Who is grazing in the meadow?

“Far, far away in the meadow, are there grazing…?”
Children's riddle

The correct answer is finite elements, if the youngest strength engineer guesses, or control volumes, if the engineer is closer to fluid and gas mechanics. Well, and if a sales manager takes on the matter, then there are companies grazing for him that develop and sell this software for calculations using the finite element method or control volumes. This time I suggest looking at what product brands can be replaced when implementing Russian SAE products, what are their strengths and weaknesses.

ENGINEERING CALCULATION PRODUCTS COME IN DIFFERENT TYPES

Strength calculations, also known as calculations of mechanics of deformable solids, are the most common tasks encountered by companies that have at least a design department. Less common is computational fluid dynamics. Basically, this software is used for thermal calculations, in which it is necessary to take into account the moving medium. Even less common are optimization and parametric calculations. And even less common is system modeling. Relatively regularly, but also not often, there is a request for modeling the dynamics of rigid bodies, modeling in radiophysics, electrodynamics and modeling of technological processes.

In this case, if the classic ratio is that there is one calculation engineer for every ten design engineers, then with the highest probability it will be a mechanic (strength engineer). Slightly less likely, in a ratio of twenty to one, there are hydrodynamicists. Well, and so on in descending order. Let's now figure out what kind of software these people can use.

I WILL OF COURSE PUT ANSYS IN FIRST PLACE

This is a recognized world leader in CAE software. It owns about 70% of the CAE market in the world. In Russia, of course, it is less, but not much. It is important to know that Ansys does not develop anything except CAE systems, it is focused on this segment. The company began in 1970, that is, now it is already 53 years old. It was founded by Cornell University graduate John Swanson, who began developing his software for strength calculations and named it approximately on the same principle as ASCON (Automated Systems for Design): Ansys is simply ANalysis SYStem.

It is also important to know that Ansys as a single entity practically does not exist. From the very beginning of its active activity, the company has been acquiring other developers who already have proven products. That is why the Ansys portfolio includes products for modeling a wide variety of physics (from mechanics to photonic optics and embedded software development), and that is why it resembles a patchwork quilt of solutions. It always makes sense to ask what exactly a person means when he says that he uses Ansys.

Among the most significant and frequently encountered modules, the following should be highlighted:

— Ansys itself (often also Structural, Mechanical) — a solution for problems of solid mechanics, thermal and related problems (although there is a lot there, for example, acoustic-thermo-electro-mechanical problems);

— Fluent and CFX (for turbomachinists) — solutions for hydrodynamics problems;

— Maxwell — a solution for electrodynamics (for developers of large-scale electrical equipment and electrical machines);

— HFSS — a solution for radiophysics (most often used by developers of electronic equipment in the military-industrial complex);

— Autodyn is a solution for explicit dynamics, most often found in Russia in the military-industrial complex, because it allows solving problems of modeling explosions, fragmentation, target destruction, and the like;

— LS-Dyna is a solution for explicit dynamics, especially loved by car manufacturers for modeling car crash tests (although, of course, it is such a combine, which today does not include everything).

Among the advantages of Ansys, I would highlight the comparative homogeneity and coherence of solutions and great attention to tools that make the life of a calculator easier: a built-in CAD system, convenient tools for setting a problem. Developers strive to combine different modules, learn how to make coherent calculations (the so-called multiphysics). The obvious disadvantages are the impossibility at the moment of either buying or receiving updates or technical support. In addition, even when the products were sold, they were relatively expensive. From tens to hundreds of thousands of US dollars per license. However, licenses were usually purchased for an indefinite period, so now in Russia there are many enterprises that have a legal product, but every year it becomes more and more outdated. A separate article is the high level of implementation of pirated versions in small and medium-sized enterprises. Ansys solutions in terms of mechanics can be replaced with the domestic APM WinMachine, in terms of hydrodynamics – FlowVision. Maxwell in some cases can be replaced with Elcut, and HFSS – with the domestic CAD product Gamma. To replace the solutions of obvious dynamics on the Russian market, some positions can potentially be won by LOGOS Prochnost and Fidesys.

SIEMENS COMPANY

(or rather its part, which is now called Siemens Digital Industries Software, formerly Unigraphics) never had its own developments in CAE, so its CAE portfolio is based on acquired companies. Since the company has a full-fledged CAD solution (and not just one), here, as with ASCON, there is a division into products built into CAD and stand-alone ones.

