Volume III | Spring 2013

Put your best on the line.

every time.

tackle your toughest msC software

simulation tasks with the pure performance
of intel Xeon processors.
Discover the difference of intel Xeon processors
at intel.com/pureperformance.

Congratulations to msC software for 50 years of simulation innovation

celebrated at the 2013 msC software user Conference
Copyright 2013 Intel Corporation. All rights reserved. Intel, the Intel logo, Xeon, and Xeon inside are trademarks of Intel Corporation in the U.S. and other countries.
*Other names and brands may be claimed as the property of others.

IN THIS ISSUE

Letter from the Editor

The Beginning of Something Special

Product News in Brief

Designing Products That Move?

Global Collaboration Sparks Innovation

Letter from the CEO

50 Years of Pioneering Spirit

FEATURE STORY

10

14

50 Years of MSC Software

When Simulation Met Reality

Recognizing The Innovators

A Few Technology Inventors, Founders, & Contributors

Throughout the MSC Software Company Timeline

18

Great Innovations

20

Safe Marine Operations in Wind Energy

Optimizing Machine Performance

24

Stamping Out Waste

Armor

Aerospace Supplier Uses Simulation

to Save Time and Money

TECH TIPS

26

Adams: Customize the User Interface

27

Patran: Useful Display Options

DEMA

Walter Daniel, MSC Software

Edwin Goei, MSC Software

Actran: Interpret MSC Nastran Model Data

Bernard Van Antwerpen, FFT, MSC Software

30

32

34

38

Scania Improves Heavy Truck Designs

Using Simulation to Evaluate Alternatives

Early in Process
Scania

The Ups & Downs of Finite Elements

Schindler Lifts Automates its FE Calculations

with CAE tools from MSC Software

Schindler

Structural Analysis Workload

Reduced by 27%

Armor Increases Machine Productivity by 20%

with MSC Softwares Adams and Easy5 Simulations

36

40

TECHNOLOGY MATTERS

Customer Spotlight

Knud E. Hansen A/S

28

PARTNER SHOWCASE

44

Dynamic Motion Analysis for Wind Farm

Drilling Rig Transport Operation

24

A Look at Some of the Great Innovations that MSC

Solutions have made Possible over the Years

22

21

Take A New Look at Adams

MSC Update & News

SPECIAL SPOTLIGHT:

MSC Software: Trusted Services Partner

Derek Barkey, MSC Software

Simplifying Structural Stress Analysis

to Achieve Complete Aircraft Certification

Groupe Ingeliance

UNIVERSITY & RESEARCH

42

Predicting Shock Attenuation

Numerical Investigation of Shock-Wave

Load Attenuation by Barriers

Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva, IL

44

Students Collaborate to Design Race Car

Professional Driver Test Drives Student-Built

F-1 Car Designed with MSC Software

The Partners for the Advancement of Collaborative

Engineering Education (PACE)

simulating

REALITY
Leslie Bodnar, Editor
leslie.bodnar@mscsoftware.com

Marina Carpenter, Graphic Designer/Assist. Editor

marina.carpenter@mscsoftware.com

Stephanie Jaramillo, Assistant Editor

stephanie.jaramillo@mscsoftware.com

Simulating Reality Contest Winners

Patrick Garrett, Assistant Editor

Journey Through Time with Adams

Lydia Westerhaus, Assistant Designer

Yijun Fan & Leslie Bodnar, MSC Software

James B. McConville, MSC Software

patrick.garrett@mscsoftware.com
lydia.westerhaus@mscsoftware.com

MSC Software Corporation

2 MacArthur Place, Santa Ana, CA 92707
714.540.8900 | www.mscsoftware.com

2 | MSC Software

Leslie Bodnar
Sr. Director,
Global Marketing
MSC Software

Half a century ago, we began the journey on a path of helping society design better
technology at lower cost and higher quality, and today we continue to do the same
with more vigor than ever. With a rich history of software development that is
recognized as the stepping stone for the CAE industry, it is both our mission and
the time to pave new paths ahead that will address the growing complexities of
engineering. As manufactured products become more sophisticated, materials more
advanced, and assemblies and systems more integrated, the people and technology
of MSC will be ready with wisdom, determination, and adaptive solutions.

Half a century
ago, we began the
journey on a path of
helping society design
better technology at
lower cost and higher
quality, and today we
continue to do the
same with more
vigor than ever.

In this issue, we share a few special

spotlights to celebrate the anniversary.
On page 14, our very own innovation
leaders are acknowledged with special
thanks. The contributions and talents
of these people throughout our historic
timeline have brought rich capabilities
and have contributed to great
achievements in engineering.

On page 32, take a look at our

Simulating Reality contest winners,
who are acknowledged for their
initiatives in new technology design
and innovation. Our special Gold
Anniversary winners, including NASAs
JPL and their unprecedented use of Adams in the Curiosity rover mission to Mars
are spotlighted in this feature article, along with other great customer projects.
Finally, special congratulatory excerpts from our valued customers can be found
scattered throughout; and as with previous issues, please enjoy our customer
spotlight articles that share new ideas for applying simulation in ways that are
producing real business value and competitive advantage.

Letter from the Editor

ts a big year for MSC Software. As we embark on the beginning of a New

Era in simulation & analysis, we also celebrate 50 years in business as an
engineering software and services company. It is our pleasure to share this special
anniversary issue of Simulating Reality with our customers, partners, and friends.

Letter from the Editor

The Beginning of
Something Special

Volume III - Winter 2013

| 3

PRODUCT NEWS IN-BRIEF

Designing
Products
that Move
Take A New Look at Adams 2013
By Leslie Bodnar, MSC Software

Proven in Automotive
As an engineer, you probably spend time
thinking about new ways to improve product
development.
Its likely that predicting product performance
earlier in the design process and meeting
design specifications more accurately are
important to you. Couple these concerns
with finding the right engineering software
technology, and it can be a daunting task
especially when faced with the array of
technology options today.
In Automotive, engineers know the value
of Adams. They use it to simulate aspects

of vehicle development including vehicle

dynamics, ride & handing, safety, and
durability associated with the design and test
of ground vehicles. They know it works, and
continuously produces results relied upon to
optimize new product design.

engineers outside of Automotive receive new

customized solutions that provide dramatic
time savings in modeling and simulating
equipment and machinery systems.

Helping More Engineers

As Evan Yares, writer for Design World put

it in a recent article, the kinematic tools
included in many CAD systems are quite
good at modeling motion driven systems
with frictionless connections and idealized
constraints. They work well when all the
motion in a model is prescribed. But thats
not how real world machinery works. More

While automotive engineers see performance

improvements with our new 2013 release
of Adams (for example, the new Adaptive
interpolation approach has increased simulation
speed by 4 times for the Rough Road ride test, and
by 10 times for the Straight Flat Road ride test),

How Can it Help You?

New Module Bearing (New with 2013)

High Fidelity Modeling - Belt

High Fidelity Modeling - Gear

High Fidelity Modeling - Chain

4 | MSC Software

often, you find force or torque driven systems, with slop and friction in
the connections, and flexible bodies. To model these types of systems, you
need to move beyond kinematics, to multibody dynamics.
Multibody dynamics software, like Adams, is used to study the dynamics
of moving parts, and to determine how loads and forces are distributed
throughout mechanical systems. The software can run nonlinear dynamics
analyses in a fraction of the time that would be required by FEA software.
The loads and forces computed by multibody dynamics can be used as an
input when running FEA analysis on critical components in the system.

Traditional
Method

Using Adams/
Machinery

Time
Saved

0.25 day

0.25 day

0.75 day

Base model
creation

(frame & shafts)

Building the
gear box

1.0 day

0.25 day

(requires external
geometry and limits
modeling method
options)

(external geometry
unnecessary;
more modeling
method options)

While multibody dynamics software has been available, in the

mainstream, for many years, it has been more the realm of analysts than
of design engineers. The complexity of creating dynamic models for
many common mechanical components has skewed it towards high-value
critical applications.

Building the
belt system

5.0 days

1.0 day

4 days

Building the
chain system

5.0 days

1.0 day

4 days

Post-processing

0.5 days

0 days

0.5 days

Easier for Designers

(defining
desired output)

MSC has released a new member of the Adams family, Adams/Machinery,

which could very well make serious multibody dynamics analysis practical
for use by design engineers, early in the product development cycle, said
Yares.

Total time

11.75 days

2.5 days

9.25 days

Adams/Machinery is a set of productivity modules, bundled into a single

offering. It runs in the standard Adams/Studio environment (Adams/
View, Adams/Solver, and Adams/Postprocessor), and can import geometry
from most major CAD systems, or build a solid model of the mechanical
system from scratch.
In the new Adams 2013 release, the Adams/Machinery solution adds
a new bearing module to the existing gear, belt, and chain modules
introduced in the 2012 release. The new Adams/Machinery Bearing
module enables a user to select from a library of more than 24,000
off-the-shelf bearings spanning a range of 14 bearing types. The library
supplies characteristic geometry values for bearings from 8 leading
manufacturers. The novel modeling technique employed enables service
life prediction based on widely-accepted industry standards.

Real Time Savings

The table below shows how much time can be saved using the customized
machinery modules in Adams as opposed to creating components using
the traditional approach.

Try it Today
Adams/Machinery makes analyst-level simulation practical and
approachable for machinery designers. Use the multiple modeling
productivity modules to create common machinery components more
efficiently, while encountering a shorter learning curve.
To schedule a demonstration or request a trial license, please call
1-800-942-2072, or go to www.mscsoftware.com/adams
to be contacted. u

MSC UPDATE & NEWS

NEWS

Global Collaboration Sparks Innovation

MSC AMERICAS
Aerospace & Ground
Vehicle Users
Symposiums
With nearly 400 attendees, 50
presenters and 25 Sponsors,
MSC Softwares 2012 Aerospace
& International Ground Vehicle
Users Symposiums were highly
collaborative events. Participants
were able to attend 4 Technology
Tracks, consisting of 37 Technical
Presentations, from presenters such
as Best Technical Presentation
winners, Boeing, NASA Goddard
Space Flight Center, Pratt & Miller
Engineering and Hendrickson Trailer
Commercial Vehicle Systems.

Event high points included

customer keynote presentations
from Boeing, NASA, Fiat
Automobiles, BMW Group and
Toyota Motor Corporation and the
symposiums evening receptions.
Attendees were exclusive guests at
the National Air & Space Museum
and Henry Ford Museum and
were able to explore historical
artifacts, namely the Space Shuttle
Discovery, the Boeing B-29
Superfortress Enola Gay, John F.
Kennedys presidential limousine
and the Rosa Parks bus.
See symposium highlights by
visiting the links:
Aerospace:
www.mscsoftware.com/
2012-Aero-Symposium
Ground Vehicle:
www.mscsoftware.com/
2012-IGVS

6 | MSC Software

2013 Americas
User Conference
Join us on May 6th and 7th in
Irvine, California for the first of
MSCs 2013 50th Anniversary User
Conferences to learn about the
latest state-of-the-art technology
and to see application to real world
engineering problems.
Presentation topics will include
CAE Methods, Composites,
Fatigue, Motion, Nonlinear Analysis,
Process and Data Management,
Structures and Systems/Dynamics.
Learn more by visiting
www.mscsoftware.com/
conference-2013

MSC INDIA
MSC Software India
User Conference 2012
MSCs long-awaited India 2012
User Conference took place
in September at ITC Gardenia
in Bangalore. More than 900
attendees from the MSC user and
Business Partner communities
gathered at the conference,
making it one of the largest
attended events in MSC India

history. The conference served

as a platform for MSC users to
talk with MSC global experts and
industry peers about the future
of simulation. Event highlights
included a keynote speech
from Dominic Gallello, CEO and
President of MSC Software, who
presented a view of the industrys
current and future trends and
how MSC is providing solutions to
customer challenges. Attendees
also participated in the highly
anticipated Product Update
Sessions throughout the event.
Join us at MSCs India 50th
Anniversary User Conference on
September 5th and 6th.

MSC CHINA
2012 User Conferences
MSC China hosted a collection
of user conferences July through
December of 2012. With two
conferences focusing on industry
and two on comprehensive
solutions, the events
acknowledged a wide variety of
topics, specific to users needs.
Over 40 companies participated
in the Heavy Machinery User
Conference on August 16-17 in
Wuyishan, with 3 key customers
presenting applications on railway
vehicles and wind energy.
Nearly every major OEM in South
China joined the Automotive
User Conference in November

held in Shanghai to learn about

industry-focused topics including
NVH, Fatigue, Handling and
Ride Performance. Conference
attendees were pleased to learn
how internationally advanced
automotive companies are
managing data with SimManager,
MSCs simulation and data
management platform. Another
attendee highlight was the
introduction of Digimat, e-Xstream
engineerings nonlinear multi-scale
material and structure modeling
platform.
Read the recent TenLinks blog
post about Digimat: www.
mscsoftware.com/digimat-10
Join us at MSCs China 50th
Anniversary User Conference on
June 6th and 7th. Details to come.

2012 Seminars
Hundreds of participants from
various industries attended
seminars throughout China
during the last half of 2012. The
seminars address industry-specific
challenges to optimize design
with recent product releases
such as MSC Fatigue and Adams
Machinery. View the full list of
Seminars at: www.mscsoftware.
com/china-2012

University Activities
MSC China is proud to be a huge
supporter of students. Since
2010, MSC China has sponsored
university teams competing in the
FSAE Competition. In 2012, an
overwhelming 70% of the 40 teams
participating in the competition
used Adams to improve the design
and performance of their vehicles.
Join us at the 2012-2013 annual
campus road show. The series of

the five-day training course that is

also provided to MSC customers.
The show was so well attended
that another student training
is planned for 2013. Look for
additional details to come.

presentation sparked a response

with customers when he gave a
preview of what to expect with
upcoming software releases.
I could recognize the great
potential of SOL400, remarked
an attendee from a leading rubber
manufacturing company, about
the latest developments in
MSC Nastran.
Please join us at Japans 2013
50th Anniversary User Conference
on Thursday, May 30th.

