NX Advanced FEM: High-end FEA pre/postprocessorNX CAE

www.siemens.com/nx

NX

Benefits• Speedanalysismodeling

processesbyupto70percent

• Increaseproductqualitybyrapidlysimulatingdesigntrade-offstudies

• Loweroverallproductdevelopmentcostsbyreducingcostly,latedesignchangeorders

• SimplifyCAEgeometryeditingprocesseswithintuitivedirectmodeling

• Rapidlyupdateanalysismodelswhenthedesigngeometrychanges

• ConsolidateCAEpreprocessingintoasingleenvironmentsupportingthemostcommonlyusedsolvers

• Efficientlymanagelarge,complexanalysismodelsthroughassemblyFEMmanagement

• Captureandautomatebestpracticesandcommonlyusedprocesses

• Linkresultstoproductrequirementstomakesmarterproductdecisions

SummaryNX™AdvancedFEMsoftwareisacomprehensivemulti-CADfiniteelementmodelingandresultsvisualizationsolutionthatisdesignedtomeettheneedsofexperiencedCAEanalysts.ItincludesafullsuiteofdirectgeometrymodelingandeditingtoolsaswellasFEpre/postprocessingtoolsthatsupportabroadrangeofproductperformanceevaluationsolutions.NXAdvancedFEMprovidesbi-directionalanalysismodeltodesigngeometryassociationallowinguserstorapidlyupdateananalysismodelwhenthebasedesignchanges.Multi-CAEenvironmentsenableanalyststobuildandexportanalysismodelsforindustrystandardsolverssuchasAbaqus,Ansys,LS-Dyna,MSCNastranaswellasNXNastran®software.Analystscanalsoimportresultsfromtheseexternalsolversforpostprocessing.

A modern CAE environment NXAdvancedFEMdirectlyaddressesthechallengesyoufacewithsimulationtodaythroughamodernandcompletelyintegratedenvironmentthatdeliverssignificantbenefits.NXAdvancedFEMdoesnotrequireNXCADandcanbeusedasastandaloneFEApre/postprocessorwithsupportformulti-CADgeometry.Althoughnotrequired,whenusedinconjunctionwithNXCAD,NXAdvancedFEMenjoystheaddedbenefitofseamlessdatatransferbetweenthedesignandanalysisteams.

NXAdvancedFEMdrasticallyreducesthetimeyouspendpreparinganalysismodels.Itdeliversalltheadvancedmeshing,boundaryconditionsandsolverinterfacesthatexperiencedanalystsexpectforhigh-endanalysis.ButwhatmakesNXAdvancedFEMuniqueamongallotherpreprocessors

GeometryeditingcapabilitiesavailableinNXAdvancedFEMinclude:

Multi-CAD geometry interfacesNXAdvancedFEMsupportsCADgeometryfromanumberofformats,andallNXAdvancedFEMdirecteditingandidealizationcapabilitiescanbeusedongeometryfromalloftheseformats.• Directgeometrytranslatorsavailable

(CATIAV4,CATIAV5,Pro/E)• Neutralgeometrytransfer(IGES,STEP,

JT™,Parasolid®)

General geometry modelingFeatureslikesmallholes,smallstepsandsliversimpactmeshingspeedandqualitybutcanbeirrelevanttoengineeringperformance.• Parasolidgeometrykernel• Parametricsolidandsurfacemodeling• Directgeometrymodelingwith

synchronoustechnology• Featuremodeling• Assemblystructurecreation

4. New design ready for analysis.

5. Updated analysis model ready for simulation.

Analysis model to geometry associativity User-definedgeometryedits,meshandboundaryconditionsareallassociatedtothebasedesign.Whenthedesigntopologychanges,NXrapidlyupdatestheexistinganalysisgeometry,mesh,loadsandboundaryconditionsasrequired,avoidingtheneedfortheanalysttomanuallyrecreatetheanalysismodel.Thisapproachgreatlyreducesdownstreammodelingtimewhichiscompoundedacrossaproject’smanydesign-analysisiterations.