Among the successful acquisitions, CD-Adapco stands out, the products of Star-CD, which later became Star-CCM+. This is a separate package for computational fluid dynamics, which, as befits a truly modern package, has already grown to the level of all related areas. For example, it includes a solver using the discrete element method. In Russia, Star-CCM+ is especially popular with those who began implementing numerical modeling a long time ago. From what I know for sure, this is the nuclear industry and shipbuilding. Star-CCM has its advantages, for example, in the form of a reinforced concrete mesh builder that is capable of chewing the most crookedly made geometric models. Well, as for the disadvantages, in addition to the obvious one in the form of Siemens leaving Russia, one can also point out that the product does not get along well in terms of transfer even with its brothers from Siemens Simcenter.

In the field of mechanics, Siemens' portfolio is represented by the FEMAP (Finite Element Modeling And Postprocessing) product, which, as its name suggests, is not a full-cycle CAE product, it lacks the most important part – the solver. That is, it is only a pre- and post-processor, albeit a very powerful and highly automated one. It so happened that FEMAP is loved in the domestic aircraft industry.

ONE OF THE MOST INTERESTING STORIES IS CONNECTED WITH NASTRAN,

one of the oldest codes. In 1968, it was born in the depths of NASA, that's why it's called NAsa STRuctural ANalisys. Numerical modeling at that time became one of the driving forces of the American space program. If you watched the movie “Hidden Figures”, then you may remember how one of the main characters uses the Euler numerical method to calculate the trajectory when it is impossible to find an analytical solution, and the other begins to master the FORTRAN language (this is also an acronym, FORmula TRANslator, that is, literally a formula translator) in order to speed up manual calculations using an IBM computer. So, in one form or another, NASTRAN is now used and licensed by several companies. But it is important to understand that NASTRAN is only a solver, it does not have a pre- and post-processor, including a grid builder.

Siemens uses NASTRAN in conjunction with FEMAP in its Simcenter. MSC, also a big player in the CAE market, with a whole portfolio of acquired companies (though not so widely represented in Russia), offers its pre-post processor Patran for Nastran. In Russia, I have encountered it at aerospace enterprises and in the nuclear industry. There is NEi Nastran, which is the basis for strength calculations at Autodesk. There is even an open source code Nastan95, available on GitHub. In the automotive and shipbuilding industries, Nastran is also sometimes used for some tasks, in particular, for vibration strength and NVH tasks. In a number of tasks, Nastran is quite replaceable with APM products.

DASSAULT SYSTEMS

is also a significant player in the CAE market in Russia. Mainly due to the SolidWorks Simulation (for FEM), FlowSimulation (for MKO) solutions built into SolidWorks. In addition, Dassault owns the Abaqus product, a universal CAE software, which is, however, loved mainly by strength specialists and only in terms of highly nonlinear calculations. Some apologists will say that Abaqus has the most correct nonlinear model of concrete behavior. Although, in fact, this is largely a matter of taste, rather than objective measurements, and applicability to a specific task. APM FEM for KOMPAS-3D can easily compete with built-in products for strength calculations, especially considering that, starting with version 22, it has a second, professional level of capabilities. But Abaqus can be replaced by APM products only in a limited set of tasks.

FLOWSIMULATION HAS A SPECIAL STORY,

because its development team is entirely from Russia and still remains in Russia today. In addition to FlowSimulation, this same product from the same developers is Siemens (MentorGraphics) FLOEFD, as well as a module for hydrodynamics in NX, SolidEdge, Creo and CATIA. Now the solution from the same developers is released in Russia under the CadFlo brand. There are already built-in solutions for KOMPAS-3D and T-FLEX CAD. Limited competition for them can be provided by KompasFlow built into KOMPAS-3D. Quite serious competition is provided by FlowVision. Dassault Systèmes products are also currently unavailable in Russia.

BUT THEY ARE AVAILABLE COMSOL PRODUCTS ARE NO LONGER AVAILABLE

or, more correctly, COMSOL Multiphysics. According to the authors, the package should provide a single interface for solving various problems: here you have mechanics, and hydrodynamics, and electrodynamics, and chemistry, and plasma physics. In short, everything your heart desires. In practice, however, it turns out that COMSOL does not cope with real industrial tasks on real industrial models – for example, it does not build a grid on complex geometry, and is poorly parallelized across several processor cores.

