MSC Software Releases Updated Patran and MSC Fatigue

By DE Editors

MSC Software announced the 2012 releases of Patran and MSC Fatigue. The new releases, scheduled to be available for download in early February, provide engineers with improved modeling productivity, extended nonlinear and failure event simulations, and improved capabilities for predicting product fatigue life.

The Patran 2012 new Model Browser Tree (available on Windows and Linux platforms) can help users efficiently navigate through the menus and access and modify various aspects of their model. The tree is also customizable so that users can adjust to suit their process.

Engineers can analyze more nonlinear events and also study failure more accurately. Newly supported capabilities include cohesive zone modeling and virtual crack propagation for failure analysis, enhanced support for contact that includes segment-to-segment contact detection, contact table enhancements and new nonlinear elements.

Other contact enhancements include shell edge-to-edge, shell edge-to-solid face, and beam-to-solid face contacts with support for moment carrying glue, and improved contact table support for breaking glue, anisotropic friction and wear factor. Several new 1D, 2D and 3D element formulations implemented in MSC Nastran and Marc are also now supported by Patran.

Several fatigue analysis types have been updated as part of the new solver in MSC Fatigue 2012. MSC Fatigue uses stress or strain results from finite element (FE) models, variations in loading, and cycling material properties to estimate life-to-failure. Both the traditional Stress-Life (S-N or total life) and Strain-Life (E-N, local strain or Crack Initiation) methods are available.

MSC Fatigue Shaker predicts the fatigue life of components subjected to a single input random vibration load. Additionally, analysis of spot welds using MSC Fatigue 2012 Spot Weld can help users build optimized designs and reduce prototyping and testing costs. MSC Fatigue 2012 also includes a new structural stress based Seam Weld module, as well as the traditional weld classification approach.

For more information, visit MSC Software.

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