1. Plastic case initial analysis model.

2. Select geometry to move.

3. Drag geometry to new position.

NX Advanced FEM

NX

isit’sintegrationofasuperiorgeometryfoundationwhichenablesmoreintuitiveeditingofgeometryandanalysismodelassociativitytomulti-CADdata.Thetightintegrationofapowerfulgeometryenginewithrobustanalysismodelingcommandsisthekeytoreducingmodelingtimebyupto70percentcomparedtotraditionalanalysismodelingtools.

Geometry Preprocessing

Reduce time spent editing geometryOneofthemainissuesanalystsfaceistheneedtocleananddefeatureimportedgeometry.Featureslikesmallholes,smallstepsandsurfacesimpactmeshingspeedandqualitybutcanbeirrelevanttoengineeringperformance.Onaverage,foreachdesigniteration,engineersspendanentiredayormoreongeometrycleanupactivitieswhenusingstandaloneCAEpreprocessors.Thiswastestimethatcouldbebetterspentdoingrealengineering.

NXAdvancedFEMisbuiltonthesameleadinggeometryfoundationthatpowersNX.Integratingstronggeometrycapa-bilitieswithCAEpreprocessingresultsinenormousproductivitygainsforanalysts.

Synchronous technology revolutionizes geometry editingNXAdvancedFEMincludesdirectgeometryeditingcapabilitiespoweredbysynchronoustechnologydevelopedbySiemens.AnalystscanquicklyeditgeometryinintuitivewaysthatarenotpossibleintraditionalCAEpreprocessorsorfeature-basedCADsystems.Directeditingworksongeometryfromanysource,andanalystscanuseittorapidlymodifygeometrypriortomeshing,createdesignalternativesfor“what-if”evaluations,orrapidlygeneratefluiddomainvolumegeometry.

Meshingcapabilitiesinclude:1Dmesh• Beam• Beamsectionpropertiesdefinedfroma

standardsetofsectionsordirectlyfromCADgeometry

• Automatedboltconnectionmeshing

• Rigid• Spring• Gap• Damper• Automaticweld

meshing• Lumpedmasses

2Dmesh(shellmesh)• 2Dmappedmeshing• 2Dfreemeshing• Sweepmeshing“paver”• 2Dmeshingboundary• 2Ddependentboundary• Quad-onlymeshes• Linearorparabolic

Additional benefits for NX CAD customers BusinessesusingNXCADfordesignalsoachieveadditionalbenefitswhentheyuseNXAdvancedFEMforCAE:• SeamlesstransferofgeometryfromCAD

designerstoCAEanalystseliminatestransfererrorsandresultsincleanergeometryforanalyststouse

• GeometrychangesmadebyCAEanalystsduring“what-if”analysescanbegivendirectlytothedesignertoincorporateintothemastermodel

• Analystsknowimmediatelywhenthebasedesigngeometryhaschangedandcanautomaticallyupdatetheiranalysismodelthroughassociativity

FE preprocessing

Comprehensive meshing tools NXAdvancedFEMincludesextensivemodelingfunctionsforautomaticandmanualmeshgenerationof1D,2Dand3Delements.Create1Delementssuchaswelds,bolts,rigidsandmorewithease.Shellmeshingisusedformodelingthin-walledpartsandcanbeusedinconjunctionwithmid-surfaces.NXAdvancedFEMincludeshexahedralmeshingcapabilitiesinadditiontoits“best-in-class”tetrahedralmeshing.

