at the end of january, ansys announced the latest iteration of its engineering simulation software, ansys 18, with promises that it could be run by novice and highly experienced engineers and would include features that allow the software to simulate the entire process from upfront design to downstream operation and maintenance of products.
ansys 18 will follow a product through its life cycle using iot. (ansys)
ajei gopal, president and ceo of ansys said in a press release, “emerging technologies and changing customer expectations are spurring a major transformation in the way products are manufactured and brought to market. simulation is playing a critical role giving engineers the necessary tools to innovate and transform products across their entire lifecycle.”
ansys called the trend towards using simulation throughout the life cycle, “pervasive engineering simulation”. the company claims that its new software will allow designers to explore thousands of options to optimize product design and will integrate with an internet of things (iot) platform to provide a digital twin for downstream analysis.
among the options that engineers can consider in the early design phase are strength, power, thermal, pressure, flow rate, electrical and performance related assessments. the goal is to provide cost savings by avoiding overdesign and redesign.
ansys 18 also partners with tool such as ge predix and ptc thingworx to create digital twins, “virtual representations of individual operating assets whose performance and productivity can be improved through simulation technology.”
an article on engineering.com explained the benefits of downstream analysis through digital twins. it said, “by taking advantage of the iot, engineers can gather real-world data in real time and transfer it into a digital twin of the equipment in study. the engineer in charge of the plant can then run a series of simulations to help inform their decisions, predict maintenance cycles, optimize production and more.”
the article added that one of the biggest improvements to the new ansys 18 is the enhanced design exploration technology. it continued, “engineers use parameters to define variables they wish to explore. the program then uses optimization and search algorithms to iterate the simulation with new values defining each parameter.”
learn more about the new software in the video below:
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