Michigan Engineering Services Increases Value of the HyperWorks Partner Alliance with Addition of High-Frequency NVH Software

TROY, Mich., Jan. 23, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Altair's HyperWorks Partner Alliance (HWPA) today announced a new partner. Michigan Engineering Services (MES) now has made its Energy Finite Element Analysis Solver (EFEA) for noise vibration harshness (NVH) analysis available within the program. EFEA can be used for mid- to high-frequency vibration and acoustic simulations for complex structural-acoustic systems.

"We are delighted that EFEA has joined the HyperWorks Partner Alliance," said Altair Senior Program Manager for Noise, Vibration and Harshness Jianmin Guan. "As a proven finite-element-based technology, it complements HyperWorks' industry-leading NVH simulation and optimization solutions very well and offers our customers outstanding capabilities in dealing with airborne and structure-borne noise problems in the mid and high frequency ranges."

EFEA has many applications and has been applied and validated in naval, automotive and aircraft industries. It is compatible with CAD databases used in the product development process and can be easily integrated within a multi-disciplinary design environment. Being computationally efficient and easy to use, this technology offers a competitive advantage for customers and streamlines structural-acoustic simulations with other analyses during the design process.

"The collaboration between Altair and MES is based on the strong technical foundation of the two companies," said MES Chief Technical Officer Nick Vlahopoulos. "The EFEA solver complements the collective capabilities of the HyperWorks partners by adding the opportunity for customers to conduct mid- to-high-frequency vibro-acoustic analysis using finite elements, a capability that was unavailable within the program until now."

The EFEA method is different from the finite element analysis (FEA) method, because it uses energy- based primary variables instead of pursuing a displacement-based solution. This allows for significant computational efficiency that uses only a small fraction of elements compared to FEA.

One notable benefit of the EFEA method is that the model requires no modal density information. Further, the model retains a direct connection with the physical design through its finite-element-based model, while structural damping and acoustic treatment can be specified on the physical part of the model where it is actually applied. The results offered by EFEA can be visualized by any post-processor, thus the method fits perfectly in any design process for developing efficient noise-mitigation strategies. The EFEA method can also be compared to that of statistical energy analysis (SEA), because they both utilize vibrational and acoustic energy variables.

Released 12 years ago, Altair's original and versatile unit-based licensing system has allowed HyperWorks users to access a growing portfolio of applications while optimizing their investment. Every license is composed of a pool of recyclable HyperWorks units (HWUs), which can be used to access any application within the HyperWorks family. 

After seeing the success of the unit-based system, Altair decided to expand the model to third-party companies and allowed them to run their own applications under this unit-based system, a collaboration known as the HyperWorks Partner Alliance. The overall flexibility of these HWUs empowers users and allows them access to the largest and most complete suite of CAE applications available. This licensing model makes the benefits to participating HyperWorks customers infinite, with their return on investment increasing each time a new application is added to the offering. They can access any of the partner programs using the same leased HWUs they are already using to run HyperWorks, all available at no incremental cost or long-term commitment.

To learn more about MES or EFEA, please attend one of the introductory webinars, being held on February 7 at 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. EST. Both webinars will be hosted by Altair and presented by MES.

About Michigan Engineering Services

Michigan Engineering Services, LLC (MES) was founded in 2002 as a research and development company, specializing in developing commercial software and advanced technology for engineering simulations.  MES' activities span both the defense and the commercial industrial sectors.  Through the engineering services component of MES, an efficient technology transition is facilitated to its customers.  MES is located in Ann Arbor Michigan.  Due to the availability of high quality technical talent in the Ann Arbor area, created from the presence of the University of Michigan, the technical staff of MES is a dynamic group of highly educated and motivated individuals with a commitment to technical excellence.  MES has an established track record in the areas of structural vibrations and acoustics; dynamic simulations resulting from explosive loads; and multi-disciplinary design optimization.  Customers can find in MES to be a reliable technical partner that draws experience from both commercial and defense- related engineering applications.  MES delivers smart engineering solutions in a timely manner, while offering a highly competitive pricing structure.

About Altair

Altair empowers client innovation and decision-making through technology that optimizes the analysis, management and visualization of business and engineering information. Privately held, with 1,800 employees, Altair has offices throughout North America, South America, Europe and Asia/Pacific. With a 27-year track record for high-end software for engineering and computing, enterprise analytics solutions, and innovative product design and development, Altair consistently delivers a competitive advantage to customers in a broad range of industries. To learn more, please visit www.altair.com or www.simulatetoinnovate.com.

About the HyperWorks Partner Alliance

Altair's HyperWorks platform applies a revolutionary subscription-based licensing model where customers use floating licenses to access a broad suite of Altair-developed as well as third-party software applications on-demand. The HyperWorks Partner Alliance effectively extends the HyperWorks Platform from 28 internally developed solutions to more than 50 applications with the addition of new partner applications. Customers can invoke these third-party applications at no incremental cost using their existing HyperWorks licenses. Customers benefit from unmatched flexibility and access, resulting in maximum software utilization, productivity and ROI. For more information about the HyperWorks Partner Alliance, visit www.hyperworksalliance.com.

SOURCE Altair; Michigan Engineering Services, LLC (MES)