3. Shell mesh on mid-surface geometry.

Geometry idealization and abstraction for FEA• Directgeometryeditingwith

synchronoustechnology• Geometryhealingandrepairforgaps

andotherdatainaccuracies• Mid-surfacing(constantandvariable

thickness)• Defeaturetools(geometryrepair,

featuresuppression,stitchsurface,removehole/fillet,partitioning)

• Merging/splitting/stitchingofedgesandfacesforcontrollingmeshboundaries

• Non-manifoldtopologygenerationforvolumes

• Automatictopologyabstraction• Manualtopologymodificationtools• Createsurfacefrommeshface• Splitbodyandpartitioningmethodsfor

dividinggeometryintomoremanageablesections

1. Solid geometry of thin-walled part.

2. Mid-surface generated from solid geometry.

NX

• Structuralloads -Nodalforcesandtemperatures -Elementfaceandedgepressures -Acceleration(gravity,translation,

rotation) -Ambientandreferencetemperatures• Heattransferloads -Nodalanddistributedheatsources -Faceandedgefluxes,convectionand

radiation

Complete model checking tools NXAdvancedFEMprovidesafullsetofgraphicalandmathematicaltoolstohelpverifythatamodeliscompleteandcorrectbeforeyousubmititforsolution.• Solver-specificelementqualitychecks• Coincidentnodeandelementchecks

eliminateduplications• Free-edgeandfacechecksavoid

unwantedcracksinamodel• Shrinkelementdisplayverifiesthat

elementsarelocatedproperly• Elementshapechecks(distortion,

warping,etc.)verifythatelementsdonotviolatelimitsandcanproduceaccurateresults

• Elementthicknessdisplaytocheckthatshellthicknessiscorrect

Loads and boundary conditions NXAdvancedFEMprovidesextensivecapabilitiestodefineloadingandboundaryconditionstocorrectlysimulateoperatingenvironments.

Load and boundary condition control• Applyongeometry(face,edge,or

curve) -Associativityofgeometry-basedloads

andrestraintsthatismaintainedthroughdesigngeometrychanges

-Ensureanodeisplacedatthelocationduringautomaticmeshing

• ApplyonFEentities• Applytolocalcoordinatesystem• Applyongroups• Axisymmetricboundaryconditions• Automaticcontactdetectionandsetup• Automaticallyapplyloadsobtainedfrom

motionanalysisinNXMotion• Time-varyingloadingandboundary

conditionstocorrectlysimulatenonlinearloadingconditions

• Defineloadsbyexpression,arrayortableinput

-SpatiallyvaryingloadscanbequicklyandeasilydefinedviaexpressionorbyASCIIfileimport

-Sameistruefortime,frequencyandtemperaturedependentloads

Load and boundary condition types• Surface-to-surfacecontactdefinitions -Surface-surfacegluecontact -Automaticfacepairing -Coupling -AutomaticcoupledDOF -ManualcoupledDOF• Constraintsandrestraints,including

nodaldisplacement

3Dmesh(solidelements)• Automatictetrahedralmeshing• Swepthexahedralmeshing• Pyramidelementsneededtosmoothly

transitionfromahexmeshtoatetrahedralmesh

• Linearorparabolic

Mesh control• Transitionmeshingfromfinetocoarse

for2Dand3Dfreemeshing• Usercontrolledautomaticabstraction

duringmeshing• Abilitytodefineallowabledistortionfor

tetrahedralelementsbeforemeshing• Localelementcontrolforprecisemesh

generations• Numberofelementsonedge• Chordaltolerance• Geometricprogression• Associationofmeshgenerationsettings

withgeometricfeatures(updatesoccurwithdesigngeometrychanges)

• Surfacecoating• Axisymmetricmeshing• Batchmeshing• Meshqualitychecks• Grouping• Structuredmesharoundholesor

weldrows

Material definitions• Materialpropertycreationand

management• Masspropertycalculations• Physicalpropertycreationand

management• Variableelementthickness

NX

UsingNXAdvancedFEM,youcanperformavarietyofpostprocessingfunctions:

