Digimat 2019.0 Democratizes Light-weighting Crash Simulation

e-Xstream engineering, an MSC Software company, has released Digimat 2019.0, a polymer simulation software. This version brings a series of enhancements to support the design and manufacture of composite materials and parts, with accuracy, new materials systems and efficiency, according to the comapany. It allows for the democratization of crash simulations for reinforced plastic parts and also includes an interface to MaterialCenter, an enterprise material data management solution.

Access to material microstructure information is now made easier in the early design stage thanks to the capability to predict weld line location in addition to a new fiber orientation distribution. Time and complexity associated to the creation of a crash material model creation is reduced with a new strain-rate dependent calibration procedure.

In partnership with DSM, a workflow for constant amplitude loading fatigue analysis of reinforced plastic parts is introduced, starting from material model characterization up to dedicated fatigue post-processing capabilities in Digimat-RP. The solution is complemented by fatigue data available in the Digimat-MX database.

Digimat 2019.0 provides process simulation capabilities for warpage prediction and mitigation as well as as-manufactured part performance capabilities, enabling performance optimization as a function of the material and the manufacturing. Fiber-reinforced material models are readily available inside Digimat-MX for material systems from DSM, Solvay Specialty Polymers and Stratasys Inc. 

This release introduces the foam material family into Digimat's material engineering capabilities to complement the range of materials, including polymers, composites, ceramics and metals, the company reports.

Digimat-VA and MaterialCenter are now interfaced in the 2019.0 release to enable an entreprise-wide management of virtual and physical test results. Ply properties stored in MaterialCenter can be used as input for virtual allowable campaigns, while virtual test results can be stored, shared and managed in MaterialCenter, along with the available physical data, according to the company.

Digimat-MX database provides direct access to validated off-the-shelf material models from various material suppliers. This new release enhances the content of its public database. Two new material suppliers are added: Borealis and SUMIKA Polymer Compounds. New material systems and models are included from Asahi-Kasei Corporation, DSM, DuPont Performance Materials, Kuraracy Co. Ltd., SABIC, SOLVAY Engineering Plastics, SOLVAY Specialty Polymers and Stratsys Inc. Overall, 68 new material systems have been added, corresponding to 15,871 new models, including fatigue data. 

"This is just the first release of a long series to leverage the interaction of Digimat with MaterialCenter in order to provide an enterprise-wide ICME solution to our customers across all industries," Roger Assaker, CEO of e-Xstream engineering and chief materials strategist at MSC Software, says.

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MSC Software

e-Xstream engineering

In related news, read about a new eXstream engineering/Volume Graphics collaboration here.

Sources: Press materials received from the company and additional information gleaned from the company’s website.