Western Canada PTC Weekly Email
September 1, 2000


Topics:

 
A) PTC Product Focus: Benefits of Mechanica and What's New in Mechanica 2000i2
B) This week's technical tip:  Using Online help services: Knowledge Database
C) Announcements
D) Upcoming Events & Training Schedules


A) PTC Product Focus:  Benefits of Mechanica and What's New in Mechanica 2000i2
 
Structural and Thermal Simulation (two separate modules for Pro/E Foundation package) provide the capability to study the structural and thermal performance of a design.  This gives designers and engineers the ability to evaluate the performance of their products based on certain loading conditions in an effort to estimate how they will perform under load in a real-world environment.  Sensitivity studies show which design parameters have the greatest effect on structural and thermal performance, and shape optimizations indicate which parameters should be changed and by how much. These functions enable designers to produce the best quality product while reducing the cost of its development.
 

Design engineers and specialist analysts can use the Structural and Thermal Simulation Options.
 

- Design engineers need to get insight into the performance of a design to make improvements or identify problems when the cost of change is low and the opportunity to change is high – early in the design process. Pro/MECHANICA is specifically intended for the design engineer.
 

- Analysts can use the Structural and Thermal Simulation Options on most problems in the analysis department. For these problems, these options can provide enormous gains in productivity

 

Specifically, Structural and Thermal Simulation functionality allows:

 

1. Integration with Pro/ENGINEER

 

Structural and Thermal Simulation modules are completely integrated with Pro/ENGINEER.  The designer works with the same user interface, operates on the same geometry model, and uses the same visualization, file manipulation, graphics, and printing tools.  This allows seamless movement by the user between modeling and simulation environments, and provides all the advantages of parametric associativity to a single database structure.  Pro/MECHANICA can also work with CADDS 5, Unigraphics and CATIA geometry.

 

2. Unrivaled Accuracy

 

The Structural and Thermal Simulation Options model complex geometrical shapes precisely and automatically, unlike FEA technology, which creates faceted finite element meshes.  Accurate results are calculated automatically using unique adaptive solution techniques which allow design engineers to make decisions with confidence.  FEA software takes much longer and requires an expert user with many years of experience and training to provide accurate results.

 

3. Sensitivity and Optimization

 

Engineers need to understand the effect of design changes on the performance and behavior of a design, and perform trade-off studies to compare one possible change against another.  If they can get answers to these “what if” questions, then design process time is reduced, and they can create better products.  Structural and Thermal Simulation options provide easy-to-use automatic tools to perform sensitivity and optimization studies.

 

What's New in Mechanica 2000i2

 

For those who are familiar with Mechanica, following are a few of the many new enhancements in the latest release:

 
 
Fatigue Advisor
- Life, damage and factor of safety results
- New fatigue-specific measures
- Parametric design studies and optimization of fatigue life
- Fatigue properties in user-extensible material library
- Seamless integration with Pro/Engineer and Mechanica
Integrated Workflow
- Asynchronous access to 3D notes, datums
- Config file Synchcronization with pro/Engineer
- Features based approach to bean and shell modeling
- New material management environment
- New consistent data forms for simulation modeling
Scalable Simulation
- Pro/MESH functionality replaced with Pro/MECHANICA FEM
- Switchable user modes for MECHANICA and FEM
- Stiffness matrix condensation for Pro/MECHANICA models
-User controlled node numbering in FEM mode
- Import and view NASTRAN models
- NASTRAN analysis templates
Extended Modeling
- Rigid Link connection
- Enforced displacements in non-Cartesian coordinate system
- Full AutoGEM controls in integrated mode!!
- Automatic surface load transfer to compressed mid-plane
- Beams on patterns and point features
- Non-planar beams in integrated mode
Improved Results
- Uses Pro/Engineer window manager
- Automatic HTML report generator
- Uses Pro/E spin/pan/zoom dialog
- Shaded animation of deformed shape
- Membrane and bending stresses for shells
Improved Solution
- Performance gains on all platforms
- Up to 2X faster than 2000i for solid models
- up to 4X faster than 2000i for shell models
- 4-10X faster than release 20
- Reduces disk space 10-30%
- SPA for 2D analysis

 

B) Tip & Techniques:  Using Online help services: Knowledge Database
 

A very fast way of getting a quick answer to your questions is to go online here and search the Knowledge Base.  You can get an online account that will enable you to search a knowledge base of 15,000 documents.  The documents included are Technical Application Notes (TAN's):  which describe specific technical issues with PTC software; these generally include workaround information and information on anticipated software corrections.  Technical Points of Interest (TPIs): Technical tips which are not necessarily associated with a particular PTC software product.  Other documents which are available on the Knowledge Base are FAQ's and Suggested Techniques on anything from Pro/Detail Drawing Views to Advanced Geometry Features.

 

Before you can go into the Knowledge Base you must sign up for an account if you do not already have one.  It is very fast and easy, all that you will need is your User Name and Password that you wish to use, your company name and your Config_ID for Pro/E.  Once you submit that online, it will take a couple of hours and then you will receive and e-mail confirming your information and you are ready to go.

 

Other benefits of signing up for an online account is that you can view Reference Documents such as release notes and configuration notes,  request software updates for your current version of PTC software.  You can place a call online for a Pro/E issue and a customer service rep will return your call within 2-hours.

C) Announcements

Addition of an engineering office in the Lower Mainland

We are please to advise that we have set up an office in the Surrey area to better serve our clients in the Lower Mainland.  As such I can be reached in Surrey at (604) 543-8684.  If you have not had a chance to visit our web site, please do so at www.dynamecheng.com.

Barry R. Stump, P.Eng.
V.P. Engineering
Dynamech
Engineering, Research, Design & Development
Surrey Engineering Office: (604) 543-8684
Main Administration Office: 142 Applebrook Cres., Kelowna, B.C., V1V 1W4
Toll Free (888) 860-5588, In Kelowna (250) 860-2024
Mailto:BStump@DynamechEng.com
http://www.dynamecheng.com
 
 


 

D) Upcoming Events & Training Schedule:

Sept. 12, 2000   Seattle Pro/E Users Group Meeting
upcoming           Vancouver Pro/E Users Group Meeting       http://www.provan.org/
2001                  Pro/USER International Conference            http://www.prouser.org/2000conf/index.htm
 

Call Richard Buckius @ (408)953-8500 PTC VANCOUVER, BC, CANADA
DATE/REQUEST REGISTRATION Click here for Course Schedules & Description

 
Call Terri Kartonchik @ (905)602-4660 x256 PTC MISSISSAUGA, ON, CANADA
DATE/REQUEST REGISTRATION Click here for Course Schedules & Description

 
Call Richard Buckius @ (408)953-8500  PTC BELLEVUE, WA, USA
DATE/REQUEST REGISTRATION Click here for Course Schedules & Description

 
Call Christy Kendrick @ 905-625-2000/888-695-9997 Ext 2234 RAND RICHMOND, BC, CANADA
DATE/REQUEST REGISTRATION Click here for Course Schedules & Description

 
Call Kelly Coates @ 905-625-2000/888-695-9997 Ext 2310 RAND MISSISSAUGA, ON, CANADA
DATE/REQUEST REGISTRATION Click here for Course Schedules & Description

 
PTC
Suite 200
1311 Howe Street
Vancouver, BC
V6Z-2P3
Phone: 604-691-1758, 888-791-5511

Note: This weekly PTC email will continue to be used for the following:

1) Inform you on events in Western Canada related to PTC products. (user groups, conferences, training schedules, etc.)

2) Educate you on products that are available at PTC

3) Tips and Techniques using PTC products

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