Online Solution Seminar

Over 350 registered attendees
from a variety of industries
joined 11 online solution web
seminars to learn to effectively
solve problems using Adams,
Patran, Marc and MSC Nastran.
The seminars focused on high
performance computing and
process optimization. These online
events provided the opportunity to
MSC and users in Japan, unable
to attend the users meetings, to
collaborate and address unique
challenges.

MSC ITALY
MSC Italy Teams Up with
Renowned University
In collaboration with Politecnico di
Milano, MSC Software is currently
offering an introductory course
in structural analysis to university
students studying Aerospace and
Mechanics Engineering. The free
course lessons present techniques
for building a finite element modal
analysis using MSC Nastran and
Patran. Students learn through a
variety of interactive examples and
applications. Politecnico di Milano
Professors, Federico Cheli and
Massimiliano Lanz commented,
We are very pleased with the results
achieved through the educational
activities we have started with MSC
Software in recent years. Seminars
and tutorials we have developed
together in different courses, and
in particular in the MSC Nastran
course, have been positively
evaluated by students and complete
their technical preparation.

Learn more about Politecnico di

Milano by visiting www.english.
polimi.it

MSC KOREA
events kicked off in November and
is sweeping through 7 university
sites, including Tianjin, Chongquing
and Chengdu before it wraps up in
March. Learn more by visiting
www.mscsoftware.com/
china-university

MSC JAPAN
MSC Nastran
Users Meeting
With customer presentations like
Hondas Road Path Estimation
on Weight Saving and Mazdas
Analytical Estimation on Weight
Saving, Japans 2012 product
specific user meetings attracted
nearly 500 participants. One
conference attendee from an
automotive-related parts company
spoke of the event, It was an
excellent opportunity to learn about
many new features. I am thinking of
many ways I can improve business
productivity.
Vice President of Product
Development, Doug Neils keynote

MSC users in Korea were invited

to a special set of events in
Pusan and Seoul on November
21st and 22nd. The road show
presented leading acoustics
simulation solution tool, Actran, to
discover how acoustics simulation
technology is utilized across
industries, both locally and globally.
Conference attendees were
also invited to attend an Actran
technical training in December
to address specific challenges
and work directly with acoustics
simulation experts.

MSC was pleased to host a special

training for students in Korea for
the first time in December. The
technical training was conveniently
held during students winter
vacation at MSC Koreas Education
Center. Students learned how to
use Adams and MSC Nastran, in

The events featured presentations

from leading manufacturers such as
IPMEKH RAN in Moscow and MSC
solutions experts. Neil Bishop and
Hans Zeischka delivered, Coupling
MSC Nastran Embedded Fatigue
with Adams to Achieve Better
Durability Performance to users at
the Global Adams/Car User Meeting
in Germany in November.

Presentations from the

conferences are available on
simcompanion.mscsoftware.
com

MSC Partner Events

Engineering professionals were
invited to connect and discover
the latest innovations in CAE
technology at three MSC partner
events in October. In Summa, a
MSC partner specializing in
data processing, welcomed
60 enthusiastic engineering
professionals in Benelux on
October 4th. The theme,
Simulation without Limits was
fully explored throughout the event
with presentations from keynote
speakers MSC CEO Dominic
Gallello and Eddy Fadel, Director
of Sales, discussing topics such
as the future of simulation and
revealing how MSC solutions are
enabling engineers to build smarter
with solutions such as MSC
Fatigue and Composite Modeling.
MSC reseller, MSI Engineering,
a firm that services the
pharmaceutical, medical device
and electronic industries, hosted a
Users Info Day on October 16th at
the Wohel Convention Center in Tel
Aviv. 100 customers and prospects
participated in the event, which
included MSC keynote speakers
and lectures, rich in technical
content, from Actran and MSC
Nastran experts.

Actran Road Show

University Students
Learn Adams &
MSC Nastran

Russia, Norway, and Hungary.

EMEA EVENTS
EMEA 2012
User Conferences
The MSC 2012 user conferences in
the EMEA region brought over 600
engineers, universities, researchers,
developers and industry leaders
together for the mix of industry and
product focused events in Germany,

More than 200 attendees were

received at ESTEQs Annual User
Conference on October 19th in
Pretoria, South Africa. ESTEQ
Engineering, a technology
provider focusing on business and
engineering solutions, brought
numerous industries together
to share experiences and ideas.
Henk Viljoen, Managing Director
of ESTEQ summarized the event,
The theme of our conference
was, We Enjoy Solving Difficult
Problems. And this is exactly what
our customers presented using
MSC Softwares technologies in
Vehicle Dynamics and Structure
Mechanics. u
Volume III - Winter 2013

| 7

2013 USER CONFERENCES

Americas

Japan

Irvine, CA - May 7/8

Thursday - May 30th

EMEA

APAC

Gothenburg, Sweden - May 13/14

Berlin, Germany - May 14/15
Gaydon, UK - May 15/16
Toulouse, France - May 16/17
Russia - May 21/22
Italy - May 22/23
Turkey - May 27th

Korea - June 4/5

China - June 6/7
India - September 5/6

For more information, visit:

www.mscsoftware.com/50years

50 Years of
Pioneering Spirit

Dominic Gallello
President & CEO
MSC Software

The 60s was one of the most special times in

the history of engineering. The race for space
was romantic and inspiring, but it also created
a very serious and time-critical mission for
engineers. For the young MSC, it meant winning
a contract to build Nastran for NASA to ensure
the vibration in the Saturn V rocket would not
put astronauts lives at risk. This tiny company,
competing against the giants like TRW, Douglas
and General Dynamics, had a vision for the
technology, a fighting spirit to compete and the
follow-through to deliver.

Later, in the 70s and 80s, the innovations

continued with further extensions to simulation
and with new methods to allow the growing
power of the digital computer to be exploited.
These extensions added to the confidence
needed by the engineers using simulation to
make decisions. Many of the major concepts
that enabled the growth of simulation were
first used in production applications in MSCs
products. During that incredibly rich expansion
period, MSC played a major role in introducing
numerical simulation to a broad range of
industries. As a result of that focus and a belief
in the value of CAE, simulation is used almost
everywhere in engineering and MSCs tools are
used on virtually every transportation system
being developed on Earth today.

Over the past few years, I have had the great

fortune to meet and share ideas with pioneers
such as the MSC founder, Dr. Richard MacNeal,
the father of Patran, Dr. Ed Stanton, and
some extraordinary correspondence with Chris
Craft, the flight director at NASA. Not even
the President could override Chris, once the
countdown for the launches started.
These were great men who showed me similar
qualities. They were supremely confident in
delivering to a completely uncertain future.
Their personal commitment to success was
selfless and unwavering. They are very smart,
gifted with a thirst for knowledge, and with the
ability to invent. They were leaders and they
completed the mission. Dr. MacNeal had his
mathematics; Dr. Stanton had the confidence
of the government that he could deliver critical
new innovation; and Mr. Craft, who started his
career calculating structural loads by hand, and
acknowledged to me how critical Nastran was
in the development of space vehicles, had the
confidence of a nation to guide every step of
the missions.

As we bid farewell
to the first 50 years of
MSC Software, we look
forward to the great
human challenges that
will inspire the next
50 years of a truly
great company.
These individuals, who all played a part in
helping to inspire a society and move humanity
forward, inspired me deeply. As we bid farewell
to the first 50 years of MSC Software, we look
forward to the great human challenges that
will inspire the next 50 years of a truly great
company. In 2013, a new era begins for MSC.
Look forward to the introduction of innovation
commensurate with our rich history that will
again be the vanguard for the future
of simulation.

Letter from the CEO

n Huntsville, Alabama, the dynamic test

stand building which was constructed in
1964 stills stands today. At 111 meters tall, the
gigantic Saturn V rocket was assembled in the
building and the building shook the rocket to
determine if there would be structural failure. A
visionary at Goddard Space Center (Tom Butler)
had the idea to do the same test in a computer
instead of a building and NASTRAN was born.
The building was declared a National Historic
Landmark in 1985. In 2003, NASA stated the
value of NASTRAN to society is over $10B.

Letter from the CEO

Volume III - Winter 2013

| 9

FEATURE STORY

50 Years of
MSC Software

When Simulation Met Reality

C

omputers were almost as exotic

as rocket ships in 1962, when
President John F. Kennedy challenged
the nation to send a man to the moon.
Humming away in cold rooms at
universities and big corporations, few
people had ever seen a computer, never
mind worked on one.
The software that made computers
tick was an even deeper mystery. It was
buried deep in electronic brains, welded
to application-specific hardware, part of
monolithic machines that could be the
size of a walk-in cooler.
That was the environment into which
Richard MacNeal and Robert Schwendler

10 | MSC Software

launched, MacNeal-Schwendler
Corporation in 1963. Fifty years later we
are MSC Software, but only the name
has changed. The company is still on the
leading edge of simulation software. Our
products make it cheaper and faster to
design high-quality products including
the first rocket to lift humans off the
Earth and propel them to the moon,
virtually every space vehicle designed
since, and generations of aircraft and
automobiles.
I cant think of a single instance where
a car or aircraft that was not structurally
analyzed by NASTRAN, particularly
MSC Nastran, said Dr. Marc Halpern,

vice president, research with Gartner

and a 30-year veteran of the simulation
software market. MSC Software is deeply
respected in the field of computer-aided
engineering technologies, particularly
finite element analysis. They have such
deep expertise in that domain theyre
a de-facto standard, particularly in the
aerospace and automotive industries.
Over 50 years, we grew from a twoman shop to a corporation of 1,100
employees. A new generation of leadership
has returned our focus to our historical
strengths while we chart a new path for
the future of simulation and analysis
software.

MSC Software
Company Logos
Over the years

1968

1971

1983

2004

Space, The First Frontier

Richard (Dick) MacNeal was a member of
Tom Brokaws greatest generation, which
grew up during the Great Depression,
fought World War II, and built the postwar American economy.
The U.S. military put Dick MacNeals
prodigious brain to work during the
war calculating the trajectory of bombs
dropped from aircraft. After the war
ended, the $250 stipend awarded each
serviceman upon discharge enabled Dick
to relocate from his post in Massachusetts
to Southern California, a hotbed of
aeronautics and advanced engineering.
Dick worked for then-fledgling Computer
Engineering Associates and aircraft giant
Lockheed Martin before deciding he
wasnt cut out for big companies. At age
39, with partner Robert Schwendler and
an $18,000 investment, he launched
MacNeal Schwendler Corporation in
1963.
That same year, the two pioneering
software engineers developed the

companys first product: SADSAM,

(Structural Analysis by Digital Simulation
of Analog Methods). Although SADSAM
was designed for the aerospace industry,
in a recent interview Dick remembers the
companys first customer came from an
unexpected industry.
Our first customer was named Raymond
Hill. He was a civil engineer in charge of
designing dams, huge dams. He needed
someone to do an analysis and he found
out about us, he recalled.

Growing Up with NASA

MSC got the break that would build
the company in 1965, when we joined
a team of private and government
engineers developing software for NASA.
The space agency wanted software that
consolidated all computerized structural
analysis functions in a single solution. The
result was NASTRAN (NASA Structural
Analysis) software. NASTRAN enabled
NASA engineers to anticipate the effects
of heat, vibration and pressure on the

In 2013, a new
era begins for MSC.
Look forward to the
introduction of innovation
commensurate with our
rich history that will again
be the vanguard for the
future of simulation.
Apollo spacecraft. It has had a role in
designing virtually every NASA spacecraft
since.
Six years later, in 1971, we released a
commercial version of NASTRAN called
MSC Nastran. Its launch coincided
with IBMs decision to un-bundle its
operating software from its hardware,
which essentially created the independent
software market and opened the doors for
companies like MSC.
MSC was among the earliest companies
selling engineering analysis software
commercially, said Dr. Halpern. The
company made a big contribution to the
whole idea that you could sell software for
the value of its intellectual property and
offload development costs to a company
100 percent dedicated to improving
the software, supporting it and advising
customers. It also established an ecosystem
of companies that had a common need for
the technology. They were competitors,
but they recognized that they all needed
the technology. They contributed

MSC SOFTWARES
50 YEARS OF INNOVATION

resources and revenue to provide a tool

that advanced their respective goals.
They never could have accelerated the
technology as rapidly as MSC did if they
had tried developing computer-aided
engineering software on their own. Had
MSC not launched this ecosystem it
might never have existed, or it might have
happened much later.
Through the rest of the 70s and into the
80s, MSC Nastran grew into one of the
most widely-used simulation and analysis
applications in the world. We expanded
into Germany and Japan in the early
1970s as more automotive companies
recognized MSC Nastrans ability to
cut development costs while improving
quality, performance, and reducing time-

to-market. NASA has calculated that

NASTRANs value to society is in excess
of $10 billion.
We went public in 1983, raising
money to finance product development
and acquisitions. Steady increases in
computing power spawned workstations
that brought CAE into industries such
as heavy machinery and shipbuilding.
MSC expanded into those areas while
solidifying its positions in the automotive
and aerospace markets. MSC continued to
make important moves during the 1990s,
such as releasing a Windows version of
MSC Nastran.
In 2009, the investment group Symphony
Technology Group & Elliot Management
Corportation purchased MSC and

installed design software veteran Dominic

Gallello as our CEO.
Dominic engineered a growth period
that focused on bringing MSC back to
its roots of delivering great engineering
software and working with key customers
to develop new engineering methods.
We added more than 40 PhDs to
our development organization. R&D
headcount expanded nearly 40 percent
and approximately 40 percent of the
development staff has been devoted to
developing transformational technologies
that promise to change how simulation
is done in the future. Finally, two best of
class simulation companies in acoustics
and composites material modeling
were acquired offering users better

understanding of these important real

world behaviors. As a result, customer
satisfaction and revenue are steadily
growing; maintenance renewals are at
near all-time highs and more and more
customers are reaching out to MSC to
provide services know-how.

