MSC Nastran 2016 Sees Speed and Multidisciplinary Improvements

MSC Nastran and Patran 2016 has just been announced. The new MSC Nastran release will focus on performance and introducing new multidisciplinary analysis tools.

As for Patran, it will have added support for nonlinear and fatigue simulations.

Parallel computing is a key improvement to the new version of Nastran. This will speed up the solution times of the simulations, which will allow for more assessments in a given development cycle.

MSC reports that by using automated component mode synthesis (CMS) and shared memory parallel (SMP) computing techniques, the software can now run with a 50 percent parallel efficiency on up to 16 cores. In fact, MSC recorded that simulations can work with 75 percent parallel efficiency, and run up to three times faster, if the software runs on four threads when compared to a single processor.

Another process new to the release that is sure to improve the number of assessments in a given development cycle is the global optimization function. This optimization function uses multi-start global algorithms and gradient-based local optimization algorithms to search a component’s design space.

This new function is targeting the automotive and aerospace industry, which are looking to make their part designs more lightweight.

Another interesting optimization tool provides multimodal optimization. This tool gives engineers the ability to assess multiple parts with different topologies to determine a combined optimum. The tool is capable of assessing large problems and multiple models.

Finally, engineers who design rotating machinery will notice some improvements to the 3D modeling capabilities in this release. Namely, users can now model discrete blades and nonsymmetrical components within rotating machines. As a result, 3D simulations can now assess each blade locally and at a component level.

Other improvements to the MSC Nastran and Patran 2016 release include:

• Simulation Performance
• Intel MKL PARDISO solver now provides scalability and reduced simulation times
• Dynamics/Noise, Vibration and Harshness (NVH)
• Equivalent Radiated Power (ERP) output of higher order shell and solid elements
• The ability to use multiple Actran load vectors in Nastran frequency response analysis
• Access to Actran out-of-core solver for poroelastic material
• Nastran Embedded Fatigue
• Improved computational times and accuracy with averaged nodal stresses and strains
• 2D stress states on model surfaces using skinning
• Nonlinear FEA
• Segment-to-segment beam contact reduces computations and improves accuracy
• Interference fit analysis handles larger interferences and overlaps
• Explicit Simulation Analysis
• New material models: time-dependent viscoelastic creep, thermo-elasto-viscous plastic creep and Riedel-Hiermaier-Thoma
• The ability to transform adaptive solid elements into smoothed-particle hydrodynamics (SPH) to model debris after design failure
• Results
• Open format results database on HDF5 standard with access to Python, Java and C++