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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.
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:
- CFD Analysis 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 .
What Users Need to Know sbout ANSYS R12
When: June 10, 11:00 – 1:00
Where: PADT’s Tempe Office (7755 S Research Dr, Suite 110, Tempe AZ 85284) or on the Web
A Lunch Pasta Buffet from VinciTorio’s Italian Restaurant will be served for those who come to PADT
To RSVP more information please click here:
PADT will be exhibiting at the Arizona Tech Council’s 2009 Business Solutions Showcase: Tools and Resources for Challenging Times
Date: 5/28/2009
Time: 1:00 PM TO 6:00 PM
PADT will be returning for a second year to this showcase of solution providers from around Arizona. This year will focus on how to maximize your outside solutions in the challenging times we face. It is a great event with lots of useful information, and at $10 for members and $20 for non-members, an affordable way to get important information. For more information please click the link below.
For more information, 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:
Featured Article: FASTER ANSYS, it Just Keeps Getting Better
By Eric Miller
At PADT we like new stuff – new hardware and software especially. Last month we were extra happy to have both at the same time. HP was kind enough to loan us a new box while we were also evaluating a pre-release of ANSYS V12. The results were very encouraging.
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Starting with the workstation, we were given a Z800 workstation that had 2 Nehalem quad core chips running at 2.8 GHz. Jason Krantz, one of our support engineers who many of you have interfaced with or read articles from, in The Focus, started to play with it right away.. When he ran a midsized modal analysis on it (PADT’s BM7) with 32GB of RAM and ANSYS 11.0-SP1 we were pleased to see that it ran 1.7 times faster than the previous generation of Intel chips running at the same clock speed. Not bad. And when compared to a faster version of the old chip (3.2 GHz) it was still 1.3 times faster.
Jason will be doing a Focus article, and has already posted a bit on XANSYS, to explain why he thinks we are seeing such good numbers and what is so special about the Nehalem Xeon chips from Intel. But while we wait for a more detailed treatment, we wanted to share with you some of our thoughts about this impressive speed increase.
Along the same lines, we were also able to run some benchmarks using the final pre-release of ANSYS V12. We saw an additional 10% to 20% increase on an identical machine when using V12 vs v11.0 SP1. (Same solvers, same settings.) The only thing that changed are the compilers used and modifications made to the code so that it will run faster.
This second increase in performance is very important to those of us involved in selling and supporting ANSYS, Inc. software; we are constantly being asked by customers “why should I pay TECS?” The maintenance payments for ANSYS are used to not only provide technical support, but also to make improvements to the software. With the new release, you will see a huge number of important enhancements to core ANSYS (as well as to Workbench, CFX, FLUENT and other ANSYS, Inc. tools). Even if you are the kind of user that does not use any of these new features and does not use Workbench, you will still benefit simply from the speed increase; 10% to 20% every release coupled with faster hardware and cheaper RAM makes for greater value for your ANSYS investment.
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And it may get even better. We have been given the chance to see some preliminary work being done getting some of the ANSYS solvers recompiled to work with GPU’s turned into matrix co-processors. Graphical Process Units are made out of lots of small processors and they are good at doing lots of floating point operations in parallel. So the manufacturers and software vendors are getting together to make purpose built GPU’s just for solving numerical problems – in fact these special units don’t even have a port on the back for a monitor. Although this work is in a very preliminary stage, we are hopeful that we will start to see some good numbers in the near future.
In short, we have recently received a lot of good news about better ANSYS solver performance and we wanted to share it with all of you. Sometimes when we have our heads buried in meshers and result plots it is good to look around and notice that things are getting better and the developers at ANSYS, Inc and those wacky-crazy electrical engineers at Intel are working hard for us.
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 contact your ANSYS Sales rep for ANSY 12.0 upgrades/promotions
Emily.Ronnow@padtinc.com, Bob.Calvin@padtinc.com
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 May, June, and July
Snippets Seminar Series
Seminars Offered in May, June, and July
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