Italian Boat Designer ABstructures Extends Usage of HyperWorks

TROY, Mich., April 26, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Altair Engineering, Inc., a leading global provider of simulation technology and engineering services that empowers client innovation and decision-making, announced today that ABstructures, an Italian structural design company that develops sailboat structures for yachts that participate in the America's Cup and the Volvo Ocean Race, has extended its use of HyperWorks.

ABstructures has been using the HyperWorks suite since its foundation in 2008. The company initially employed OptiStruct, from the HyperWorks suite for topology optimization, along with HyperMesh, the HyperWorks meshing tool. In December 2010, the company extended its use of HyperWorks to RADIOSS, the product suite's solver, to its development process for the analysis of the behavior of composite materials. Altair's new agreement with ABstructures includes the rental of 20.000 Grid Works Units (GWUs) for 2011, providing the company with access to every product of the suite, including the use of HyperWorks Partner Alliance (HWPA) products at no additional costs.

In the past, ABstructures applied the HyperWorks suite in the design of the winning Volvo Ocean Race yacht Ericsson 4 as well as the Ericsson 3 yacht. ABstructures is now using HyperWorks to design and optimize three yachts for the forthcoming Volvo Ocean Race and is structurally designing for Artemis Racing, which will participate in the next America's Cup in 2013 in San Francisco.

To design and optimize the carbon structures of the yachts, ABstructures is using HyperWorks together with other computer-aided engineering (CAE) tools to simulate composites and fluid-structure interactions. ABstructures has achieved fundamental structural improvements of all the yachts it has designed, compared to older-generation yachts. The combination of cutting-edge CAE technology and the extensive hands-on experience of ABstructures' designers, as well as the close collaboration with Altair Engineering, have enabled the company to deliver the best design for lightweight structural projects.

"I began using HyperWorks in 2003 and have never stopped using it since then," said Dr. Fabio Bressan, ABstructures. "When I first started to use HyperWorks, I was especially fond of its open platform and the ability to use it with any other available CAE or computer-aided design software. We also like the software suite because it enables us to handle most of the development tasks in structural design within one user interface and because it helps us to easily and quickly understand the challenges of our designs."

"It immediately gives us the answers we need and therefore helps us drive new ideas and innovation," adds Dr. Andrea Avaldi, ABstructures. "We particularly appreciate the morphing function within HyperMesh that allows us to change the geometry of our model and have it ready for another simulation run in 10 minutes; without HyperWorks, that would take us probably up to two or three days."

"Last but not least, we appreciate the good collaboration between our engineers and Altair. The support is outstanding, and we are able to influence future software development by giving Altair our feedback on software enhancements and by testing them," both designers agree.

"It is always a great pleasure to work with ABstructures," said Cosimo Pannetta, country manager, Altair Italy. "The company is young and innovative, and the technical exchange between its team and ours is excellent and fruitful for both sides. We are glad ABstructures has decided to extend its use of HyperWorks and are confident that we have the right offering for the company's needs. On the technical side, HyperWorks opens the possibility for ABstructures to do almost all of its simulation tasks in one software environment.  Business-wise, Altair's patented licensing system offers ABstructures a very flexible usage of all our products, including partner software, at a reasonable price. We are sure that this cooperation will last for many years."

About HyperWorks

Built on a foundation of design optimization, performance data management and process automation, HyperWorks is an enterprise simulation solution for rapid design exploration and decision-making. As the most comprehensive, open-architecture CAE solution in the industry, HyperWorks includes best-in-class modeling, analysis, visualization and data management solutions for linear and non-linear, structural optimization, fluid-structure interaction, and multi-body dynamics applications. For more information, please visit www.altairhyperworks.com.

About ABstructures

ABstructures provides innovative design solutions for lightweight structures, both in advanced composite materials and high-performance metal alloys. ABstructures is a company that relies on more than a decade of experience of operating on the highest level in international yacht racing - from America's Cup to 'round-the-world yacht races, such as the Volvo Ocean Race. Additionally ABstructures is providing its services to the aerospace industry and to the development teams of racing cars. From project brief to concept development and product delivery, ABstructures follows the optimized lightweight approach all the way. For more information, please visit: www.abstructures.com

About Altair

Altair Engineering, Inc. empowers client innovation and decision-making through technology that optimizes the analysis, management and visualization of business and engineering information. Privately held, with more than 1,400 employees, Altair has offices throughout North America, South America, Europe and Asia/Pacific. With a 25-year track record for high-end software and consulting services for engineering, computing and enterprise analytics, Altair consistently delivers a competitive advantage to customers in a broad range of industries. To learn more, please visit www.altair.com and www.altairhtc.com.

SOURCE Altair Engineering, Inc.