Another Landing and a New Era

On August 13, 2012, a jet-powered
delivery vehicle hovered over the surface
of Mars and gently lowered the rover
Curiosity to the red ground.
NASA engineers had never tried this
method for delivering a probe to its
destination. Earlier Mars probes had
drifted down on parachutes or bounced

to the surface in great padded cocoons.

Curiositys size made both of those
approaches impractical. It would strike
Mars surface too hard and potentially
damage the probe.
The jet pack was a completely new
approach that worked flawlessly. MSC
Software products helped NASA engineers
simulate every eventuality, anticipate
and correct every design weakness,
just as it had 50 years earlier for the
Apollo Moon missions. As the company
celebrates 50 years and looks forward,
its future promises to be every bit as
rich, hectic, nerve-wracking, innovative
and productive as its past. MSC is as
relevant now as it was in 1963 because

now, like then, society is changing. Those

changes bring new needs, challenges and
opportunities, said Mr. Gallello. From
airplanes and automobiles to consumer
products and industrial machinery, there
will be tremendous change required.
Products with better performance, zero
carbon emissions, improved energy
efficiency, compliant to increasingly
stringent regulations and tougher safety
requirements are part of the mantra that
every engineering department will face
as we go forward. In 2013, a new era
begins for MSC. Look forward to the
introduction of innovation commensurate
with our rich history that will again be the
vanguard for the future of simulation. u

Volume III - Winter 2013

| 13

FEATURE STORY

Recognizing
the Innovators
A Few Technology Inventors, Founders & Contributors
Throughout the MSC Software Company Timeline
Dr. Richard MacNeal & Robert Schwendler
Founders of MSC Software & inventors of Nastran

MacNeal developed most of the mathematical techniques and procedures for structural analysis that are basic to the capabilities of
MSC Nastran. His technical career encompasses state-of-the-art advances in numerous technologies including digital and analog
techniques; airplane, helicopter, spacecraft and missile dynamics, and advanced structural analysis.
Dr. MacNeal received his BA from Harvard in 1943, his MS from Caltech in 1947, and his PhD from Caltech in 1949. He was an assistant
professor at Caltech until 1955, and in 1955 and 1956 worked as a research specialist in the Structural Methods Department of the
Lockheed-California Company. MacNeal received a Certification of Recognition from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration
in 1974.

Dr. Ed Stanton
Father of Patran
Dr. Stanton was largely responsible for the development efforts of Patran and was a key member of the team that negotiated the merger of
MSC Software and PDA Engineering. After the merger of MSC Software and PDA, Dr. Stanton held the position of Vice President, Science
and Technology, and had been one of the key members behind MSC Softwares technical development and software strategy. Dr. Stanton is
fondly referred to by his colleagues at MSC Software as the Father of Patran.
Mr. Stanton holds a BSAE and MSAE from the University of Southern California and a Ph.D. in Engineering Mechanics from Case
Western Reserve University. He also serves on the Deans Engineering Advisory Board at the University of California, Irvine.

14 | MSC Software

Pedro Marcal
Founder of MARC Analysis Research Corporation
Dr. Marcal began his career as a Lecturer at the Imperial College of Science and Technology, London University and then became a
Professor in the Division of Engineering at Brown University (1967-1974). He is widely recognized as a developer of incremental nonlinear
analysis, establishing methods for elastic-plastic materials as well as large deformations.
He founded the MARC Analysis Research Corp. in 1971, the software company that developed and marketed the Marc general purpose
program. This program is used widely in industry for nonlinear analysis. He then became President of Phoenics North America in 1992.
The appointment was a major opportunity to learn about fluid flow and CFD. In 1995, he established PVM Corp. and embarked on the
development of the General Purpose Finite Element Program for Multi-Physics. His current interests are in the integration of Expert
systems and the development of Smooth Particle HydroDynamic methods.

Michael E. Korybalski
Founder of MECHANICAL DYNAMICS, Inc. & ADAMS
Mr. Korybalski co-founded Mechanical Dynamics, Inc. in 1977, as an outgrowth of technology that was originally developed at the
University of Michigan in the early 1970s. In 1977, he was able to take what was essentially a research and development product from the
university and commercialize it. That technology evolved into Adams and grew to become the worlds largest developer and supplier of
mechanical systems simulation software.
Mr. Korybalski led MDI and the industrialization of the Adams product until May 2002, when Mechanical Dynamics was acquired by
MSC Software Corporation.
Mr. Korybalski graduated from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor in 1969 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical
Engineering. In 1972, he earned a Masters degree in Mechanical Engineering and in 1980 an MBA, both from the University of Michigan.

Dr. Jean-Pierre Coyette

Co-founder of FFT & ACTRAN
Dr. Jean-Pierre Coyette is the co-founder (with Jean-Louis Migeot) and CTO of Free Field Technologies, the acoustic CAE Company
that recently joined the MSC Software group. He has devoted his career to the numerical simulation of noise and vibration problems after
earning his MS and PhD at the University of Louvain-la-Neuve (UCL). For nearly 30 years, he was able to combine university activities
(structural dynamics and acoustics) with industrial software developments. He initiated SYSNOISE acoustic CAE software development
at Dynamic Engineering (Leuven) and co-founded Numerical Integration Technologies where he led R&D activities. In 1998, Jean-Pierre
Coyette co-founded Free Field Technologies in Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium with the objective to create Actran acoustic CAE software and
developed it for the past 13 years into the global technical leader for acoustic simulation.
Jean-Pierre is professor at Louvain School of Engineering (UCL). He has published numerous technical papers in journals and conference
proceedings with emphasis on boundary element and finite/infinite element formulations. He is currently Vice-President of the Authority
for Airport Noise Control (ACNAW).

Dr. Roger Assaker

Founder of e-Xstream & Digimat
Dr. Assaker holds a PhD and MS in Aerospace Engineering with a strong focus on nonlinear computational mechanics where he totals more
than 20 years of experience. Roger complemented his engineering education with an MBA in International Business and several advanced
technology, business and entrepreneurship courses from prestigious universities such as MIT. In parallel to growing e-Xstream engineering
to be the world leader in advanced composite modeling, Roger is the Vice Chairman of NAFEMS Composite Working Group and active
member of other technical material associations such as SPE and SAMPE.

Volume III - Winter 2013 |

15

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What would
you do with
Supercomputing?

Engineers, analysts and researchers using HPC systems face their

own challenges in optimising designs, interpreting data and discovery. Enabling HPC Simplicity means capturing knowledge and
expertise within a solution that broadens HPC access and eases
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Congratulations on your 50
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Annette Kuhn, Head of Alliance Program,
Fujitsu Technology Solutions

We believe the best way to embrace new technology is to ensure it is delivered to end-users
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Advances in HPC technology bring opportunities to tackle newer, more difcult problems or
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ROCKET SLED

TSUNAMI CAPSULE
This modern Noahs ark is a
floating capsule designed to
preserve life in the event of
an earthquake or tsunami.
Idea International developed
and tested the capsule with
MSC Nastran and Patran.
Learn more about the
life-preserving capsule.

On August 13, 1981 PDA, under

contract to the US government, set
the World Land Speed Record with
the unmanned rocket sled at 6,117
mph using a four-stage rocket train
and a 10,000 ft. helium filled bag on
the tracks to keep the rocket sleds
bracket from melting. The entire

ROBOSAURUS

I N N O VAT I O N S
made possible with MSC solutions

LANDING OF THE
CURIOSITY ROVER

VIRTUAL KNEE
MODEL

Inventor, Doug
Malewickis Robosaurus
is a fire breathing, car
eating, t-rex robot
standing at 40 feet

LifeModelers Virtual Knee could walk,

and weighing 30 tons.

dance and even golf. Created using

Converting from an

LifeMOD software with Adams and

industrial truck, the

Marc, this powerful model has enabled

ferocious spectacle is

innovation with fewer live trials.

referred to as the worlds

largest transformer.
Designed and developed
during the early 90s,
you can still see the
Robosaurus in action

Termed the Seven Minutes of

at Monster Truck and

Terror, the simulation of the

Air shows. MSC/Pal

Curiosity Rovers landing on Mars

was used to analyze.

was entrusted to Adams for a perfect

the famous robot.

touchdown on the first try. Adams

See Robosaurus
in Action

was used to simulate every detail

of the rovers landing on Mars.
Watch the Curiositys Landing

FENDER PATENTED
BASS NECK

LARGEST OFFSHORE
WIND FARM
experiment was simulated using MSC Nastran. The
record stood for 20 years and was only recently broken
using the same methodology from the first experiment.

FASTEST CAR IN
THE WORLD

With a
1000-horsepower
engine, Bugattis

By its completion date in 2013, the Anholt Offshore Wind

Veyron is the fastest car

Farm will have capacity of 400 MW providing electricity

in the world. Adams/

sufficient to meet approximately 4% of Denmarks total

Car was instrumental

electricity consumption. Adams was used to study the

in its design and

marine and offshore structures interfaces and reduce risks

development,

and costs of the installation and ensure safety of marine

according to Bugattis

operations. At completion, the Anholt Offshore Wind

technical director,

Farm will be the biggest offshore wind farm in Denmark.

Dr. Peter Tutzer.

REMOTE SPIKE STRIP

See page 20 to learn more about the Denmark offshore windf.

B-1 BOMBER

HUMAN TONGUE
MODEL

The SQUID is a remote spike strip that helps cops

end car chases by stopping fugitives in their tracks.
Commissioned by the Department of Homeland
Security, the life-saving device was modeled
and tested by ESACORP with MSCs Dytran.
See how the SQUID ends car chases

PDA designed,
manufactured and
tested the Passive
Thermal Protection
System (PTPS) for
the B-1 bomber.
Using MSC Nastran,
PDA provided the

Fenders Jazz Bass and Precision bass

B-1 bomber with

necks were completely redesigned to

a windshield that

balance stability and adjustability with MSC

could instantly react

Nastran. The new design allows for optimum

to a nuclear flash

playability under widely diverse and ever-

to protect the pilot

changing environmental conditionsall while

and the cockpit and

maintaining the signature Fender tone. This

withstand high-

innovation by Fender resulted in two patents!

speed bird strikes.

A precise musculature and

motion model of the human
tongue was created using
Marc and Patran. Diagnostic
Simulations, Inc. created the
model to design an implant for
the treatment of sleep apnea.
Learn more

CUSTOMER SPOTLIGHT

Safe Marine Operations

in Wind Energy
Dynamic Motion Analysis for Wind Farm Drilling
Rig Transport Operation
Knud E. Hansen A/S | Based on an interview with Mirco Zoia

Anholt Offshore Wind Farm

The Anholt Offshore Wind Farm is a Danish
wind farm currently under construction,
located in Kattegat, between Djursland
and Anholt Island. The project was initially
commissioned by DONG Energy with an
estimated total cost of 10 billion Danish
kroner.
In March 2011, DONG Energy sold 50%
of the Anholt Offshore Wind Farm to
PensionDanmark and PKA, with shares of
30% and 20% respectively.

The Biggest Offshore

Wind Farm in Denmark
By its completion date, which is expected to
take place between 2012 and 2013, the wind
farm will have capacity of 400 MW providing
electricity sufficient to meet approximately 4%
of Denmarks total electricity consumption.
As a result, it will become the biggest offshore
wind farm in Denmark.

Wind Farm Construction

Challenges
111 wind turbines of 3.6 MW each will be
supplied by Siemens Wind Power and placed
on locations with water depths between 15
and 19 m. The required foundations and
installation have been contracted to the Danish
company MT Hjgaard A/S.
The foundations consist of monopiles with
a diameter of approximately 5m and a wall
20 | MSC Software

thickness of 50-90 mm driven into the

seabed. Their length is usually adjusted to the
specific location and varies from 37m to 54m.
By means of a large hydraulic hammer, the
monopiles are driven between 18m to 36m
into the seabed depending on water depth and
seabed conditions. The heavy monopiles weigh
up to 460 tons. If the monopile runs into
boulders below the seabed, the boulders will be
removed by a Drill Rig.
The Drill Rig is supplied by MT Hjgaard A/S
and transported from the storage location to
the drill site using the installation vessel HLV
SVANEN. The Drill Rig needs to be sea.
Fastened onboard the HLV SVANEN during
the transport and also when HLV SVANEN
needs to seek shelter due to adverse weather.
For operational and safety reasons the Drill Rig
can only be transported or deployed in waves
of significant height up to 1.0m.
Knud E. Hansen A/S (KEH) was contracted
by MT Hjgaard A/S to assess the Drill Rigs
waves induced motion while transported by
HLV SVANEN, and to calculate the maximum
tensions on the lashing cables for a maximum
operational wave height of Hso=1.0m.

