Altair Supports Aerospace Innovation with HyperWorks®

TROY, Mich., April 2, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- The latest version of HyperWorks, to be highlighted at the Aircraft Interiors Expo 2014 April 8-10 (Altair booth 6D60), represents the most advanced evolution of computer-aided engineering (CAE) technology applicable to the aerospace industry. HyperWorks provides a comprehensive suite of tools for every phase of aircraft innovation, from initial concept generation through the entire product lifecycle.

Aircraft manufacturers are using the suite for weight reduction and design with composites; modern structural modeling and automated design processes; and stress, mechanism and vulnerability simulation. Software tools in the integrated HyperWorks suite are advancing the ways in which aircraft are designed, accelerating the adoption of advanced materials, such as laminated composites, to meet industry goals of reducing the weight of components and structures for greater fuel efficiency and passenger comfort.

"While composites are a major focal point for HyperWorks and the aviation industry, our product suite offers much more," said Shan Nageswaran, Senior Director, Altair HyperWorks for Aerospace. "From automated meshing to groundbreaking optimization tools and a wide range of easily accessed partner applications, HyperWorks is helping the aerospace industry reach new heights in time efficiency, cost reduction and quality improvement all while meeting the strictest safety and performance requirements."

Design with Composites and Weight Reduction

For composites, HyperMesh® saves significant time with its modeling process. Composites data may be read from the computer-aided design (CAD) model, with ply shapes and parameters comprehended and effortlessly mapped onto elements. Its ply-based modeling approach is more intuitive and efficient than the conventional zone-based approach, matching the physical creation of composites more closely. HyperMesh also has the ability to convert from ply to zone-based modeling for solvers that do not natively support ply-based modeling.

One of the most widely used post-processing tools globally, HyperView® provides layer-based post-processing for composites, yielding results for both individual layers and the aggregation of layers and identifying the maximum contributing layer. The module also includes predefined criteria, including well-known industry standard composite failure theories, and allows for invoking in-house codes for further manipulation of these results.

OptiStruct® is a state-of-the-art solver with non-linear capabilities for ply-based modeling. It offers size optimization for dimensioning of structural components, as well as topology optimization to substantially reduce weight by determining the ideal material distribution. OptiStruct simplifies the complexity of composite modeling, considering hundreds of load cases simultaneously to recommend the best approach. Its three-phase methodology first employs free-size optimization to find the location for reinforcements based on the ply angle. Then, size optimization indicates the number of plies of a particular orientation that are needed. Finally, shuffling optimization defines which order is optimal for the results previously generated.

Many additional tools of exceptional importance to the aerospace industry can be accessed through the Altair Partner Alliance (APA), which enables HyperWorks users to call on third-party software as needed at no additional cost. For example, beyond the comprehensive HyperWorks suite itself, nine different software tools for designing and analyzing composites are available through the APA. These partner products add value to the preliminary design of composites, detailed investigations of joints and other areas and micromechanics to investigate on a microscopic level the individual constituents of composites. Many other areas of the aerospace industry are addressed through the APA as well, including electromagnetic analysis, casting simulation, thermal analysis, computational fluid dynamics analysis and durability analysis, among others.

Modern Structural Modeling and Automated Design Processes

HyperMesh offers proficiency in geometry editing and manipulation to automatically organize geometry for meshing and has helped aerospace developers gain major time savings. Its new aerospace profile contains tools targeted especially for the aerospace industry. The HyperView result math module is a tool which enables users to conduct analysis with their results. An average may be calculated between two stress results, for example, or a more sophisticated math function employed from the extensive library included in HyperView to derive a new result from the existing results. Users may also add their own libraries or invoke scripts and programs to be involved in the result math, such as calculating a value which then is used in the formula applied to the results. Results can be mapped back and forth to Excel to take advantage of many stress analysis tools that already exist in spreadsheets. HyperView operates with the most commonly employed solvers and can publish results in PowerPoint with just a few mouse clicks, dramatically cutting the time required for reporting.

Stress, Mechanism and Vulnerability Simulation

OptiStruct is the most advanced optimization-driven structural solver on the market. It is used in optimization centers around the globe, where Altair engineers transfer their expertise to such customers as Airbus and Boeing. Beyond meeting all the requirements for ensuring sound structural engineering, OptiStruct analyzes acoustics, vibrations and comfort in aircraft designs. Many recent features have been added to support non-linear materials and contact analysis.

RADIOSS® is an advanced solver for highly non-linear problems under dynamics loadings, producing solutions in the study of bird-strike simulation, delamination of composites, and multi-failure crises. RADIOSS has been widely used in the aircraft seating industry, and is ideal for highly dynamic situations, including seating and occupant analysis for impact certification requirements.

MotionSolve®, a multi-body dynamics solver, is particularly valuable for the design of aircraft flaps, landing gear and seat reclining mechanisms. It can be applied to other mechanisms as well, enabling users to build highly complex, non-linear systems and study their performance.

HyperStudy® is designed to perform sensitivity analysis to find the most relevant parameters of a structure or design, and supports shape and size optimizations with any solver including Excel.

Altair will showcase these HyperWorks solutions at the Aircraft Interiors Expo 2014 in Hamburg, Germany, booth 6D60. The exhibit will also include Altair's solution for additive manufacturing with 3D-printed aerospace components from Laser Zentrum Nord and APWorks, which were designed and optimized using OptiStruct. In addition, the 3^rd Altair Composite Design Seminar will be held at CFMS, Bristol & Bath Science Park, Bristol, United Kingdom on Wednesday the 7th of May, 2014. The agenda may be found here.

Visit the HyperWorks for aerospace web page for more information.

About Altair

Altair is focused on the development and broad application of simulation technology to synthesize and optimize designs, processes and decisions for improved business performance. Privately held with more than 2,000 employees, Altair is headquartered in Troy, Michigan, USA and operates more than 40 offices throughout 20 countries. Today, Altair serves more than 5,000 corporate clients across broad industry segments. To learn more, please visit www.altair.com.

SOURCE Altair Engineering