Editor's Pick: MSC Apex Eagle

Dear Desktop Engineering Reader:

Serial processes that worked well years ago can trap engineers in time like flies in amber. You can get so involved over the hours and days plodding through unwieldy simulation steps that you forget to lift your head up to check and see if there are potentially more efficient ways to get the job done. Today's Pick of the Week focuses on a CAE modeling platform that you can try to see if it's a better way to simulate more efficiently and productively.

MSC Software codenamed the fifth release of its MSC Apex CAE platform Eagle. The quick and dirty description is that MSC Apex Eagle provides a CAE-specific direct modeling and meshing engine with a range of physics capabilities. Key is it connects CAE tasks such as CAD import, geometry healing and modeling, solving and post processing in an interactive workflow that seems quite painless, easy to learn and fast.

MSC Apex Eagle sees major updates to Apex Modeler, its CAE-specific direct modeling and meshing module, and its fully integrated and generative structural analysis solution module, Apex Structures. MSC says it has received reports that Apex Eagle’s enhancements have accelerated complex assembly layout modeling and validation by up to 10x compared to previous versions.

Major enhancements include new part representations and connection types for modeling and validating complex assemblies. There's new support for 2D shell elements, and 3D tetrahedral and hexahedral meshing now supports discrete mass and rotary inertia (0D) as well as beam elements. New connection types include rigid links, springs and mesh-dependent tie connections.

If you already use MSC Apex for things like chassis frames, reinforced fuselage and wings structures, welded assembly ship structures or large fastened assemblies in heavy machinery and equipment, there’s a lot more going on in this release that will interest you greatly. Check out the highlights on-demand webinar linked at the end of today's main write-up now to see what's new. Demos start at the 20-minute mark.

If you don’t use MSC Apex or if you’re an engineering student, the Eagle release offers something for you too. For one, pros can sign-up for a 30-day trial version to beat on. Two, MSC unveiled its first complimentary student edition. You'll find links to both and more at the end of today's Pick of the Week write-up. Don’t pass this one up. MSC Apex sounds way cool.

Thanks, Pal. – Lockwood

Anthony J. Lockwood

Editor at Large, Desktop Engineering