Display• Deformedgeometry• Contourdisplays• Beamcross-sectioncontourdisplays• Vectordisplays• Isosurfacedisplays• Cuttingplanes• Streamlines,ribbonsandbubblesfor

flowresults• Advancedlightingcontrol• Animationswithsteppedorsmooth-

shadeddisplays• Complexdynamicresponseresults• Multipleresultssimultaneously• Multipleviewports• Probingofresultsonnodes• Postprocessingdatatablewithsort/

criteria• 3Dand2Dtextannotations• Templatesofdisplayoptionsfor

repeateduse• Resultslistings• Transparencydisplay• Localcoordinatesystem• Groupsofelementsusingsearchcriteria

Graphing• XYgraphing• Bargraphing• SynchronizedcontourandXYplotting

displays• Annotatedgraphs

Output• Imageoutput(JT,JPEG,BMP,PNG,GIF,

AnimatedGIF,TIF)• Exportsingleormultipleresultsetsto

Excelforfurthermanipulation• HTMLcustomizedreportsformodeldata

andresultsinspection

usedbyanalystsincludingNXNastran®,MSCNastran,Abaqus,AnsysandLS-Dyna.Thesolverenvi-ronmentsimmersetheuserinthelanguageoftheselectedsolver’sterminologywhichenablesanalyststoeasilypreparesolver-specificanalysismodelswithouttheneedtolearnnewterminology.

Export analysis models and import results for these external solvers:• Abaqus• Ansys• LS-Dyna• MSCNastran• NXNastran(enterprise)

Postprocessing Foranalysistodrivedecisions,resultsmustbepresentedinanunderstandableform.NXAdvancedFEMprovidesextensivegraphicsandmanipulationcapabilitiesthatfocusoncriticaldataandpresentitforreviewandaction.

Efficient FE assembly managementAsproductsbecomeevermorecomplex,performingsimulationatjustthecomponentlevelisnotenough.NXAdvancedFEMhasthetoolsneededtoefficientlybuildandmanagecomplexanalysismodelsandassemblies.NXAdvancedFEMisuniqueinthewayitcreatesfiniteelementassemblymodels.UnliketraditionalCAEpreprocessorsthatweredevelopedforcomponentanalysisandrequireyoutobuildlargemonolithicanalysismodels,NXAdvancedFEMwasdevelopedtocreatelargeFEassemblymodelsbyinstancingandconnectingFEcomponentmodelstogether,similartoaCADassembly.

WhenanFEcomponentisupdatedlaterindevelopment,NXAdvancedFEMupdatesallinstancesofthatcomponentwithintheFEassembly,eliminatingtheneedtorebuildandconnectanewFEassemblytogether.

Multi-CAE environments NXAdvancedFEMoffersimmersiveuserenvironmentstosupportavarietyofcommonsolvers

NX

dataandmakesitreadilyaccessiblethroughdatamining,visualizationandreporting.

Linking simulation results to product requirementsNXAdvancedFEMletsyoulinksimulationresultsdirectlytospecificproductrequirementsandcanalertprojectmanagerswhenrequirementsarenotbeingmet.Projectmanagersandotherproductdecisionmakerscanthenviewthe3DsimulationresultsinanintuitivewayusingJT™,alight-weightvisualizationtool.

Automating simulation processes CAEengineerscanincreaseproductivitybyautomatingredundantprocesseswithNXOpen,thecommonfoundationforautomationandprogramminginNX.UsingNXOpen,expertCAEuserscancapture,authorandpublishsimulationprocessestoguidelessexperiencedengineersordesignerstoacceleratethedevelopmentprocess,whileensuringmodelingandresultsaccuracy.

An open platform Siemensunderstandsyouoftenneedtouseothersoftwaretools,eitherdevelopedinternallyorfromothervendors,togettheanswersyouneedtosupportcriticaldevelopmentdecisions.That’swhyNXAdvancedFEMisopenandflexibleenoughtoallowyoutoincorporatethosetoolsintoyoursimulationprocesses.NXAdvancedFEMsupportsanumberofcommercialCAEsolversthroughavailableenvironments,oryoucandevelopyourowninterfacesusingNXOpen.

