• TOSCA Fluid is so far the only available system for topology optimization of channel flow problems. Starting from an initial design space, an optimized design of a flow channel is determined automatically by TOSCA Fluid. With only one CFD solver run an optimized structure is derived (e.g. structural redesign with significantly reduced pressure drop). This unique technology allows an economic topology optimization of industrial large scale flow applications.

Imagine the possibilities for increased efficiency and creative design when using these technologies with in association with current SIMULIA products like Isight, our process automation and design optimization solution. Such a combination will provide a comprehensive suite of applications to support decisions ranging from the shape of a product to entire business processes.

You can learn more about design optimization from this SIMULIA webinar replay.

Last but not least, join us at the SIMULIA Customer Conference, May 21-24^th, 2013 in Vienna, Austria to learn more about design optimization, TOSCA technologies and how they can improve your simulation & design efficiency. Looking forward to seeing you there!

Mark MONAGHAN is a Senior member of the SIMULIA User Advocacy team

Harvesting the Iowa Wind

If you thought I was talking about Oklahoma, think again. In my last 3D Perspectives blog post, I wrote about Keokuk, Iowa leading the world in renewable hydroelectric power, way back in 1913. Today, according to the American Wind Energy Association, Iowa ranks second in the United State in wind power installations (by megawatts). Go Cyclones! Iowa State University’s sports team’s name seems to be a good nickname for Iowa’s efforts to harness the wind for clean, renewable energy production – Cyclone Power!

While from a distance, windmills look elegantly simple, they really are complex-and extremely large-systems – consisting of the foundation, the tower, the blades, and the turbine (see animation at U.S. Department of Energy website). To meet the multidisciplinary design and engineering challenges, wind power manufacturers are leveraging Product Lifecycle Management solutions from Dassault Systèmes, including 3D design, composites modeling, manufacturing automation, finite element analysis, multiphysics simulation, design optimization, as well as process and data management. Check out the coverage on DS solutions for wind energy at Eureka Magazine.

The wind energy industry also has plans to accelerate innovation through cross-industry collaboration. Check out this announcement between Boeing and Vestas discussing the benefits their respective companies plan to achieve by sharing research on light-weight materials and aerodynamics.  I don’t think it’s a coincidence that both companies use PLM solutions from DS.

China prototype using offshore platforms

The wind energy industry is also leveraging the experience and infrastructure developed for offshore oil exploration. Research is underway in China to evaluate the viability of using abandoned offshore oil platforms as the foundation for wind power turbines, with the help of Abaqus FEA from SIMULIA.

If you’re not already benefiting from wind power, it seems you will be in the near future. In fact, with the steady wind blowing across the lake in my backyard, I am seriously considering building a small-scale windmill of my own. I guess that idea – should it become a reality - will really take me back to my ‘renewable energy’ Iowa roots.

What do you think of Wind Energy? Will it continue to grow or do you think the industry has reached a plateau?

Go Cyclones!

Tim

Related post:

20% Wind Power by 2020

Is it a bird . . . a plane . . . or . . . ?  No! It’s a World Speed Sailing Yacht!

I studied Aerospace Engineering at university and so as you’d imagine I have a keen interest in all things aerospace. When Tim Clarke from Verney Yachts first showed me his new design, my gut reaction was, “this is one strange looking plane!” This was very quickly followed by a moment of confusion and then a moment of realisation.

Tim and his team at Verney Yachts have set themselves the challenge of breaking the world outright sailing speed record using the Yacht they are designing, the V39 – Albatross:

To break the record they aim to travel at 60-65 knots (Approx. 71-76 miles per hour). Also the operation of the sail is a little different than normal. To tack, the wing-sail rotates by 90 degrees around a hinge on the hull of the boat. Even Tim has acknowledged the challenge: “the concept design phase has thrown up a really challenging and interesting set of requirements for the wing-sail structure.”

Verney have been using SIMULIA’s Abaqus software to conduct non-linear finite element analysis on the boat and wing-sail as well as conducting the overall design in SolidWorks. As you can see it has two wings (or sails!) in an “L” configuration. The wing-sails are made of a composite construction, much like an ultra-modern aircraft wing. This material choice makes the wings very light and strong, but complex.

I’ll be following Tim and Verney throughout their quest to break the world record and you can too:

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Good Luck Verney!

Cheers, Tom