However, COMSOL has a certain audience of fans in Russia, mainly in universities and academic institutes. It is especially loved by those who model processes in plasma. For some tasks, both APM WinMachine and FlowVision products can be offered as an alternative. FlowVision is especially good for various types of field tasks: hydrodynamics, heat, electromagnetic fluid dynamics, and even acoustics. It can also be flexibly customized using user models.

FROM PRODUCTS FOR RIGID BODY DYNAMICS

the most widespread and multifunctional is MSC ADAMS. In Russia, it is replaced to some extent by Euler from the company Avtomekhanika and a closer ASCON product – Universal Mechanism from the company Vychislitelnaya Mekhanika. The latter promise to soon release a serious, full-fledged product in terms of capabilities, built into KOMPAS-3D.

IN THE FIELD OF MODELING TECHNOLOGICAL PROCESSES

Most frequently asked questions are about products for modeling casting (both metal and plastic), stamping, rolling, welding. There are also questions about modeling additive manufacturing processes. One way or another, these tasks come down to the tasks of solid mechanics or hydrodynamics, but universal packages for FEM/MKO usually either do not take into account all aspects of the process, or do it so complicatedly that it is difficult for a technologist-calculator to master. Here, such foreign products as DEFORM, COPRA, SYSWELD, ProCAST and some others, for example, from the French company ESI, are most often mentioned. Analogues of these products in casting tasks can be the products PolygonSoft and LVMFlowCV, in pressure processing tasks – QForm. In other tasks, APM WinMachine and FlowVision can be used to a limited extent, but the essence of the tasks should be clarified on site.

FOR SYSTEM MODELING

the undisputed leader is MATLAB Simulink, although there is also the presence of Ansys TwinBuilder, Siemens Amesim, and more specific solutions: Siemens Flowmaster, South African FLOWNEX, Russian SimInTech. With the replacement of software for system modeling, everything is usually a little more complicated, because each package is usually especially good in its own area of ​​​​industry, and in others – slightly worse than competitors. So, for example, Pradis from Laduga is good for the automotive and transport industry, especially in the mechanical part of the system. But, nevertheless, it is quite possible to think about it for those who no longer have Simulink or Ansys and Siemens products.

IN THE MARKET OF SAE FOR CONSTRUCTION

SCAD and Lira-SAPR rule the roost. Both packages, despite the fact that they originate from Ukraine, maintain their presence on the Russian market through separated groups of now independent Russian developers. The main specificity of construction SAE is the execution of calculations in accordance with Russian SP (SNiP). That is why here, first of all, are those companies that ensured this compliance. A certain share here was traditionally occupied by Autodesk with its built-in solutions and Plaxis for geotechnical calculations from Bentley Systems (cars have nothing to do with it). Now its place is partially claimed by the Korean company Midas with its Midas Civil and midas GTS NX (for geotechnical calculations). The biggest problem of Russian construction CAD is preprocessing, that is, building a model and interoperability with Russian BIM and CAD. Here it is not superfluous to mention that colleagues from the Scientific and Technical Center “APM” have a configuration of the APM Civil Engineering product, designed specifically for construction calculations.

RUSSIAN DEVELOPERS OF SAE SYSTEMS

are few in number and not very widely represented on the market, however, the situation has been changing recently due to their active efforts both to improve products and to market activity. I have already mentioned the companies TESIS, NTC “APM”, Tor (Elcut), “Laduga”. Of the significant ones, it is necessary to tell about Rusatom Digital Solutions (RCS), RFNC VNIIEF – the developer product LOGOS. It is positioned as a general-purpose system and consists of the following modules: Aero-Hydro, Strength, Heat. It has its own Pre-Postprocessor based on the C3D geometric kernel (@c3dlabs) and an integration Platform for linking calculations in various modules. Together with software development companies Euler, Fidesys, T-Flex, pSeven, REPEAT and SimInTech, RCR forms the CAD/CAE Consortium (not to be confused with the Development consortium), whose efforts are aimed at improving the interaction between software. All the main functionality is similar to the products FlowVision, APM, IOSO.

Product Fidesys developed by graduates of the Faculty of Computational Mathematics and Cybernetics of Moscow State University and has been on the market for over 20 years. It has some unique technical solutions for the Russian market, such as the implementation of a solver for explicit dynamics or special spectral elements for highly nonlinear problems. An obvious disadvantage is the lack of its own pre-post processor. The pre-post processor that Fidesys offers with its product is a licensed version of the Coreform Cubit pre-post processor from the Sandia National Laboratory in the USA. The issue of extending this license remains open.