NX Nastran Brochure - Femto Engineering

Siemens PLM SoftwareNX NASTRANThe premier FEA solver for computational performance, accuracy,reliability and scalabilitysiemens.com/plm/nxnastran

Product developmentchallenges“In the aircraft and aerospacebusiness, there is no room forpoor quality engineering.”Ben TerrellPerth engineering managerAquila EngineeringSiemens understands your productdevelopment challengesIncreasing product and market complexity combined with global developmentteams and reduced developmentbudgets create challenges for companiesin every industry.Problems found too late indevelopmentThe top development issue manufacturers cite is that they find problems too latein the development cycle. Such problemsare extremely costly to fix through latedesign and manufacturing changes, butthey are also costly in terms of lostrevenue caused by delays in productintroductions.Top product design challenges47%Problems/errors found too lateMaking trade-offs for cost,performance and quality41%Frequent design changes36%Predicting product behavior in areal-world environment28%Workforce reduction/lack oftechnical experts24%0%210%20%Percentage ofrespondents (n 157)Source:Aberdeen GroupApril 201030%40%50%Understanding quality vs. costand performance trade-offsAnother issue companies cite is theneed to better understand how designtrade-offs affect quality, cost and performance characteristics. The use ofphysical testing of different prototypedesigns to understand these trade-offsis time-consuming, costly and ultimatelyimpractical in today’s businessenvironment.Choosing the right simulation toolsIndustry pressure to decrease development time and improve quality is drivingbest-in-class companies to increase use ofsimulation. However, choosing the righttools is key to achieving the businessbenefits of simulation. Companiesneed to consider technology, scalabilityand integration when consideringsimulation tools: The right technology ensures thatsimulation can accurately representthe physical environment Scalable solutions adjust to productcomplexity, high-performancecomputing resources and a broad rangeof users’ skill levels Integration with other simulationtools and with product developmentapplications is important to bothefficiency and effectiveness of theCAE solution

NX Nastran advantage“Siemens’ PLM technologyhas delivered significantbusiness results, especiallyin terms of our competitiveadvantage in achieving thehighest quality products andwith a global reach.”Arun GuptaGeneral ManagerDesign and EngineeringFlovel Group“In software, we can see wherethe problem areas are beforebuilding prototypes.”Paul VoermanPresidentChallenge b.v.SDRCI-deasThe premier FEA solverAn industry standard for over 40 years,Nastran is a finite element solver forstress, vibration, structural failure, heattransfer, acoustics and aeroelasticityanalyses. Manufacturers as well as engineering suppliers in aerospace, automotive, electronics, heavy machinery, medical device, and other industries rely onNX Nastran software for their criticalengineering computing needs so they canproduce safe, reliable and optimizeddesigns within increasingly shorterdesign cycles.Develop products fasterSimulation with NX Nastran helpsengineers to find problems with productdesigns earlier before conducting anycostly physical tests. With NX Nastran,engineers can be confident their designwill work when the first physicalprototype is tested.UGSSIEMENSNX CAEIncrease product qualityNX Nastran enables engineers anddesigners to rapidly evaluate many moredesign concepts than can be accomplished with physical prototypes.Simulation allows engineers to betterunderstand and optimize design tradeoffs for quality, cost and performance.Reduce development andwarranty costsSimulation with NX Nastran is creditedwith driving millions of dollars out of R&Dcosts because building a computer modeland digitally testing performance ischeaper, faster and more effective thanthe physical prototyping processes itreplaces. And with increased productquality, companies can save on potentialwarranty costs.Siemens’ CAE vision and heritageOur vision is to deliver engineeringsimulation solutions that drive productperformance decisions across thecomplete product lifecycle.Siemens PLM Software delivers on thisvision by building upon our simulationheritage which spans over 40 years andencompasses well known CAE brandssuch as I-deas , NX CAE and NX Nastran.Teamcenter SimulationProcess ManagementNX NastranNastran3