Multibody Dynamics
Simulation Provides More
Accurate Modeling
For the Drill Rig motion analysis,
MSC Softwares Adams was used. Adams is
the most widely used solution for motion
assessment of multi-bodies. Adams helps to

Adams never
placed any limits on
what I wanted simulated,
yet it made it possible to
assemble the complex
model very quickly.
study the dynamics of moving parts, how
loads and forces are distributed throughout
mechanical systems and to improve and
optimize the performance of the design. Adams
can easily simulate the reality of a complex
multi-body system in motion.
Mr. Zoia, the KEH Naval Architect who
performed the study said: Adams Software
helped us to understand the motion and forces
involved by capturing the full gamut of real
world complexities including rigid bodies,
flexible bodies, springs, dampers, joints and all
others mechanical components. The software
never placed any limits on what I wanted
simulated, yet it made it possible to assemble
the complex model very quickly. Every part
of the construction could be visualized during
the simulation and the plots of the results
easily shown. All the wave motions have been
easily applied to the dynamic system in order
to study the dynamic behavior in detail while
ensuring the safety of the marine operations

Fig. 1: Adams 3D Dynamic Model

Fig. 2: Adams 3D Dynamic Model

Fig. 3: Adams 3D Dynamic Model

Fig. 4: Plot of the maximum angles between the

Drill Extension and the BHA DR as function of time

Fig. 5: Angle between Drill Extension and BHA DR

Fig. 6: Plots of the tensions of the winch cables

as function of time

Fig. 7: Plots of the tensions of the fixed point

cables as function of time

Fig. 8: Name and position of the lashing cables

Table 1: Results for Heading of 90deg

and reducing the risks and costs of the

installation of this wind farm.

applied to HLV SVANEN. The motion

analysis was based on the HLV SVANEN
maximum response motion previously assessed.

Methodology
Initially, the 3D Multi-body Dynamic model
of the system composed by HLV SVANEN,
the Drill Rig and its crane lifting components
(Lifting Spreaders, Lifting and Lashing
Equipment), was created in a CAD software
and then imported to Adams. Densities
and other material properties were given to
the parts of the 3D Model. All the parts in
motion were joined together with translation,
revolving, spherical and cylindrical joints to
simulate as close as possible the real behaviour
of the system. The steel and fibre ropes of the
system were defined as flexible dynamic bodies
with the same material properties (density,
youngs modulus, poissons ratio, and damping
coefficient) as the actual ropes. The winch
pretensions were defined using preloaded
spring-dampers. Motions, constraints, wind
forces and winch pretension loads were then

The dynamic analysis was carried out to assess

the maximum displacement of the Drill Rig,
and the minimum required winch pulling
force to fulfill the requirements of the client
and to safely carry out the necessary marine
operations. The full 3D Dynamic Model is
shown in Fig.1-3.

Marine Rules & Safety Factor

The dynamic analysis was performed in
accordance with DNV Rules for Planning and
Execution of Marine Operations. According to
these rules, an Alpha Factor =0.85 was used.
The Alpha Factor defines the safety margin of
the marine operations.
For example, an Alpha Factor =0.85 means
that for a design wave height Hsd=1.00m, the
maximum allowed operational wave height
shall be Hso=1.00*0.85=0.85m. u

CUSTOMER SPOTLIGHT

Optimizing Machine
Performance
Armor Increases Machine Productivity by 20%
with MSC Softwares Adams and Easy5 Simulations
Armor | Based on an interview with Gildas Hubert, Process Engineer

ith sales of 137 million Euros in

2011, Armor is one of the leaders
in producing inked ribbon used in thermal
transfer printing for product identification
and other applications. Ribbon is produced
by applying ink to polyethylene terephthalate
(PET) film in a web coating process in which
the speed, tension and position of the web
and other variables must be closely controlled
in order to ensure the highest possible quality
while maximizing throughput.
Gildas Hubert, project manager for Armor,
has simulated many of the companys
coating machines with Adams and control
systems with Easy5 multi-domain modeling
and simulation software. Simulation
helped us work out the optimal coating
conditions and make engineering changes
to our machines, Hubert said. Over one
year we improved productivity by 20%
while also increasing quality of the finished
film. Simulation is a great way to improve
our manufacturing process at a relatively
low cost without disrupting production
as is required for physical experiments.

Based in Nantes, France, Armor was one of

the first companies to manufacture carbon
film, introduce ribbon cassettes for typewriters
and introduce thermal transfer technology in
the early 1980s. The company has over 760
employees worldwide and produces 110,000
thermal transfer film rolls per day at five
production sites around the world. Armor
is the leading producer in Europe with a
53% market share. The company offers over
12,000 different ribbon configurations.
22 | MSC Software

Thermal Transfer Technology

Thermal transfer printing consists of applying
thermofusible ink using a heat source emitted
by the printer. The thermal transfer ribbon
passes over the thermal print head with the
coated side pressed against the label surface.
The heat energy produced by each dot causes
the pigment to transfer off the carrier film and
bond to the surface of the label. The largest
application by far for thermal transfer printing
is the marking of individual products during
manufacturing with information including
model number, serial number, use-by-date,
composition, price, etc. Other applications
include flexible packaging, ticketing, personal
identification and plain paper fax machines.
During the manufacturing process, a
transparent PET film is unwound as a single
or several layers of ink are applied on one side
and a protective layer called the backcoating
is applied on the other side. The PET film
used as the carrier has a thickness of 4,5 to
12,5 m, high resistance to tearing, good
thermal conductivity and very good heat
resistance. The backcoating protects the
printhead as the ribbon unwinds, provides
high thermal conductivity to transfer heat to
the print medium and reduces the formation
of static electricity. A range of different inks
are used including wax, wax-resin and resin
types. A rubber coated metering roll feeds
the ink to a gravure roll which in turn feeds
the ink to a format transfer roll onto the
web. The coating weight is controlled by
the velocity of the rolls and the footprint
between the metering roll and the gravure

Coupling Adams,
MSCs multibody
simulation solution, with
Easy5 turned out to be
the ideal way to model
our roll machines and
control systems.
roll. All rolls are heated with thermo oil. A
jumbo roll 20 kilometers long is coated and
then the jumbo roll is unwound onto smaller
rolls as required for customer applications.

Moving from Physical

Experiments to Simulation
We have always been concerned with
eliminating defects to ensure a positive
experience to our customers while at the
same time increasing the productivity of
our web coating process, Hubert said. In
the past the primary method of improving
operations was with physical experiments.
But there were several problems with this
approach. First of all utilizing coating
machines to run physical experiments
disrupts our production operations. The
limited time available for and high cost of
physical experiments greatly reduces the
number of different conditions that we can

evaluate. Physical experiments also provide only a very limited

amount of diagnostic information. The number of physical
measurements that can be captured during these experiments is
limited by the difficulty of instrumenting the coating machines.
Armor has long been interested in using simulation to evaluate
a much larger number of different process conditions while
reducing the need to disrupt production operations. But in the
past the company found it difficult to model the complicated
mechanisms and motion control systems involved in roll
coating. This challenge was overcome with the use of Adams
and Easy5 which enable controls systems to be integrated
into mechanical systems simulations to optimize systems
performance. Adams, the worlds most widely used multibody
dynamics simulation software, automatically formulates and
solves the equations of motion for kinematic, static, quasistatic and dynamic simulations. Easy5 is a graphics-based
software tool used to model multi-domain dynamics systems
characterized by differential, difference and algebraic equations
such as digital and analog control systems. Integration is
accomplished with the Adams interface block in an Easy5 model
that provides inputs from Easy5 into Adams and vice versa.

Optimizing Roll Coating Performance

Hubert constructed an Adams model of the machine. He defined
the rolls as cylinders and added connections between them to
represent the gearing in the machine. He defined the material
properties of the PET web and entered the friction between the
web and the rolls based on physical measurements. Easy5 is used
to simulate the proportionalintegralderivative (PID) closed
loop motion controller. I found it very easy to define both the
physical and control model with Adams and Easy5, Hubert
said. Hubert began his simulation efforts on a machine whose
performance he felt left considerable room for improvement.
The machine required continual adjustments in order to avoid
defects. He began by simulating the machines current operating
conditions. Comparing the simulation results with physical
measurements, particularly of web tension, showed that the
simulation accurately represented the machine performance.
The simulation results showed that a small change in operating
conditions could cause the machine to produce defects. Hubert
evaluated changing the operating conditions, particularly the PID
control values. He modified the model and re-ran the simulation
multiple times, seeking to move the machine to a point where
small changes in operating conditions would have no impact
on quality. In the end, he discovered more robust operating
conditions that substantially improved throughput of the machine
by reducing downtime required for adjusting operating conditions.
Based on this success, Hubert turned his attention to
other machines that were seemingly operating well to see if
improvements could be made in either throughput or quality.
During this process, he discovered the importance of accurately
determining the friction between the web and the rolls in order

Fig. 1: Machine Model in Adams

50

CUS TOM ER CONG R ATULAT I O N S

Jens Bold
DLR - German
Space Agency

50 years of Anniversary!
If you realize there was one man standing in front of a nation
saying we have a dream to go to the moon not because its
easy but because its hard - and realize 50 years later the
software that helped deliver this dream is still there and the
name is still there. There is a continuancy that you dont see
in software products or even in some industries these days So I say great job and continued success in the next 50 years.

to provide accurate simulation results. He evaluated more of the companys

machines in order to identify optimal operating conditions.
He evaluated a range of different products with varying film thicknesses on
each machine. For each product he evaluated different PID control values
in order to identify values that provided stable operating conditions without
defects. During this process, he optimized the control values for each film
thickness. This required far more simulation runs than would have been
possible with physical experiments. Running virtual experiments with Adams
and Easy5 also eliminated the cost of downtime on production machines.
By optimizing control values, Armor was able to increase throughput of its
coating machines collectively by about 20% over a one year period. The
primary improvement came from increasing machine reliability and stability so
that less time was required for repairs or adjustment. Web speed improvements
were also achieved on many machines. We are now able to set the PID values
much more precisely to optimize the performance of the machine for specific
products, Hubert said. We have made other improvements with simulation
such as increasing the throughput of a cutting machine by 8%. We have plans
to apply simulation to additional processes such as our rewinding machines.
We are looking to improve the precision of our models by integrated process
related thermal phenomena into the analysis loop. Finally, we also see the
potential for simulation to improve the quality of our labeling machines.
Our goal was to improve the coating process,
notably by controlling the tension of the film
on to which the ink is deposited, Hubert
concluded. Coupling Adams, MSCs
multibody simulation solution, with Easy5
turned out to be the ideal way to model our roll
machines and control systems. By simulating
the operation of our machine we were able to
determine the ideal parameters for operating
them over a broad range of products. These
calculations make it possible to run each
machine at the optimal coating conditions.
The end result was that we improved quality
while at the same time making substantial
improvements in productivity. u
Volume III - Winter 2013

| 23

CUSTOMER SPOTLIGHT

Stamping Out Waste

Aerospace Supplier Uses Simulation to Save Time & Money
DEMA | Based on an interview with Danilo Malacaria, Structural Engineering Manager

esign Manufacturing SpA (DEMA)

is a major tier-one aerospace
supplier to Bombardier, Alenia Aermacchi,
AgustaWestland and other leading aerospace
original equipment manufacturers. The
company recently faced a challenge with an
aluminum acoustic barrier which is part of a
jet engine nacelle. DEMA performed finite
element analysis (FEA) with the MSC Nastran
implicit nonlinear solver which identified two
problems in the initial design. These included
a stress concentration around a radius and
excess material beyond the dimensions of the
finished part which would have required an
expensive secondary operation.

Danilo Malacaria, Structural Engineering

Manager for DEMA, addressed these problems
by increasing several radii in the area of the
stress concentration and changing the size
and geometry of the initial blank to eliminate
the excess material. He re-ran the FEA which
showed that the changes solved the problem.
When we ran the operation with the new tool
and flat panel, the resulting part matched the
simulation results perfectly, Malacaria said.
Finite element analysis saved us a considerable
amount of money and time by helping to
identify and correct this problem before we
made a major investment in tooling.
Based in Naples, Italy, DEMA also has a
composite facility in Benevento, an helicopters

Fig. 1: The nacelle houses a jet engine

24 | MSC Software

assembly plant in Brinidis, a machining

technology centre in Piacenza, Italy, an
engineering and assembly operation in
Montreal, Quebec and a composite processing
and assembly facility in Tunisia. DEMA
produces a wide range of aerostructures
including aircraft fuselage sections, floor
panels, cockpits, tailcones, fan cowls, ramps,
cargo doors, slide boxes, horizontal stabilizers,
helicopters fuselages and helicopter tail
booms. DEMAs customers include Alenia
Aermacchi, Bombardier, Airbus Military
and AgustaWestland for aircraft programs
including the Boeing 787, Airbus 380 and
A321, ATR 42-72, AW139, AW169, CSeries
and Learjet.

Challenge of Producing
Critical Aerospace Component
The acoustic barrier is produced in a stamping
operation in which a female die applies
pressure to a flat aluminum blank, forcing
the blank against a male die to form the
finished part. The traditional approach would
have been to develop the dies based on best
judgment and send them to the press shop for
tryout. Frequently the first stage of tooling
would show problems such as cracking or
excess trim. Changes would be made to the
tooling and the new tooling would be tested
again to see if the problem was fixed. In most

Fig. 2: Acoustic barrier assembly produced in

stamping operation

Finite element
analysis saved us a
considerable amount
of money and time by
helping to identify and
correct this problem
before we made a major
investment in tooling.
cases, it was difficult to determine the cause of
the problem so a considerable amount of trial
and error would be required to solve it. Its
not unusual for six iterations of modifications
taking two weeks each to be required meet the
customers quality standards.
DEMA has pioneered the use of finite element
analysis to simulate stamping operations with
the goal of getting the die design right the first
time. The company used the MSC Nastran
implicit nonlinear solver. The solver allows
users to perform advanced nonlinear structural
analysis including contacts, large deflections,
large rotation and large strain analysis
capabilities.

