|
Introduction
SNIPPETS – PADT is pleased to present the ANSYS User Community with a monthly newsletter containing information and observations on ANSYS, Inc. related topics. Unlike its sister publication The Focus, Snippets is a non-technical publication, oriented towards users and their managers with a goal of passing on critical information that everyone involved in the ANSYS community should have. It is free, does not contain outside advertisements, and is issued about once a month.
Snippets used to be called The SWAU Report and started life as the newsletter for the Southwest ANSYS Users Group. Over time the readership has grown to include all corners of the globe and so PADT decided to refocus on serving the broader user community. Previous SWAU issues can still be found in the archive, along with all Snippets issues.
We welcome your feedback, questions, and suggestions at snippets@padtinc.com. To manage your subscription, visit our subscriptions page.
News!
PADT - Wants You!
PADT is looking for a highly motivated individual to join our team in the following positions:
-FE Analysis Engineer
-Medical Device Engineer
For more information please visit the Job Opportunities page on our website.
Become an APDL Master with PADT's APDL Guide
Teach Yourself ANSYS Customization with PADT's APDL Guide
This guide is a compilation of course notes from PADT’s very popular ANSYS Customization with APDL class. By popular demand, PADT has turned these notes into a 288-page guide that steps new and experienced ANSYS users through all of the details of APDL scripting. Its 12 chapters include reference information, examples, tips and hints, and eight workshops. The guide, available in hardcopy only, is an invaluable resource to anyone who wants to start using APDL or become an ANSYS “power user”. At $75 plus shipping, this manual will quickly pay for itself by saving you hours of research and trial-and-error.
For more information on this guide or how to purchase, please visit our website .
PADT’s 15th Anniversary Party!!!!!!!!
Please come celebrate with us! Family, friends, customers, neighbors, all are welcome! There will be food and drinks and tours of our wonderful facility. See you there!
When: Thursday March 12th, 2009 Time: 4:30-6:30pm
Where: PADT Facility
AZ Tech Council Connect Event: Overview of Rapid Prototyping Technology and Trend
Rapid Prototyping has grown in the past 15 years to become a mainstay of product development. And every year there are new technologies, system refinements and material improvements that enable faster turnaround, stronger prototypes and reduced cost. PADT is pleased to host a seminar to update people involved in the development of physical products on where the industry is, where it is going and how to get the best return on investment in Rapid Prototyping. A presentation will then be followed by a Q&A session with industry leaders, a member of the Product Design community and PADT’s own in-house experts
When: Thursday Feb. 26th, 2009 Time: 7:30-9:30am
Where: PADT Facility
For more information, please click here:
NEW!!! PADT now offers the uPrint!
Tired of waiting for your turn on a shared RP machine, or waiting for the delivery guy to bring your parts from a service bureau? With a uPrint 3D printer on your desk or in your department, you decide when you want to print, how many iterations you want, and when you want them.
And uPrint gives you the prototypes you want. Not flimsy, delicate “models” for visualization, but solid parts made from ABS plastic that can not only be used for functional testing, but you can drill, machine, sand, paint or even chrome plate them.
For more information, click here:
PADT Exceeds 2008 Sales Goals
Building upon its string of successful performances in ANSYS, Inc. sales, PADT announces that for the 5th time since 2000 that the company has met or exceeded the annual sales goal given to it by ANSYS, Inc. sales management.
Below, Garrick Ballantine, ANSYS, Inc. West Regional Sales Manager, presents the 2008 award to PADT’s sales team. From left: Bob Calvin, Garrick, Ward Rand, Emily Ronnow, and Dan Bryan.
A special thanks to all of our ANSYS customers out there. Obviously, without you we could not make it happen.
Featured Article: What we Have Learned about ANSOFT and why we are Excited!
By Eric Miller
I just got back from a week in Pittsburgh where I attended the annual ANSYS, Inc. worldwide Sales Kickoff (I’m not even going to bring up what it was like to tell someone from Pittsburgh that you were from Phoenix one week before the Super Bowl). This is where our sales team spends hours in meetings and team building activities while the technical people hang out in the hall way and get the latest scoop on things. Sometimes this spills into sharing adult beverages late into the evening.
