ESI Group has unveiled the latest release of its Visual-Environment 5.5 integrated suite of collaborative solutions. Visual-Environment offers a flexible and open engineering framework where applications and interfaces covering multiple simulation domains can be implemented. This latest release features a number of new features, addressing specific requirements for the automotive industry. Among these are a rapid Model Checker, a Barrier Positioning tool and a Model Compare function.The latter - offered in Visual-Crash PAM and Visual-Crash DYNA, dedicated environments for crash simulation - is a tool used to compare two iterated models and to identify variations on the basis of set criteria (ID, name, area, volume, mass and properties). The differences can then be visualised and copied from one model to another. This amounts to a gain in time and efficiency as engineers no longer need to browse iteration data manually, according to the company.
Mansour Mirdamadi, senior engineering leader at Dow Automotive Systems, said: 'Dow uses Visual-Crash DYNA to develop and deliver innovative solutions. 'The model browser and compare tool in the latest release, 5.5, allows our engineers to obtain multiple versions of LS-DYNA input decks, identifying changes made to the full vehicle model rapidly, thereby helping us deliver optimised products to our customers,' added Mirdamadi.
Visual-Environment 5.5 also includes improvements to existing applications such as Visual-Viewer for injury report, in line with new US NCAP vehicle safety regulations. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has updated the US NCAP rating programme, including changed injury criteria and additional tests.
This new rating will apply to vehicles built in 2010 onwards, based on a new overall vehicle safety score combining front, side and rollover programmes. The animation speed within Visual-Viewer has been adapted to meet increasing performance targets, true batch-mode execution is now fully supported and the usability of plot windows is improved. The differences in contour values between two models can be checked using Model Compare.
Version 5.5 extends the capacity to interface with different ESI software solutions within Visual-Environment as it now provides an integrated environment for composite and electromagnetic simulations: Visual-Composites for composite structure manufacturing, in response to an increasing use of composite materials; and Visual-CEM for virtual electromagnetic testing, with a focus on the full 3D modelling of metallic structures animated by external plane waves (a computation of radar cross sections, for instance).