Fig. 3: Critical section of stamped component

Fig. 4: Left image - FE model of contact surface of stamping die. Center image: FE model of flat panel geometry.
Right image - Model of tool & material combined

Fig. 5: Left image - Stress levels in material during stamping process.

Right image - Material has exceeded its yield levels in area shown in red

Fig. 6: Simulation results for initial die showing

excess material

Fig. 7: Modified design with larger radius eliminates excess stresses

Fig. 8: Component built in press shop

The customer provided the part geometry in

the form of a CATIA V5 computer aided
design (CAD) file. DEMA engineers created
an initial design for the male and female dies
and the part and die geometry into the Patran
pre-and post processor. They created a 2D
mesh of the male and female tool and the flat
sheet pattern. 2D shell elements provided
a faster run with excellent accuracy when
simulating sheet metal forming, Malacaria
said. The 100 bar pressured applied by
the press to the male and female dies was
determined with physical measurements. The
customer specified the use of 6000 series
aluminum so DEMA engineers evaluated
several different materials in an effort to
determine which would work the best. DEMA
engineers created a standard MSC Nastran
input deck. The MSC Nastran nonlinear solver
ran the analysis.

free of flaws that would have indicated excess

stresses and the finished part did not require
trimming. Getting the die design right the
first time reduced the time and cost involved
in tool tryout since it is both faster and less
expensive to try out possible solutions on the
computer than in the press shop. Because of
the demanding requirements for aerospace
components, a certain amount of time to
validate the die design is always required in
the press shop.

Simulation Highlights
Potential Problems
The simulation results showed two potential
problems. Figure 5 shows that the stress
exerted on the material during the stamping
operation is past its failure limits. The stress
analysis results show that the peak is near the
radius of a cutout in the component. Figure 6
shows that there is considerable excess material
around the perimeter of the finished part. This
extra material would need to be removed in
a second trimming operation with a 4-axis
computer numerical control (CNC) cutting
machine which would add significantly to

manufacturing costs. The simulation provided

engineers with an understanding of these
potential problems as well as diagnostic
information that helped them determine their
root causes.
DEMA engineers addressed the stress
concentration problem by increasing the
radius of the cutout in the component. They
addressed the excess material by reducing
the size of flat pattern geometry in the area
of the excess. The engineers then re-ran the
simulation to determine the impact of these
changes. They saw that both of the problems
they had addressed with the revisions were
substantially improved but not completely
fixed.
Engineers made several more iterations on the
software prototype and re-ran the simulation
to evaluate the impact of their changes until
they found a design that eliminated both
the excess stress and the need for a second
trimming operation. In order to verify the
results, DEMA engineers re-ran the simulation
using the MSC Nastran implicit nonlinear
finite element solver.

Getting the Die Design

Right the First Time
Next, DEMA built a tool using the final
design that was developed during the virtual
prototyping process. The company installed
the new tool in a stamping press and formed
a few trial parts to evaluate the results. The
simulation accurately predicted how the parts
would be formed. In particular, the parts were

This application demonstrates how we can

provide high quality and faster deliveries to
our customers by utilizing the latest generation
of computer simulation software, Malacaria
concluded. Rather than spending the large
amount of time and money that would have
been required to build and test the initial
die design to see if it worked, we simulated a
range of different designs and evaluated the
results using the MSC Nastran FEA software.
During the simulation process we eliminated
a potential quality issue and also avoided the
need for a secondary trimming operation. We
determined the process, developed the initial
blank and monitored stress concentrations
before we even started building the die. The
result was that the die worked perfectly the
first time we hit it. Theres no way to know
for sure exactly how much money and time
was saved by not having to re-cut and re-test
the die but its clear that the savings were
substantial. Simulation has also helped us to
create savings of the same magnitude on
many other complex parts that presented
similar challenges. u
Volume III - Winter 2013

| 25

MSC Software

TECH TIPS
Customize the User Interface
By Walter Daniel, Sr. Technical Representative, MSC Software

ADDING YOUR OWN BUTTONS

Custom Menus and More in Adams/View
Did you know that the Adams/View Graphical User Interface
(GUI) can be customized?
You can add your own menus, macros, dialog boxes, and more.
All you need is a basic understanding of what is happening under
the hood.

Custom menus are

great for making pre-defined
changes to a model

While most users are familiar with the GUI for building and
simulating models there is a series of text commands for every
action. All processes are implemented in the Adams/View
Command Language, a custom script that is readable. For
example, the command to modify the default value of an existing
design variable would be:
variable modify variable_name=.model_1.DV_2 real=9.4
There is a full description in the Adams electronic documentation
installed with the software. Look under Adams Basic Package >
Adams/View > View Command Language.
While you can type commands into a window for execution
most users would prefer to use the GUI. The simplest tool is
to add a custom menu with entries for the commands youd
like to execute. The Menu Editor (Tools->Menu->Modify) is
straightforward and covered in the documentation topic Adams
Basic Package > Adams/View > Customizing Adams/View. For
example, these lines add a menu named Custom with the
entry Payload Visibility On that turns on visibility of a part in the
model named payload.
MENU1 &Custom
NAME=Custom
BUTTON2 Payload Visibility On

CMD=entity attributes entity_name=

payload visibility=on

Custom menus are great for making pre-defined changes to

a model such as one of a specific set of masses for a part,
changing a point location, and so forth.
Advanced Adams/View users can use the command language
to program custom macros for model building or modification.
If you need to pass user input into the macro a custom dialog
box will work well. Heres an example from SimCompanion
KB8016111 that allows a user to convert an existing linear

26 | MSC Software

bushing into a
nonlinear GFORCE
defined with a spline:
There are numerous
examples of macros in
SimCompanion. Start
with KB8020616 for an
overview then search
on topics such as part macro or bushing macro. There
is an MSC training class that covers these topics: ADM704b,
Automating Tasks using Adams/View Scripting, Macros, and GUI
Customization.
Didnt Adams/View 2012 bring a new ribbon-style GUI? Yes, but
menus and dialog boxes work the same way in this updated
interface. New with Adams/View 2013 is the ability for users
to customize the ribbon. You can add tabs, containers, and
buttons to execute commands and macros much the same way
that custom menus function. Changes to the ribbon are made
by editing an XML file; to add a custom button you will need to
supply a small graphic. For example, heres a custom tab with a
container for Settings and two new buttons.

MSC Software

TECHUseful
TIPS
Display Options
By Edwin Goei, Technical Representative, MSC Software

Sometimes its the simplest things that may not be the most
obvious. Here a few tips on the subject of Patran display options
that you may have not known about, but will prove to be useful
as you face more complicated issues.

How to get ID numbers to appear on

an entity as you hover over them:

There are some situations when

you are working with a complicated
model that you dont want to turn all
of your ID labels on.

There are some situations when you are working with a

complicated model that you dont want to turn all of your ID
labels on. To do so would make your screen too cluttered with
IDs. Yet what if you still want to identify entities IDs on-the-fly?
The solution is to turn on Label Highlighting under Preselection
Highlighting. This is found in Preferences/
Picking form.
With the toggle turned on, the ID of the entity you hover over with
your mouse will now highlight.

How to get Solid

Face ID labels
to graphically appear
on your model:
Solid face ID labels are usually not
visible, and there is no option in
Patrans main form to turn them on.
However there are instances, such
as pressure application, in which
being able to see the ID labels would
prove to be useful.
The solution is in Utilities, where
there is a tool under Display/
Geometry Free Faces/Edges that

allows you to turn on the labels for solid faces as well as solid
vertices and edges.
The labels will disappear after you Cancel out of the utility,
however. So leave the utility open until you are ready for the IDs
to be cleared off the screen.

How to remove the + origin symbol

from the screen:
There are instances when you capture images of your Viewport
for presentations and reports that you want the background to
be as clean as possible. Most users are not aware that the origin
symbol (the + which indicates where the location of (0, 0, 0) is)
can be deactivated. You can turn it off in Viewport/Modifya
location thats not very obvious to some Patran users.

Volume III - Winter 2013

| 27

MSC Software

TECHInterpret
TIPSMSC Nastran Model Data
Model Complete Vibro-Acoustic Behaviors with Actran
By Bernard Van Antwerpen, Senior Application Engineer, FFT, MSC Software

MSC Nastran to Actran convertEr:

Actran 13 has introduced the capability to interpret MSC Nastran
model data into Actran in order to leverage existing structural
FEA information when creating a vibro-acoustic model in Actran.
Beside the mesh, most material and property information can
be translated, including boundary conditions and control case
commands. This is a very
useful tool to enhance
existing MSC Nastran
complex structural
dynamics models to
model complete vibroacoustic behaviors with
Actran. This can be done
by introducing acoustic
excitations, acoustic
treatments or others. In
our example, we are
directly importing an
existing MSC Nastran
model of an automotive
door inside Actran VI, the
graphical user interface
(GUI) of Actran.

The extension of an existing

MSC Nastran structural model to
a complete realistic transparency
model within Actran can be
performed in a few minutes.
A typical output for such problems is the Noise Reduction index,
relating the incident pressure applied to the structure through
the Diffuse Sound Field to the inner pressure within the cavity.
By suppressing or adding the foam treatment, the influence of
the foam treatment on the acoustic transparency can easily be
retrieved.

Additional boundary
conditions can easily be
created in Actran VI by
creating or selecting the
required set of nodes to
be constrained.

Model an acoustic transparency:

As the imported MSC Nastran case contains all structural model
information, this can be easily updated for modeling an acoustic
transparency model. For this purpose, an existing cavity (in blue)
and acoustic treatment model (in green) are first imported, as
shown below. Then, these are coupled to the structure using the
un-congruent mesh capability (INTERFACE). A diffuse sound
field excitation is applied to the exterior skin of the door.

As shown through this example, the extension of an existing

MSC Nastran structural model for dynamic purposes to a
complete realistic transparency model within Actran can be
performed in a few minutes of time. Furthermore, this process
can be entirely automated thanks to the Actran API (Application
Programming Interface).

28 | MSC Software

INDUSTRIAL EXPERTISE AND INNOVATION

Static - Fatigue and Damage Tolerance Analysis - Advanced Dynamics

- Seismic Analysis - Coupled Vibro-acoustics - Explicit Dynamics
Your livelihood
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safetyDynamics - Multi-Body
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or design
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and systems
Multiphysics Simulation - Risk Management - Static - Fatigue and
Damage Tolerance Analysis - Advanced Dynamics - Seismic Analysis
- Coupled
Vibro-acoustics
Explicit
Dynamics know-how
- Multi-Body
You
are looking -for
an advanced
Dynamics - Thermalin
Analysis
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Simulation - Fluid Dynamics Thermodynamics - System and Multiphysics Simulation - Risk
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- Fatigue
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designAnalysis
up through
highVibroend
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INGELIANCE
is your
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Analysis - Advanced Dynamics - Seismic Analysis Coupled Vibro-acoustics - Explicit Dynamics - Multi-Body
Dynamics - Thermal Analysis - Electromagnetics - Fluid
Dynamics - Thermodynamics - System and
Multiphysics Simulation - Risk Management - Static Fatigue and Damage Tolerance Analysis - Advanced
Dynamics - Seismic Analysis - Coupled Vibroacoustics - Explicit Dynamics - Multi-Body
Dynamics - Thermal Analysis - Electromagnetics Fluid Dynamics - Thermodynamics - System and
Member of
Multiphysics Simulation - Risk Management Static - Fatigue and Damage Tolerance
Analysis - Advanced Dynamics - Seismic
Analysis - Coupled Vibro-acoustics Explicit Dynamics - Multi-Body
Dynamics - Thermal Analysis Electromagnetics - Fluid
Dynamics - Thermodynamics
- System and
Meet us at 2013 MSC User Conferences
and at 2013 Paris Air Show - Le Bourget
Learn more at www.ingeliance.com
or contact us at contact@ingeliance.com
or phone +33 (0) 557 922 880

SPECIAL SPOTLIGHT

MSC Software:
Trusted Services Partner
By Derek Barkey, Program Manager, MSC Software

ince the founding of MSC Software

Corporation in 1963 as the MacNealSchwendler Corporation, MSC has been an
engineering services company. The company
was founded to provide expertise in using
analog computers to simulate structures.
Since that time, MSCs services offerings have
expanded to keep pace with the state of the
art in engineering and engineering simulation.
Today, MSC engineers are engaged with
customers around the world in a variety of
disciplines to deliver training, engineering
analysis, and engineering process improvement.

Reducing Risk in Product

Development
The mission of MSCs services division is
to help customers improve their products
and their product development process.
MSCs engineers reduce development risk,
reduce time to market, reduce cost, improve
performance, improve durability, enable long
term product support, and maximize return
on CAE technology investment. They do this
by combining engineering expertise with the

Fig. 1: Consumer Packaging Simulations

30 | MSC Software

advanced capabilities of MSCs simulation

software. A typical MSC engineer has twenty
or more years of engineering experience in
aerospace, automotive, naval architecture,
oil and gas drilling, biomedical, and other
industries. Their expertise typically includes
strength, dynamics, fatigue, impact, thermal,
power trains, suspension and braking systems,
internal and exterior acoustics, fluid-structure
interaction and aeroelasticity, hydraulic
and pneumatic systems, blast, crash, and
ballistic impact simulation, composite and
metallic material performance, and air bags.

