New solutions for efficient modeling of plastics & composites

NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. — (BUSINESS WIRE) — September 19, 2014 — MSC Software Corporation and e-Xstream engineering, an MSC Software Company, and developer of Digimat, the leading nonlinear multi-scale material and structure modeling platform, today announced the new release of Digimat 5.1.1.

Understanding composite material behavior in product design is essential to product manufacturing industries that incorporate advanced materials into the design process for lightweighting and quality improvements. The Digimat 5.1.1 release addresses this issue by introducing new capabilities that help engineers, material suppliers, and material users reduce the cost and time to engineer innovative materials and products.

Highlights of this release include:

Material engineering

End-to-end FE analyses of Material RVE

Digimat-FE includes an FE meshing technology and solver enabling a complete tool for the end-to-end investigation of composites Representative Volume Element (RVE), based on finite element modeling. Generation of RVE has made tremendous gains in robustness & speed. Meshing (conforming & voxel), FE meshing, solution and post-processing have been integrated, and MSC Software’s Marc Nonlinear FEA software was added to the external solver interfaces supported by Digimat. The robust, fast and easy analysis of (thermo) mechanical properties and thermal or electrical conductivity make RVE analyses accessible to non-FEA experts.

Woven Composites

Complete workflow to analyze 2D and 2.5D woven materials & structures

Included in this release is FE analyses of RVE, and advanced woven model support screening of properties of 2.5D woven and braided composites based on their microstructures. Linear elastic effective macroscopic responses can be used in weak coupling schemes for the purpose of structural design.

Strong coupling is supported via the basic woven capability. As a result of a strategic collaboration with LANXESS, nonlinear material models for TEPEX® are available on-demand via the Digimat eXchange platform. Draping information from PAM-FORM or via the Digimat open format can be mapped and used on the structural mesh. Combined with HYBRID solution technology, details of woven structures can be analyzed on the part and system level.

Chopped Fiber Composites

Accurate Analysis of Shell & 3D structures made easy with the new release of Digimat-RP

Digimat-RP was developed to support shell models in addition to the previously available 3D models. Digimat-RP integrates all the power of Digimat material modeling tools in an easy-to-use interface and workflow for the effective and efficient analysis of reinforced plastic parts.

The parameters for the HYBRID solution can be generated on-the-fly using multiple CPUs. Material performances such as viscoelastic-viscoplasticity and the differentiation of tension and compression in failure are added to the HYBRID solution procedure. Unit system management has also been introduced.

For more information about this release, visit http://www.e-xstream.com/.

About e-Xstream engineering

Founded in 2003, e-Xstream engineering is a software and engineering services company 100% focused on the multi-scale modeling of composite materials and structures. The company helps customers, material suppliers, and material users across many industries reduce the cost and time needed to engineer innovative materials and products using Digimat, the nonlinear multi-scale material and structure-modeling platform. Since September 2012, e-Xstream engineering is a wholly owned subsidiary of MSC Software. The e-Xstream engineering corporate logo and Digimat logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of e-Xstream engineering SA. For additional information about MSC Software’s products and services, please visit: http://e-xstream.com/

About MSC Software

MSC Software is one of the ten original software companies and a global leader in helping product manufacturers to advance their engineering methods with simulation software and services. As a trusted partner, MSC Software helps companies improve quality, save time, and reduce costs associated with design and test of manufactured products. Academic institutions, researchers, and students employ MSC’s technology to expand individual knowledge as well as expand the horizon of simulation. MSC Software employs 1,100 professionals in 20 countries. For additional information about MSC Software’s products and services, please visit: www.mscsoftware.com

The MSC Software corporate logo, Simulating Reality, MSC Nastran, Adams, Actran, Digimat, Dytran, Easy5, Marc, Patran, MSC, MasterKey, MasterKey Plus, MaterialCenter, SimDesigner, SimManager, and SimXpert are trademarks or registered trademarks of MSC Software Corporation and/or its subsidiaries in the United States and/or other countries. NASTRAN is a registered trademark of NASA.