We learned a lot about what is coming in v. 12, but unfortunately we can’t share that yet. What we were even more excited about, was learning all about Ansoft. PADT has been using and selling the low and high frequency EMAG capabilities in ANSYS for years, and many of our customers are in the world of electronics and use Ansoft. So meeting the Ansoft team and learning more about their products was very exciting. Since Snippets is all about keeping ANSYS users informed and getting the most out of their investment, I thought it would be a good place to share what we learned:
Similar but Different
The first thing that struck me was the fact that ANSYS and Ansoft have been on a very similar path since they started. Both are from Pittsburgh, both use the Finite Element method and both stress the need for strong core technical capability with process automation to make things easier to use. Most importantly, Ansoft and ANSYS both have some really smart people working for them.
The difference is that Ansoft chose to focus on Electromagnetic applications whereas ANSYS branched out from structural to Multiphysics. Because of this, Ansoft also focused on a slightly different customer base: mechanical and electrical engineers supporting electronics design. They have a much stronger systems point of view than ANSYS and also, because they are industry focused, more vertical applications that are electronics specific.
HFSS
Ansoft calls their industry leading, high-frequency Electromagnetics solver, HFSS. It is big, it is capable, and most importantly, it is accurate. One thing we found through the years running ANSYS HF EMAG is that you always had to do mesh refinement studies – HF is very sensitive to mesh density and size changes. HFSS solved this in their original release by having very robust and fast automatic tet meshers that do the mesh refinement in an intelligent way as part of the solution. Over and over again we have heard from users that HFSS is “the gold standard” for accuracy in this area.
But what does HFSS mean to the people who use the rest of the ANSYS, Inc. product family? One thing that we found is that HFSS is scriptable and fairly open, just like ANSYS. They showed some nice examples of driving HFSS from the new Workbench interface in V12 and a few one way Multiphysics taking loads from HFSS into a structural and thermal model in ANSYS. If you have HF EMAG needs, you should be able to build and use accurately, very large models that are trusted across the industry and that already allow loads to transfer into other ANSYS products.
Maxwell
On the low frequency side, Ansoft has Maxwell. It has the same big advantage as HFSS – Automatic tet mesh refinement, but Also, because they focus on electro-mechanical simulation, they have a lot of very useful features for people making solenoids, motors, sensors and that sort of thing. The most useful specific feature that we saw was the ability to easily model moving meshes. Many electro-mechanical devices have a stator and a moving part. In Ansoft this is easy to set up and run. They also have very strong circuit modeling and coupling to those models, another big plus. Add on top of that some very nifty tools for post processing and connections to drive a structural or thermal solver.
But Wait, there’s More!
Maxwell and HFSS make up the bulk of Ansoft’s sales and reputation, but they also have a half dozen or so additional tools that are aimed at either specific applications or higher level simulation. Nexxim is a new generation circuit analyzer that is designed for people working with HF components. I’ll be honest and say it is a bit over my head, but people who know this stuff were in love with it.
On the other end of the spectrum for high level modeling is Simplorer. I understood this one much better and was very excited. It is an Electromechanical system simulator that allows you to simulate your circuits, your structure, your pneumatics/hydraulics and other system components in one simulation. There are a lot of tools out there for system simulation, but this one is unique in that it approaches simulation from the assumption that you have high-end FEA tools to drive the objects in your system. This may be the one piece of Ansoft technology that has the largest impact on simulation in the long run.
But Wait, there is still more!
There are several vertical applications and other tools for CAD import and up-front simulation, too many to go over here. To learn more, please visit the product page on the Ansoft website http://www.ansoft.com/products.cfm.