Improving Engineering Efficiency

In addition to expertise in technical
disciplines, the experience of MSC engineers
gives companies critical expertise in
engineering processes that can be hard to
find. For example, MSC engineers can be
engaged to study and improve a customers
product development process. This can
entail reviewing the process, identifying
critical paths that increase risk and schedule
time, and developing means for improving

Fig. 2: Fluid Structure Interaction

Since the founding

of MSC Software
Corporation in 1963 as
the MacNeal-Schwendler
Corporation, MSC has
been an engineering
services company.
those critical paths. For example, MSC
engineers may assist customers in training
engineering staff in advanced techniques
through standard or customized training
curricula. MSC helps customers improve
engineering efficiency by implementing design
optimization methods, stochastic methods,
high performance computing, or automating
processes. These methods reduce engineering
time and labor while improving the quality
and repeatability of the engineering process.

Managing Vast Amounts

of Engineering Data
Frequently, the greatest challenge that MSCs
customers experience is simply managing
the vast amount of engineering data.
Simulation models and simulation results
for a single product are generated or used
by multiple groups within an enterprise as
well as suppliers and customers. In a rapid
product development process it can be
challenging to manage change in the data,
mine and manipulate it to get maximum
value with minimum effort, and control
access to ensure that those who need the
data get it while securing the data from

unauthorized access. Product data management systems address

part of this problem, but they have limited functionality for the
specialized needs of managing simulation data. MSC services
engineers can assist customers in implementing simulation data
management systems using MSCs SimManager technology.
These systems are used to control, manage, and disseminate
engineering material and simulation data. A simulation data
management system can be implemented for a single workgroup
or for an entire enterprise to improve efficiency and provide
long-term access and traceability for the product life cycle.

Figure 2: Manage, Control, Automate Simulations

50

CUS TOM ER CONG R ATULAT I O N S

Dr. Jaiwon Shin

NASA

On behalf of NASA and certainly

NASA Aeronautics, I congratulate the great success MSC
has had over the last 50 years - not only for its significant
engineering accomplishments but also for the tangible realworld benefits to the country and industry as a whole. I look
forward to many more years of prosperous and productive
collaboration between MSC and NASA. Congratulations MSC job well done.

Range of Engineering Disciplines

MSCs services have come a long way in fifty years, from expertise
in analog computers to a wide range of engineering disciplines.
As MSC expands its portfolio of software products, our services
offerings expand with it. In 2012, the addition of Actran acoustic
software and Digimat material simulation software to MSCs
portfolio has expanded the expertise of MSCs services division
as well as the capabilities of our software. Today MSCs services

division delivers technologies that were unimaginable fifty years ago. With
new technologies like Actran and Digimat, MSC services will continue
to grow. It will be an exciting time to partner with MSC for services.
To engage with MSC in a project, please email us at engineering.
services@mscsoftware.com or visit www.mscsoftware.com/
services for more information about our services offerings. u

Collaborative
Engineering
Accelerated
Simulation Data Management
Mesh Morphing
Virtual Collaboration

Contact us today, start running tomorrow

info@tribalengineering.com

SPECIAL SPOTLIGHT

Contest Winners
By Yijun Fan & Leslie Bodnar, MSC Software

About the Contest

Showcasing Our Winners

To celebrate MSC softwares 50th anniversary, individuals were invited

to participate in the Simulating Reality Contest by submitting a video
or image demonstrating how they used MSC Software technology to
develop products or design innovations for our future. The images or
videos, and related descriptions, submitted by participants were to meet
one or more of the following in connection with use of MSC technology:

Ten winners were selected by a panel of judges based on how

well they met the above criteria. On the next two pages their
projects are described and displayed along with an image.

Showcase innovative industry application of MSC technology

Demonstrate leading edge product design
Demonstrate resulting business benefits of the project
to the company
Showcase great impact on human society or industry

50

Gold Anniversary Winners

Three of the ten winners were selected as
Gold Anniversary Winners. These winners
are spotlighted below. Each will receive
an iPad mini for their contributions.
We thank all of our customers who participated
in this contest and for being part of our special anniversary issue.

The Gold Anniversary Winners

NASA JPL. USA

Jaguar Landrover, UK

Big Tyre Pty. Ltd., Australia

Validated the landing sequence and

determined loads on subassemblies and
components on the Curiosity Rover during
its historic landing sequence on Mars.

Simulating automatic transmission

torque converter performance to
make damper selection more robust
and shorten the development cycle.

Developing and simulating an

innovative non-pneumatic, nonsolid tire for improved safety and
productivity in mining equipment.

MSC Products Illustrated:

Adams

MSC Products Illustrated:

Adams

MSC Products Illustrated:

AFEA (Patran and Marc)

32 | MSC Software

BENG Consultancy
Ltd., UK

Korea Metro, S. Korea

Kumho Tire Corporation,

South Korea

Studying the effects on

motorcycles for structural
flexibility and rider dynamics
to predict design performance.

Studying the dynamic stability

of the railway vehicle to improve
running safety.

Performing fluid and tire

interaction analysis to predict
wet performance in tire
development.

MSC Products
Illustrated:
Adams

MSC Products
Illustrated:
Adams

MSC Products Illustrated:

Dytran & MSC Nastran

CSIR-Natl Aerospace
Laboratories, India

Magna, USA

Infosys Limited, India

University of Aveiro,
Portugal

Simulating the expansion joints

in an ECS (Environmental
Control System) for a light
transport aircraft to minimize
the testing time and reduce
the development cost.

Performing DOE (Design of

Experiment) on critical design
elements of an innovative
seating system to reduce the
development cycle by 2/3 of
the traditional design cycle.

Conducting stress analysis on a

human heart to understand the
stress and deformation pattern
within heart tissues subjected
to pressure loads.

MSC Products Illustrated:

MSC Nastran

MSC Products Illustrated:

Adams

Analyzing the contact behavior

under critical situations in a
new TMJ (Temporomandibular)
implant to improve the living
conditions of patients suffering
from diseases with the TMJ
joint.

MSC Products Illustrated:

Patran and MSC Nastran

MSC Products Illustrated:

Marc

Volume III - Winter 2013

| 33

SPECIAL SPOTLIGHT

Journey Through
Time with Adams
By James B. McConville, Sr. Engineering Analyst, MSC Software

History
This evolutionary tale begins in August of
1985. A customer pitched up on the doorstep
of what was then Mechanical Dynamics Inc.
(MDI) with the plans for an Eli Terry wooden
clock, and with a challenge to model same in
Adams! Such a gauntlet, when thrown, must,
of course, be picked up, and modeling was
initiated.

Methodology
In 1985 Adams/View did not yet exist, and
models were generally built by direct editing of
the ADM file. Some custom model-building
tools did exist (old-timers will shudder at the
mention of the FORTRAN-based DMP!),
but these were of limited usefulness. This
placed a heavy burden on the user. All the
model entities had to be correctly located as
well as uniquely and consistently named, and
no two users would ever do it the same way.
Limited post-processing was available, and
progressive versions of the model had to be
repeatedly fed to it to get some visual idea as
to how the build was progressing. That said,
the Adams 5.2 code being used still possessed
sufficient power to render a creditable model.
The early model is shown in Fig. 1.
Note that the initial Adams 5.2 post-processor
images would have been black outline on
a white background. The Achilles heel of
this model was the correct modeling of the
34 | MSC Software

escapement contacts. Remember that this was

before Parasolids geometry could be exploited
using CONTACT elements. An attempt
was made to define the toothed escapement
wheel (Fig. 2), but that led to an enormous
number of MARKERs and made the definition
of the contact forces rather intractable.
As a workaround, reasonable pawl/wheel
escapement forces were tricked into being
by using very high tangential friction forces.
Assisted by tweaking of the dead weight
slide friction forces, the time keeping was
rendered reasonable. Butit just wasnt a real
escapement mechanism.

marketing colleague got a hold of the model

and opined that it might be a good tool to
illustrate the capabilities of Adams. It reached
a white-hot level when one of my co-workers
gave me a fine Parasolids rendition (generated
using Boolean operations in Adams/View
2013) of the escapement wheel in mmks units.
It was as though the gauntlet from 1985 had
been picked up and, again, thrown down!
With the addition of flattened, ellipsoidal tips
added to the pawl, a bona-fide escapement
mechanism resulted (Fig. 3).

And, so the model lay more or less dormant for

nearly 3 decades, but the nagging gripe about
the faked escapement wouldnt stay buried.
The shame really began to fester when my

A superimposed plot of the full model while

keeping time is shown in Fig.4. The analysis
takes less than 2 minutes to execute to
completion on a modest desktop PC. After
a little tinkering, the performance shown
in Figure 5 was achieved. The plot gives the
angular travel of clock minute hand for a 60
simulation second analysis run in 6000 steps.
In 60 seconds the minute arm of the clock

Fig. 1: Initial Clock Model - Adams 5.2 IPS Units View 2013 Image

Fig. 2: Escapement Wheel and Pawl Forces Adams 5.2 - IPS Units

Renaissance

should move exactly 6 degrees. Hence, the

sweep in one hour would be 60 times this, or
360 degrees. Examination of the numerical
value of this trace at the end of the simulation
indicates that the model is gaining slightly less
than one second per elapsed hour. The actual,
Eli Terry clock would be hard-pressed to do as
well! But, then, it doesnt have perfect gears

Yet Another Gauntlet Thrown

Just as I was congratulating myself and looking
for suitable laurels upon which to come to
rest, my marketing colleague dropped the
other shoe. Gee, thats nice, but could you use
CONTACTs for all the gears? Considering
there are 7, inter-meshed gear pairs, requiring
14 spur gears with anywhere from 8 to 40
teeth, I blanched a bit. However, considering
that Adams almost always delivers, the gauntlet
was picked up nonetheless.
To expedite the generation of the requisite
Parasolids gears, a small FORTRAN program
was created to determine the gear tooth
profile based on the number of teeth, gear
tip diameter, gear root diameter, and gear
width. The computed gear parameters were
then fed into a View macro to copy the tooth
geometry onto the gear disk perimeter and
do a Boolean extraction for each tooth. These
Parasolids geometries were then read onto the
appropriate gear shaft, after which the GEAR
constraints were replaced by CONTACTs.
Figure 6 shows the model with the escapement
and gear pairs completely CONTACT-based.

Fig. 3: Parasolids Escapement Wheel and Pawl

Ellipsoids - mmks Units

Fig. 4: Clock Model Contact-Based Escapement

Gear Constraints - mmks Units

Fig. 5: Minute Hand Displacement Contact-Based Escapement - GEAR Constraints - mmks Units

This model made Adams work somewhat

harder and resulted in slightly different
behavior (ref. Fig. 7). This is to be expected
since the gears are now elastic. The time
needed for execution went up by a factor of
approximately 4 or 5.
From the figure, it can be seen that the
switch to finite-stiffness CONTACTs yield
a less regular minute arm travel. The drop
experienced at the beginning of the trace
results from the mechanism tightening up,
i.e., removing gear lash. After this, the clock
keeps time at nearly the same rate as the
previous model, but is not quite as accurate.
Further tweaking would yield better timekeeping. But that is left as an exercise for the
marketing team who started this whole affair.
After all, I cant have all the fun!

Fig. 7: Minute Hand Angular Displacement - Full Contact Model - mmks Units

A Summary of Some Things

Adams Proves with this Model
A list of things that have been learned,
thanks to this effort:

Fig. 6: Clock - Full Contact Modeling -- mmks Units

Unlike old soldiers, Adams models dont

have to fade away. Even a model which is
almost 3 decades old can be revived.
Complex, interleaved gear trains can be
accurately modeled with Adams using either
idealized constraints or contacting elements.
The C++ version of the code has picked up
the torch from the old FORTRAN F77
code in which Adams was initially written.
Adams integrators just keep getting better.
The original model was run using F77
GSTIFF/SI3 on a Microvax II computer
(remember those?). The updated models

were run on a Dell Precision T3400 using

C++ HTT/SI3. While it is impossible
to correctly attribute speedups between
hardware & software, it is the authors
opinion that, hardware factors being the
same, HHT runs at least as fast as the older,
F77 code and appears more robust as well.
The Adams 2013 release is quite nice. On
this and other (contemporary) models, it
appears to be more robust as well as more
stable. Improvements like this are always
welcomed.

A Love Affair with Adams Conclusion

I built my first Adams model in 1981. It was
the beginning of a real love affair. Simply said,
Adams is sweet no brag just fact. u
Volume III - Winter 2013

| 35

TECHNOLOGY MATTERS

Scania Improves
Heavy Truck Designs
Using Simulation to Evaluate Alternatives Early in Process
Scania | Based on an interview with Anders Ahlstrm, PhD, Structural and Vehicle Dynamics Engineer

cania is a leading manufacturer of trucks,

buses and coaches and industrial and
marine engines. Scanias modular vehicle
configuration system enables the company
to build vehicles that are optimized to a
customers application from pre-engineered
main components with standardized interfaces.
A key challenge is ensuring that the different
subsystems used in each unique vehicle design
such as the engine, transmission, frame and
suspension, perform together in a full vehicle
assembly. In the past, there was no way to
validate the performance of a unique truck
design prior to building the vehicle and
evaluating its performance on a road simulator
test rig and test track. If the performance
of the vehicle was not satisfactory, then the
vehicle needed to be redesigned, rebuilt and
re-tested, driving up costs and pushing back
the delivery date of the vehicle. Scania has
improved on this process by utilizing MSCs
Adams/Car to simulate the performance of
alternative vehicle designs on both the test rig
and test track. Simulation gives us the ability
to explore design alternatives in the early stages
of the design process, said Anders Ahlstrm,
PhD, Structural and Vehicle Dynamics
Engineer for Scania. The result is that we have
been able to significantly improve the handling,
comfort and fatigue life of our vehicles.

