EAC’s been in the engineering and design technology world for a long time. Over the years we’ve carefully cultivated our product portfolio to meet the ever-changing needs of people and companies that design, manufacture, and service products. Our partnerships with PTC and ANSYS allow us to offer a few different design simulation and analysis solutions to our customers.
Design simulation, Computer Aided Engineering (CAE), Finite Element Analysis (FEA), Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD), and many other terms all fall into the “simulation and analysis” bucket. These tools help engineers and designers create virtual prototypes of their products. This helps groups rapidly prove, or disprove, design ideas in a digital space – reducing the time and money spent on physical prototypes, and increasing confidence in designs.
“If you’ve seen one, you’ve seen ‘em all” does not apply to simulation software. Different tools offer different benefits, accuracy, speed, and ease-of-use. Here’s a quick overview of some of the tools we offer. Contact our sales group to learn more about pricing, full capabilities, and packaging.
Option 1) PTC Creo Simulate
Simulate is a fantastic tool that’s fully integrated into PTC Creo Parametric CAD software. It offers fantastic meshing capabilities and accurate simulation results directly within a user’s familiar CAD software interface. All you need to do select the PTC Creo Simulate tab and you’re off and running. This is great for designers and engineers looking to test the stresses and loads under which a product will operate in ‘real world’ conditions. Based on your simulation and analysis results, you can either fix design flaws or forestall them. If you’re already using PTC Creo you should explore PTC Creo Simulate. Because, why would you ever manufacture a product without testing and analyzing it first? Creo Simulate comes in two flavors – Simulate and Advanced Simulate. They come with two different price points. One or the other might be the best option for your company. It really comes down to whether you need to simulate materials with linear or non-linear properties.
Option 2) ANSYS Discovery Live
ANSYS Discovery Live blows my mind. This tool was released in late 2017 and delivers functionality never seen before. Discovery Live uses ANSYS Discovery SpaceClaim to pull in IGES, STEP, and CAD models. Then the interface guides users through applying materials and some constraints – and Boom! It runs the simulation…in real-time…right in front of you. I’m talking about the ability to run wind-tunnel testing in real-time! Discovery Live is different from PTC Creo Simulate and most other simulation tools. It uses the Graphics Card (GPU) to run the simulation. This means it doesn’t occupy your core processor and RAM to while solving. You get better computer performance and instantaneous results for structural, thermal, fluid flow, wind tunnel, structural/fluid interaction, and more. Discovery Live is a great tool for engineers and designers that want to test a lot of design options quickly. The price is incredibly reasonable for a tool this powerful. You can see pricing and compare Discovery Live to AIM here.
Option 3) ANSYS Discovery AIM
Sometimes simulating real-world conditions requires more features and control than tools like PTC Creo Simulate, Solidworks Simulation, or Discovery Live might offer. ANSYS Discovery AIM is a great option when that’s the case. ANSYS Discovery AIM is a “multi-physics” simulation tool. What does that mean? Multi-Physics or Multiphysics refers to the ability to combine properties and solvers to simulate product usage. “Physics” in the simulation world refers to the kinds of simulation you are running – e.g. electromagnetic, thermal, structural, radio frequency, fluid flow, etc. AIM is a workflow driven multi-physics tool. It guides users through the steps necessary to complete a successful simulation. This is the perfect option when companies want a robust solution, but may not have experienced analysts on staff. Much like how PTC Creo Simulate maintains a familiar interface to make simulations easier; AIM uses guided workflows to make detailed upfront simulation accessible to engineers and designers.
Option 4) Dedicated ANSYS analysis software
When product simulation and analysis goes to the next level you need the ANSYS flagship products. These are sometimes known as the ANSYS Workbench products. Unlike PTC Creo Simulate or the Discovery software, each of these tools focus on one area of simulation…and deliver results you can take to the bank (or the regulatory agency). They are more complicated and come with a higher price point, but the results are unmatched. ANSYS’ comprehensive software suite spans the entire range of physics, providing access to virtually any field of engineering simulation that a design process requires. Organizations around the world trust ANSYS to deliver the best value for their engineering simulation software investment. If you need to test a specific physic – fluids, structures, electronics, semiconductors, or embedded software – this is the option for you. Contact us to learn more about a specific solution’s pricing and functionality. Also, if you’re a start-up make sure you ask us about special offers available through the start-up/entrepreneur program.
So there you have it. My layman’s take on a variety of simulation options. I hope you found this helpful. Please reach out to us if you have any questions or would like to see a demonstration of any of these tools.
If you are an OEM supplier to a major fortune 500 manufacturing company it probably took you a while to become their supplier. You had to prove to them that you could deliver a quality product on time, at a fair price.
Now that you have won their business it is probably equally as important to maintain that business as it was to win it in the first place. Your company probably has a nice cash flow and your employees are enjoying a nice secure job because of this win. However, the most important thing that will keep your customer coming back to you is quality.
Most major manufacturing companies realized years ago that the sooner that you can discover flaws or issues in the design phase, the easier and more cost-effective it is to fix the problem.
They found out that after completing the design process in CAD, they could move on to using simulation software, like ANSYS, to simulate prototypes. By simulating their prototypes they are able to run multiple simulations of their prototypes at one time and pick out the prototype that met their requirements to move forward and begin manufacturing.
Over the years these huge corporations have saved millions of dollars in time-savings and reduced the amount of times projects have to be constructed.
In the interest of time-savings and cost-savings, I suggest you consider looking into a simulation tool yourself. As your customer will appreciate knowing that their supplier realizes how important a quality product is. Who would you rather buy from? A company that has thoroughly tested their product or one that hadn’t?
If you’re interested in learning more about the benefits of simulating your products early and often, learn more about simulation here.