PADT is very interested in this acquisition and will keep you all posted through this publication, the Focus and seminars. If you have any specific questions, want more detailed info, or want to share your Ansoft experience please contact your sales person. If you are lucky enough to have PADT as your Channel partner that would be Emily Ronnow at emily.ronnow@padtinc.com for company names that start with A-J and Bob Calvin covers K-Z at bob.calvin@padtinc.com. Or, as usual, you can contact anyone at PADT by calling (480) 813-4884.
**Latest info on ANSYS-ANSOFT Integration**
The integration of these two great tools presents a terrific opportunity for increased productivity – especially at companies engaged in the electronics and electromechanical industries. Users in the Southwest will see significant benefit because both the ANSOFT and PADT teams have strong, customer focused sales and technical people locally.
Because of this, many customers are asking how the integration will effect PADT’s sales and support efforts.
PADT is not yet certified to sell Ansoft, but is pursuing certification as soon as possible. The former ANSOFT team in the Southwest, now focused on ANSYS, Inc. E-Business, consists of Gordon MacMorran who is based in Southern California and the technical staff of Jackson Wong, Michael Miller and Lisa Murphy who are all in the Phoenix area.
PADT is very excited about the increase in Breadth and Depth that working with the former Ansoft team provides. As the transition progresses and we uncover new ways that these technologies can be applied, we will work with customers to facilitate their access to the best resources available
PADT is excited to be able to provide ANSYS, Inc. customers an unprecedented platform of interdisciplinary, “best of class” solutions to companies. These companies will benefit from the collaboration of the above folks and PADT.
GOT CFD?
GOT CFD?
Whether you feel you need to start implementing CFD into your engineering analysis or you are looking for increased compute power, PADT, Inc. can assist you! We use two of the best and most comprehensive CFD tools available, FLUENT and CFX, which are unmatched in their breadth and depth of capability when solving the toughest or even the simplest CFD problems.
PADT, Inc. has CFD experienced engineers who are very familiar with FLUENT, CFX and a host of other CFD codes. This experience enables us to quickly assess an application, understand the challenges and provide you with timely, accurate and detailed results.
Give us a call or send us an email if you:
- Want to bring CFD into your engineering design and analysis and don’t currently have the expertise
- Don’t have the compute power to solve larger CFD problems
- Have purchased CFX or FLUENT and want some help, such as mentoring or services to get up to speed quicker
- Need a CFD job done now
- Or just need additional CFD resources
To speak with someone about your CFD and other engineering needs, please contact Stephen Hendry at: steve.hendry@padtinc.com or call 1-800-293-PADT (7238).
To view PADT’s CFD webpage, click here.
Promotions!
Please visit the uPrint online store for material promotions, http://www.padtmarket.com/
Have You Considered Mentoring?
Mentoring is one of the services we provide at PADT. Typically, it consists of one-on-one interaction between a PADT expert and a simulation tool user at your facility. Mentoring goes beyond training to address specific applications of the software to the critical projects at your organization and is tailored to fit your needs.
"With your help, I was able to complete my task on time."
"Trying to use ANSYS with little prior ANSYS experience and training, and to finish the project in a specified deadline was quite a challenge… Each time PADT was there to get me through."
"PADT, as I found, has a unique system… because they have a pool of ANSYS experts - with different levels and area of expertise - who can help their clients with combined efforts."
To discuss how PADT's mentoring capabilities in the ANSYS family of products can benefit your organization, please contact Ted Harris (ted.harris@padtinc.com, 480-813-4884) or Steve Hendry (steve.hendry@padtinc.com, 207-541-9198).
Questions?
For more information or questions about these promotions, please contact PADT Sales.
PADT Training
Courses Offered in February, March, and April
Snippets Seminar Series
Seminars Offered in February, March, and April
| No seminars are scheduled in this time period. |
Other Offerings
Did You Know that PADT, Inc. Offers:
Want to Stay Up to Date on ANSYS Technical Information?
To subscribe to The Focus, or any other PADT electronic publications (including this newsletter), please visit our subscriptions center. To view the most recent issues of Snippets as well as archived issues of The SWAU Report, please visit the Snippets Publication Center.