Fig. 1: Scania is a leading producer of heavy

over-the-road trucks
36 | MSC Software

Optimizing Each Vehicle

to the Application
Scania delivers optimized heavy trucks
and buses, engines and services, that
enable its customers to achieve the best
operating economy. Scanias modular
vehicle configuration system, which has
been developed over several decades,
makes it possible for the company to
create individual configurations for a
large number of different customers by
using a limited number of standardized
components. This approach makes it possible
to provide each customer with an optimized
product, while keeping costs throughout
the value chain at a competitive level.
Providing a vehicle that is optimized for the
application has enormous advantages for
customers but creates challenges for Scania.
The company must ensure that each unique
vehicle configuration provides the required
handling and comfort and also delivers the
promised fatigue life under the wide range
of conditions under which the companys
vehicles are used. In the past, the first point
at which the company could evaluate the
vehicle performance was when it was built
and could be tested on a test rig or test track.

Fig. 2: Virtual model of typical truck tractor

The problem with the traditional approach

is by the time that feedback is received a
considerable amount of time and money has
already been invested in the design. Testing
is expensive because of the need to outfit
trucks with custom hardware and because
a considerable amount of time is required
on the part of highly-skilled employees or
contractors to set up and run the tests. There
is only rarely time available to evaluate
different vehicle configurations in terms of
their ability to provide the desired results.

Simulation Provides Feedback

Early in Design Process
We use simulation because it allows us to
evaluate a much greater number of vehicle
configurations than was possible in the
past, Ahlstrm said. We selected Adams/
Car because Adams provides the premier
solver technology and has become the defacto standard in the automotive industry,
Ahlstrm said. Adams/Car supports

Simulation gives
us the ability to explore
design alternatives in
the early stages of the
design process. The
result is that we have
been able to significantly
improve the handling,
comfort and fatigue life
of our vehicles.

Fig. 3: Model of load frame and weights used to represent trailer

Fig. 4: Sensor installed in truck prior to

physical testing

is used. Simulation of the full vehicle on

the test track is more challenging because
of the difficulty in accurately modeling
the tires and other interconnecting parts.
However, in this case, Scania engineers are
still able to achieve predictions that are
within 20% of physical measurements.

Fig. 5: Sensor output during physical testing

Scanias modular vehicle configuration

strategy by enabling us to model and
simulate different vehicle configurations
in a small fraction of time that would
be required to build and test them.
Adams/Car enables engineering teams to
quickly evaluate functional virtual prototypes
of complete vehicles and vehicle subsystems.
Working in the Adams/Car simulation
environment, automotive engineering teams
can exercise their vehicle designs under
various road conditions, performing the
same tests they normally run in a test lab or
on a test track, but in a fraction of the time.
Modifications can easily be done in the virtual
world, which saves a significant amount of
time and money in the design process.
Scania has already developed Adams/Car
models of many of their vehicle modules. So
in most cases engineers can create the model
of a new vehicle configuration simply by
selecting models of the appropriate modules
and connecting them together. Figure 2 shows
an Adams/Car model of typical truck tractor,
the R420 LA4x2MNA, a two axle tractor
design for long haul applications. The tractor
is equipped with an R Highline cab and a 420
hp six cylinder diesel engine. A two-bellow air
suspension is used in the rear while a parabolic
leaf suspension is used in the front. It is an
articulated tractor which means the payload
is carried in a semi trailer connected to a fifth
wheel on the truck. A load frame was added
to the virtual as well as the physical truck in
this study to represent the weight of the trailer.
Scania engineers also often model the trailer.
The frame, load frame and front axle are
modeled as flexible bodies using MSC
Nastran to create the finite element (FE)
models. The load frame shown in Figure 3
was modeled using shell elements while the
weights are modeled using solid elements.
The attachment between the frame and load
frame was modeled using bushings because

Fig. 6: Iterative process to derive drive signals

to the test rig

the connection is not entirely stiff. The use

of bushings makes it possible to modify the
stiffness and damping of the attachment to
act similarly to the physical connection.

Ensuring the Accuracy

of Simulation Results
Scania engineers have also modeled their
10-channel test rig and their test track and
use Adams/Car to evaluate vehicle designs
being excited by the simulator and driven over
the test track. The vehicle is equipped with
sensors at selected points when evaluated on
the test rig or test track as shown in Figure 4.
Markers were incorporated into the Adams/
Car model to capture the same data that was
measured in the physical vehicles, such as
accelerations in three different axes, distance
between the axle and frame, and hub forces.
An iterative process is used to determine a
drive signal for the test rig that produces the
same forces in the vehicle as were induced
by driving on the test track as shown in
Figure 6. First, a random noise is used
as the drive signal while measuring the
responses of the sensors on the truck model
to derive the transfer functions. The transfer
functions and the sensor responses are then
used in an iterative procedure in which the
model is excited with the drive signal and
the response is compared to the measured
response. Based on the error, the drive signal
is then adjusted to bring the simulation
response closer to the measured response.
This iterative procedure continues until
the model response matches the measured
signal within an acceptable value of error.
Typically, Scania engineers are able to achieve
simulation results that are within 5% of
physical measurements on the test rig. If
the model performs well on the test rig, the
next step is to add wheels and simulate the
model over 3D road. The Ftire (Flexible
Ring Tire Model) nonlinear tire model

Using Simulation to Compare

Design Alternatives
Once the model has been validated it can be
used to evaluate the handling of the vehicle,
comfort of the driver and loads applied to
various components, which can in turn be
used to estimate their fatigue life. On a new
vehicle configuration, we typically simulate the
vehicle performing steering maneuvers on a
flat surface to evaluate steering and handling,
Ahlstrm said. We drive the vehicle over a
number of different road obstacles and study
the vehicle behavior and driver experience.
Scania engineers also evaluate alternative
vehicle configurations, such as comparing the
performance of several different suspension
designs. Simulation makes it possible to
evaluate the performance of the vehicle
under very demanding conditions that
would be difficult to duplicate with physical
testing because they would require travel
to a distant location or because they might
involve damage to the vehicle or danger to
the driver. These simulations also generate
loads on the components that can then
be used for stress analysis or fatigue life
analysis. Finally, engineers perform failure
mode analysis. For example, they simulate
a situation in which the power steering
becomes inoperable and evaluate the ability
of the driver to steer the truck out of danger.
Adams/Car helps us understand how the
multiple moving parts of the chassis interact
with each other and their environment,
Ahlstrm concluded. This knowledge helps
us to identify potential problems early in
the design process and make corrections
on the virtual model at a much lower cost
and in less time than would be required
to correct the physical truck. Simulation
helps encourage innovative design methods
because engineers can easily explore
alternative design concepts in very little
time or expense. As a result, we have made
significant improvements in handling and
comfort of many of our designs. We have also
reduced stress levels in many parts, resulting
in improvements in component life. u
Volume III - Winter 2013

| 37

TECHNOLOGY MATTERS

The Ups and Downs

of Finite Elements
Schindler Lifts Automates its FE Calculations with CAE Tools
from MSC Software
Schindler | By Werner Moretti of Schindler and Cornelia Thieme of MSC Software

chindler is a company with business

activities in all five continents and
a market leader in the lift and escalator
sector. Schindlers offering ranges from
passenger lifts suitable for small blocks of
flats to sophisticated transport solutions for
skyscrapers. Service lifts ensure the stress-free
movement of goods and people in shopping
centres, office buildings and railway stations.
Bed lifts provide for the smooth and vibrationfree movement of patients and equipment in
hospitals. In industrial buildings, many of the
hoists and small goods lifts in use are supplied
by Schindler, while glass cabin lifts in tall
buildings offer both a novel experience and a
feeling of safety. It is hard to imagine public
transport without lifts, which are often heavily
used and must therefore meet demanding
requirements in availability and serviceability.

The concerns research and development facility

in Ebikon devises complete lift systems as well
as components for all applications. Here, CAE
simulation is used to find reliable and energyefficient solutions which make the optimum
use of materials. The programs SimXpert
and MSC Nastran from MSC Software are
employed for structural calculations using
the finite elements method (FE). These are

Fig. 1: 3D based development of lift components

38 | MSC Software

used, for example, to simulate the wall fixings

of lifts and determine whether deformations
and loadings remain within the permissible
range. The resulting design and its verification
encompass the guiding system and the cabin,
counterweight and drive components. In
addition to static (strength) calculations,
dynamic and vibration analyses are also carried
out with the aid of FE methods. The field of
non-linear FE calculations is also of central
significance.
The finite elements solver MSC Nastran is
capable of carrying out linear, non-linear,
dynamic, thermal and many other calculations.
MSC Nastran can look back on a history of
almost 50 years. Originally a component of a
NASA project, it was further developed into a
comprehensive program that is now standard
in many aerospace, automotive and mechanical
engineering companies. Historically, Nastran
from MSC Software has a reputation as a highperformance solver for static and dynamic
calculations and is a leader in meeting the
continually growing demands on model size
currently models with hundreds of millions
of degrees of freedom. In the last decade, it
was expanded to the multidisciplinary MD
Nastran, which can cover all disciplines in

structural calculations. It now includes a

comprehensive range of non-linear algorithms,
contact and material models, including crash
simulation. MSC Nastran can carry out
design and layout optimisation without the
need for any additional optimisation program.
MSC Nastran is closely integrated with MSC
Softwares multi-body simulation program,
Adams, and provides an open interface for
CFD programs.
SimXpert is a modern pre/post-processor
that creates a model for MSC Nastran finite
element calculations based on CAD geometry.
SimXpert supports not only structural
calculation but also multi-body simulation,
regulation and control systems, making the
linking of the different disciplines easy. A key
feature of SimXpert is the ease with which it
automates the generation of the model and
the calculation using templates. Macros can
not only be drawn up as in the customary
programs but also edited in a flowchart mode.
Additionally, a Python interface is available to
users with programming knowledge. At run
time, the user can interactively change the
inputs. This is useful if, for example, the work
flow is predefined by an expert and is to be
applied by other users.

Thanks to SimXpert and

template-based modeling and
evaluation, we can ensure that
we construct consistent models
and also have repeatability in
the simulation process.

50

CUS TOM ER CONG R ATULAT I O N S

S.M. Lee
Vice President,
Hyundai Heavy
Industries, Co. Ltd.

This template-based automation made SimXpert interesting for

Schindler. The calculation of bolt forces and weld seam stresses
is important in the design and verification of lift structures. This
requires an appropriate FE mesh. The weld seams of shell elements
must be of uniform size and perpendicular to the edges. The
generation of such a mesh is very time-consuming. Templates were
therefore created that automate the modelling of bolted joints
and weld seams. In the bolts template, two or more plates are
connected to beam elements and rigid body elements (RBEs) and
holes are produced in the plates (if not already present). As a result,
the FE mesh forms concentric circles around the holes. In the weldseam template, two plates that previously did not have matching
meshes are joined. For a T-joint, 3 different areas are set up. In this
figure we see a simple example showing the initial model (3), and
then the same model after application of the bolts and weld-seam
template (4).

I offer sincere congratulations

for the 50th anniversary of the founding of MSC software.
I wish to truly thank MSC for your great contribution with
the finest technology to our nations industrial development
including Hyundai Heavy Industries. I congratulate MSCs 50
years of success and expect MSC to continue to be a pioneer
in the new era.

SimXpert Templates - Examples Of Use

The stresses in
components with
beam elements or
weld-seam elements
are evaluated after
the calculation.
Considering that
there may be 2030
beam elements and
hundreds of weldseam elements in a
model, automating the
output of the results
are highly desirable.
To this end, a SimXpert template was written that reads the stresses from
the binary results file from MSC Nastran and outputs them in Excel
format (Fig. 6). The Excel file includes formulae for further evaluation.

We use MSC Nastran and SimXpert because an efficient use of CAE

tools is now a decisive factor in the development process. Thanks to
SimXpert and template-based modeling and evaluation, we can ensure
that we construct consistent models and also have repeatability in the
simulation process. At Schindler, the modeling process can thus be
methodically and centrally structured and made available for use by
internal development departments spread across the world, as well as by
external service providers. The advantage is that automated processes can
help us to model and evaluate a greater number of design variants. This
fosters innovation and helps us retain our lead over the competition. It
also guarantees standardization of the simulation process and ensures
that we are able to continuously improve quality, explains Schindlers
Werner Moretti.
SimXpert templates free engineers from monotonous, time-consuming
modelling steps; leaving much more time available for assessing and
optimising designs. u
Volume III - Winter 2013

| 39

PARTNER SHOWCASE

Structural Analysis
Workload Reduced by 27%
Simplifying Structural Stress Analysis to Achieve
Complete Aircraft Certification
Groupe Ingeliance, MSC Software Community Partner | By Nicolas Gehin & Francois Ribour

Introduction

Aircelle Case Study

The successful development of large structures,

such as aircraft or aircraft parts, depends
on the cooperation of all major component
suppliers during the design phase. All groups
must work together to analyze the different
structural behaviors of each component for a
successful certification of the entire structure.

Aircelle is one of the leading global players in

the nacelle market, producing large and small
nacelles, thrust reversers and aerostructures.
Aircelle is responsible for the complete nacelle
on the A320neo aircraft powered by CFM
Internationals LEAP power plants, including
integration on the engine. The A320neo
nacelles benefit from Aircelles proven
technology developed through its growing
product portfolio, including nacelles used on
Airbus A380.

The early design process and later optimization

process require that the project be divided into
several phases. However, the projects duration
can result in desynchronization of detailed
analysis with every design update, increasing
the potential for quality issues.
In addition, the detailed analysis process
often includes the development of multiple
small programs or scripts by different stress
engineers. The reliability of these one-time
tools can hardly be assured as hundreds may
be developed for a single structure. Combining
the different programs from multiple engineers
also increases the potential for quality issues.