Multiple solutiondomains – one solver“Nonlinear dynamics is a corefeature of NX Nastran; it hashelped us fill a gap in civil andstructural engineering.”Roberto Nascimbene, PhDResearcherStructural Analysis SectorCoordinatorEucentre“Based on our finite elementanalysis (technology), wewere able to reduce stressby a third.”Martin AlbrechtCEOMT-PropellerNX Nastran solves most structural analysis problems for linear and nonlinearanalysis, dynamic response, rotor dynamics, aeroelasticity and optimization. Theadvantage to having all of these solutionsavailable in a single solver is that input/output file formats are the same for allsolution types, greatly simplifying modeling processes.Linear analysisLinear analysis assumes that materialsare not strained beyond their yield limitsand that deformations remain small inrelation to overall dimensions. NXNastran features a complete range of linear analysis functionality. For example, itcan solve static problems, such as determining if a structure will fail under a prescribed load. NX Nastran also solves transient problems where loads change overtime, like a car driving down a road. Inaddition, engineers use NX Nastran tosolve for buckling load capacities andheat transfer behavior.Advanced nonlinear analysisWhen deformations are large, linearmaterial assumptions are invalid, or contact is a factor, then nonlinear analysis isthe appropriate simulation choice.Nonlinear implicit and explicit analysissolvers enable engineers to address problems as simple as a plastic catch and ascomplex as a car body roof crush andpost-buckling analysis.4Advanced material capabilities enableusers to simulate the collapse of a rubbermount or the performance of an enginegasket seal. Integrated explicit dynamiccapabilities let engineers perform metalforming analysis or evaluate electronichardware performance during a highimpact drop test simulation.Rotor dynamic analysisRotating systems, such as shafts and turbines, are subject to rotation-inducedgyroscopic and centrifugal forces thatgive rise to dynamic behavior not presentin stationary systems. In particular,dynamic instability can occur at certainrotation speeds known as critical speeds.Rotor dynamic analysis allows engineersto predict critical speeds for their systemsand develop designs that operate awayfrom these unstable speeds.Detail of the contact surfaces of apendulum isolator

Dynamic analysisDynamic analysis is an important knownstrength of NX Nastran. From transient,to frequency, to random loading, toshock response, NX Nastran covers thefull range of dynamic solutions. Dynamicresponse capabilities play a key role invarious applications, such as assessingpassenger comfort in aircraft and automobiles under different operatingconditions, or evaluating the effectof vibrations on the performance ofconsumer products and other high-techelectronic devices.Dynamics analysis results are oftenused as input into other types of analyses, such as motion analysis for flexiblebodies. NX Nastran facilitates links tomotion simulation tools, such as NXMotion, RecurDyn, Adams, SIMPACKand MATLAB to simplify simulationworkflows.Aeroelastic analysisAeroelastic analysis enables analysis ofstructural models in the presence of anairstream. With NX Nastran, engineerscan simulate static aeroelastic trim analysis, flutter and dynamic aeroelasticityresponse applied to a variety of unsteadyloadings including gust. As such, it isapplicable in the design of airplanes, helicopters, missiles, suspension bridges andeven tall chimneys and power lines.OptimizationDesigning and producing innovativeproducts that meet performance criteriais a goal of every manufacturer. Usingoptimization techniques, engineers canimprove a proposed design, resulting inthe best possible product for minimumcost. Because your designs may havehundreds of variable parameters withcomplex interrelationships, finding anoptimal design through manual iterationsis hit-or-miss at best. NX Nastran’soptimization capabilities streamlineand automate that process by usingsophisticated algorithms to search theentire design space and find the rightcombination of parameters that willyield optimal performance.“We have set ourselves upwith an advanced solutionthat lets us perform a completerange of structural andthermal analyses.”Nicolas ÉtienneMechanical Group LeaderABB Analytical Business UnitFlexible bodies within a motionanalysis5

Computational performanceand numerical accuracyFinite element analysis models haveconsistently grown in size as engineerscontinue to tackle more complex problems through the increase in computingcapacity. Today, complex models withtens of millions of node points and elements are common. Performance is whatmakes NX Nastran the solution of choicefor users who need to solve today’sincreasingly large problems.“To see such a good correlationon a very complex systemmodel was impressive.”George LairdPrincipal Mechanical EngineerPredictive EngineeringShared memory parallelprocessing (SMP)Using multiple processors in parallel cansignificantly reduce solution run timescompared to more traditional serial solutions that use one processor. Sharedmemory parallel processing (SMP) is thepreferred technology on multiprocessornodes with shared memory or with processor nodes with multiple cores. SMP isused for lower level operations, such asmatrix decomposition and matrix multiplication. Since every solution sequenceinvolves matrix multiplications, SMP canbe activated in all solution sequences aslong as the hardware supports SMP.Elapsed time (mins)161214.411.289.0401 CPUSMP 2SMP 2w/SMEMSMP performance for a model with68K nodes solved on a laptop withIntel Core 2 Duo processor and8GB RAM.6Distributed memory parallelprocessing (DMP)Large system-level static and dynamicanalyses, often seen in the automotiveand aerospace industries, are a majorcomputational challenge, and muchhigher levels of scalability can beobtained with distributed memory processing (DMP) compared to shared memory processing (SMP). NX Nastran usesDMP to achieve faster solution speed bydividing the finite element solution intosmaller pieces that can be solvedsimultaneously.DMP solutions are typically run on a cluster with multiple nodes and multiple I/Ochannels communicating over a network.Each node has its own memory and oneor more disks. Users only need to specifythe number of processors, and the partitioning of the solution is done internally.