Simulation data management and automation

Data management designed for the CAE analyst NXAdvancedFEMseamlesslyintegrateswiththeentireTeamcenter®datamanagementportfolio,includingthesimulationprocessmanagementmodule.Simulationdatamanagementcapabilitieswork“outofthebox”,andcompaniescanimplementacompleteenvironmentformanagingCAEdata,processandworkflowaspartofawiderproductdevelopmentenvironment.Thisreduceswastebypromotingre-useofexistingdesignsandengineeringknowledge.Itsynchronizes

Add-ons to extend simulation capabilities

Multi-discipline simulationTheneedtousemultipleanalysisproductsaddscostsandcomplexitybecauseeachanalysisproducthasitsownuserinterfaceandworkflows.Inaddition,incompatiblemodelsandmanualfiletransfersconsumetimeandcreateerrorswhichsometimeshinderthemulti-disciplinestudiesnecessarytocorrectlyunderstandproductperformance.

Additionalanalysiscapabilitiesavailableasadd-onstoNXAdvancedFEMareshowninthistable:

NX

Analysis type Available add-on products for NX Advanced FEM

Topologyoptimization NXTopologyOptimization

Shapeoptimization NXShapeOptimization

Durability NXDurabilityWizardNXAdvancedDurability

LaminatecompositesmodelingLaminatecompositesdraping

NXLaminateComposites

Responsesimulation NXResponseSimulation

ThermalAnalysis NXThermalNXAdvancedThermalNXSpaceSystemsThermal

CFDorflowanalysis NXFlowNXAdvancedFlow

Multi-physics

Coupledthermo-fluidanalysis NXElectronicSystemsCoolingNXFloworAdvancedFlowwithNXThermalorAdvancedThermal

Coupledthermo-elasticanalysis NXThermalwithNXAdvancedFEM

Motion-structural(motionflexiblebodies)

NXMotionandNXFlexibleBodyDynamicSolutionwithNXNastran

Physicaltesttoanalysiscorrelation NXFEModelCorrelationNXFEModelUpdating

ResponseSimulation,NXLaminateComposites,NXFEModelCorrelation,NXFEModelUpdatingandthecustomizedsolverenvironmentsforAbaqus,Ansys,LS-Dyna,andNastran.

NXAdvancedFEMisavailableon32-and64-bitWindowsandalsoon64-bitLinuxsystems.

Product availability NXAdvancedFEMisthecoremoduleintheNXCAEsuiteofapplications.Itisaprerequisiteforallotheradd-onsolutionssuchasNXTopologyOptimization,NXAdvancedDurability,NXDurabilityWizard,NXFlow,NXAdvancedFlow,NXThermal,NXAdvancedThermal,NXElectronicSystemsCooling,NXSpaceSystemsThermal,NX

NX

User Interface

Intuitive and configurable UIAmodernCAEenvironmentrequiresamodernuserinterface.• Organizedandintuitivecommands• Customizablemenusandtoolbars• Contextualmenususingright-mouse

buttonshowonlythemostappropriatecommands

• UserolestotailortheUIbasedonuserprofilestoshowonlythecommandstheuserneeds

©2012SiemensProductLifecycleManagementSoftwareInc.Allrightsreserved.SiemensandtheSiemenslogoareregisteredtrademarksofSiemensAG.D-Cubed,Femap,Geolus,GOPLM,I-deas,Insight,JT,NX,Parasolid,SolidEdge,Teamcenter,TecnomatixandVelocitySeriesaretrademarksorregisteredtrademarksofSiemensProductLifecycleManagementSoftwareInc.oritssubsidiariesintheUnitedStatesandinothercountries.NastranisaregisteredtrademarkoftheNationalAeronauticsandSpaceAdministration.Allotherlogos,trademarks,registeredtrademarksorservicemarksusedhereinarethepropertyoftheirrespectiveholders.X11745310/12B

www.siemens.com/nx

ContactSiemensIndustrySoftwareAmericas +18004985351Europe +44(0)1276702000Asia-Pacific +85222303333