STREAME has been designed

to perform detailed structural
analyses by post-processing
MSC Nastran results. Within
STREAME, the detailed analysis
can be prepared, analyzed,
launched, reviewed and the final
results can be exported.
40 | MSC Software

For the A320neo project, Aircelle starts with

CATIA, moves to MSC Nastran and finishes
with STREAME.
In September 2011, Aircelle began integrating
STREAME at the development stage of the
process. Since, the design team has reduced
man-hour workload of structural analysis
by 27%. This reduction is applicable to a
workload measured in tens of thousands of
hours.

Excel Spreadsheets
for Detailed Stressing
The extensive use of Excel spreadsheets for
detailed stressing is the root cause of hidden
errors in the stress files. Root cause analyses of
encountered errors are found in Table 1.
STREAMEs integrated analyses include
composites, interfaces, metallic (static and
fatigue) and dynamics which allow for the

In September
2011, Aircelle began
integrating STREAME
at the development
stage of the process.
Since, the design team
has reduced man-hour
workload of structural
analysis by 27%.
structuring of stress teams work to avoid noncontrolled developments of macros or Excel
spreadsheets.

Managing Design Criteria

Despite significant improvements in numerical
simulation technology over the last twentyfive years, there are still too many different
analytical approaches in the detailed stressing
of critical structures. For Aerostructures,
damage tolerance principles impose that any
damage leading to strength reduction below
the ultimate load must be detectable by an
appropriate inspection program. Holes, cracks,
scratches, gouges and nicks must be taken
into account during the design. If the damage

Typical
Experienced
Error

Root cause

STREAME
advantage

Coordinate
system
transformation
error

No 3D graphical
verification

3D viewer of FE,
technological
data and detailed
analysis results

Unit system
mistake on a
dimension

No verification of
input data, such
as technological
information

Field and physical

representation
based checking

Inadvertent
replacement of
a formula by a
value in a cell

Analysis Process:
method and
data mixed in
spreadsheets

Methods separated
from input data, like
NASTRAN

Inadvertent
double
application of a
load factor

Difficult to learn
what a spreadsheet
does. Lack of
documentation.
User of the
spreadsheet was
not its author

Online
documentation

Errors in stress
dossier found
late after
delivery

Lack in validation
of automated
calculations

As standard
software, methods
are validated

BVID (Barely Visible Impact Damage)

in composites taken into account by
appropriate material allowables
Critical combination of 25% missing
fasteners
These analyses are required to justify the
structure before entry into service. During
manufacturing and in service life, existing
stress reports and analysis are used to
substantiate real defects. Once the damage is
determined, FE modelization of the damage
can be used, but most often, other analytical
approaches validated by tests are used.
No less than 20 failure modes are
implemented for analysis of composites,
essentially based on aerospace industry
standards. These modes include interlaminar
shear, ply failure, buckling and curved flanges,
using specific or international standards.

Table 1: Root Cause Analysis of Encountered Errors

Specific Design Criteria

for Specific Design and
Manufacturing Processes

location is not determined during the design

process, placing a hole into the finite element
model is not realistic. This would lead to
millions of FE analyses.

In some cases, such as composite RTM

components, the classical failure theories are
not applicable. Classical failure theories are
not suited when:

An analytical approach that does take into

account the damage by a knocked down factor
analytically defined is STREAME.
STREAME includes a set of damages based
on analytical methods:
Composite ply damage due to nick,
scratch, gouge
Presence of hole in composite, due to VID
(Visible Impact Damage)

Fibers are not properly aligned

Fiber/matrix volumic fraction is low
High Curvature areas
The best industrial practices consist of
building a failure criteria based on subcomponent tests. This approach is referred
to as mixt of certification by analysis and
certification by test.

Only testing can provide the allowable load

for the subcomponent concerned detail. A
or B allowable values (ref. Mil-HDBK
17) being derived.
Analysis can extend sub-component tests
results for manufacturing defects or in
service damage: defects such as composite
porosities are generally located where you
dont want them, and generally you dont
get porosities when you expect them on
dedicated coupons for testing.
STREAME incorporates all the generic and
customer oriented methods for calculation
and failure criteria.
For the A380-GP7200 thrust reverser
cascades, manufactured in Carbon/Epoxy
by French company, Zodiac Aerospace,
specific failure criteria based on allowable
junction loads between strong backs and
vanes of the cascades have been developed
based on dedicated sub-component test
results. An application within STREAME
was developed specifically for this failure and
is still maintained since entry into service of
the A380. This failure criteria is a quadratic
failure criteria based on tension, shear and
bending loads in the junction with B value
derivation of test results. The need for such
criteria was due to a peeling type failure mode
(matrix failure) which could not be assessed
practically with a typical stress approach.

STREAME has been selected by

Aircelle, Safran group in order to
unify all in-house post-processing
tools for all deployed programs.
Throughout 2012, STREAME
was also used for both AIRBUS
A320NEO and COMAC C919
programs, with great satisfaction
by both users and program
managers.
For more information on STREAME, please
contact Nicolas Gehin at nicolas.gehin@
ingeliance.com u

Global Finite Element Model:

An Aircraft Propulsion System iteration is
potentially a 6 month process.

Volume III - Winter 2013

| 41

UNIVERSITY & RESEARCH

Predicting
Shock Attenuation
Studying the Interaction of a Shock Wave with a Rigid Barrier
Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva, Israel | By Shachar Berger

etonations in corridor-type structures

(tunnels) are situations in which a
blast wave would be initiated, causing grave
injuries to humans and significant damage to
structures and equipment. Barriers of various
sizes and shapes inside a tunnel can cause the
incident shock wave to diffract, leaving behind
a complex flow field that changes the impact
on the target wall at the end of the tunnel.

behavior of fluids coupled to rigid structures

and barriers of different shapes and sizes.

The following study investigated the

attenuation of a shock wave propagating
through arrayed baffle plates. Two baffle
plate arrays, oblique and staggered,
were tested. In both arrays, the effect of
baffle plate arrangements on the shock
attenuation was significant. They found
that shock attenuation occurred more
quickly with the obliquely arrayed baffle
plates than with the staggered array.

Results

The interaction of shock waves with a

rigid barrier was further investigated both
experimentally and numerically using MSC
Softwares Dytran explicit nonlinear solution.
The goal of this study was to investigate a
means to attenuate shock waves in tunnels
using geometrical barriers.
A deeper understanding of the flow pattern
and the features affecting the shock wave
attenuation enables the optimization
of the barrier geometry in relation to a
particular initial boundary condition.

The study used Dytran as a second order

accurate scheme in space based on a total
variation diminishing (TVD) approach. This
type of scheme is very accurate for simulating
shocks, contact discontinuities, rarefaction
waves and fine-scale flow structures.

Test Setup
Experimental and numerical research
were carried out for each single barrier
configuration, using two baffle plates mounted
opposite of one another forming a barrier with

Fig. 1: Single barrier configurations

Numerical Approaches
The analysis of the physical behavior of fluids
and gases is found by using a numerical
approach based on an Eulerian scheme.
A finite volume description, based on the
Euler equations of motion, is used to represent
the behavior of the materials nature. MSC
Softwares Dytran explicit solver analyzes the
42 | MSC Software

Fig. 2: Shock tube test section configuration

a defined opening ratio (i.e. the cross-section

of the barrier that is open to the flow divided
by the total cross-section of the tunnel). Three
single barrier configurations were chosen to
check the feasibility of the effect of barrier
geometry on shock wave attenuation.
Baffle plates at a height of 25mm determines
the opening ratio of .375. Barrier inclination
angles were tested at 45, 90 and 135 while
maintaining the same opening ratio (Fig. 1).
Three pressure transducers were placed on
the shock tube test section: one upstream
from the barrier and one downstream of it.
One pressure transducer is also mounted
behind the barrier on the test section end
wall. Fig. 2 presents the test section setup.

Fig. 3: comparison between numerical simulation and experiment results

of shock wave at Ms=1.2 interacts with 90 barrier at 0.375 opening ratio

Fig. 5: numerical simulation of a shock wave propagating through a 90

single barrier configuration, with opening ratio of 0.375. Time between
frames ~0.125 milliseconds

Results from the experimental results of the

three single barrier configurations indicate
that the opening ration and the inclination
angle of a single barrier have significant
effect on the shock wave attenuation.
(Berger et al. 2010) It is observed that the
45 inclined baffle barrier provides the worst
reduction in the shock wave load while the
135 inclined baffle barrier provides the
best reduction in the shock wave load.
Another observation is that as the opening
ratio increases, the effect of the barrier angle
decreases, while as the opening ratio decreases,
the effect of the inclination angle becomes
more significant. These results are now used
as a baseline for a wider numerical study to
determine the physical elements governing
the induced flow behind the shock wave and
optimizing the barrier geometry for better
shock wave attenuation in future work.

Numerical Results
In order to implement barrier geometry
optimization, Dytran was chosen as the solver
for the numerical aspect of the study. (Kivity et
al. 2010) The numerical code was calibrated to
results of the experimental aspect of the study,

Fig. 4: Numerical and experimental results of the pressure history recorded

at the shock tube test section (pressure transducers C2, C3 and C4 - see
Fig. 2), single 135 barrier with 0.375 opening ratio

under the same initial

conditions. Excellent
agreement was
established between
the numerical
and experimental
results. Results
from the numerical
simulations are
presented in Figs.
3, 4 and 5, with
comparison to
the corresponding
experimental results.

Fig. 3 presents two

Schlieren images; the
upper half is the simulation and the lower half,
the experiment. Both images are for a shock
wave (Ms=1.2) interacting with a .375 opening
ratio and 90 single barrier configuration.
Again, the experimental and numerical
results were in agreement, indicating
Dytran can be used as a reliable numerical
tool in the investigation of shock waves
and barrier interaction. It is clearly seen
that vortex and turbulence is one of the
most important physical mechanisms
affecting the flow field induced by the shock
wave, and one of the main contributors
to the shock wave attenuation.
In Fig. 4, the pressure history obtained
from the simulation (black) and the
experiments (purple) from the three
pressure transducers are presented (the
transducer locations are shown in Fig. 2).
It is seen that up to approximately 1.4 ms,
the C3 signals from the simulation (purple)
and the experiment (black) agreed while at
later times a discrepancy develops. Viscous
effects that were neglected in the numerical
calculation can explain this discrepancy.
In Fig. 5, the full numerical test section

is presented. It is clear to see that at t=1.4

ms, the vortex created at the barrier edge
reaches the location of transducer C3.

Conclusion
In the present study, the interaction of a
shock wave with a rigid barrier is investigated
experimentally and numerically. The
experimental investigation was carried
out in a horizontal shock tube with a
Schlieren-based optical system. The
computation scheme was based on the Euler
equations, which ignore viscosity effects.
A numerical method based on a second-order
TVD scheme has been used to simulate
the same conditions as in the experiment.
Extremely good correlation was found
between the numerical code and experiment
results for the shock fronts and arrival times.
However, when the interaction of the shock
with the induced flow is more complex, with
viscous effects becoming more important,
discrepancies occur. From this, we conclude
that in order to correctly predict the shock
attenuation in this specific problem, the
Euler scheme is insufficient and a NavierStokes (N-S) scheme is required. u
1. Ohtomo, F., Ohtani, K., Takayama, K.,
Attenuation of shock waves propagating over
arrayed baffle plates. Shock Waves, 14(5/6):
379390, 2005.
2. Berger, S., Sadot, O. and Ben-Dor, G.,
Experimental investigation on the shock-wave
load attenuation by geometrical means. Shock
Waves, Volume 20, P29-40, 2010.
3. Kivity, Y., Falcovich, J., Ben-David, Y., BarOn, E.: Dynamic drag of a sphere subjected
to shock wave: validation of four hydro-codes.
In: MABS 21 -International symposium of
military aspects of shock and blast, Jerusalem,
Israel October 2010.
Volume III - Winter 2013

| 43

UNIVERSITY & RESEARCH

Students
Collaborate
to Design
Race Car
Professional Driver Test Drives Student-Built F-1 Car
Designed with MSC Software
By Leslie Bodnar, MSC Software

he Partners for the Advancement of Collaborative

Engineering Education (PACE) sponsored students from
26 universities in the design of a Formula One race car with the
help of MSC Softwares simulation technology. The car has been
test driven in a series of time trials at the Miller Motorsport Park
in Tooele, Utah.
The PACE program is a
partnership between academic
institutions and the industry
which allows students from all
over the world to collaborate
on projects. The design of the
F-1 race car itself involved
26 schools, spanning 19 time
zones, and included the hard
work of over 500 students. The
entire design, engineering, and
production process took over 4
years to complete.
The purpose of using
simulation software was to
help save time with the design
process as well as to minimize
cost. The multibody dynamics capabilities of MSC Softwares
Adams were highly instrumental in designing the cars rear and
front suspension system. Adams was also used for the design of the
cars steering linkage system. In addition to Adams, MSC Nastran

44 | MSC Software

The multibody dynamic

simulation capabilities of Adams
was highly instrumental in
designing the cars rear and
front suspension system.
was used to analyze and simulate the cars structural integrity to
ensure that the finished product would meet design requirements.
To test the cars performance, the students took it to the track where
it was physically testing under a series of laps by a professional
driver. The professional driver was able to reach a top speed of 109
MPH on a 1300 ft straightaway and was able to complete 8 laps at
an average speed of over 100 MPH.
The team of students will continue to make adjustments to the race
car and test again until the design meets performance expectations.
With the help of simulation technology, they were able to gain
insights during the design process that they would otherwise not
have been able to had they relied on physical testing alone.
For additional information about Partners for the Advancement of
Collaborative Engineering Education (PACE), services, please visit:
www.pacepartners.org u

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