SimLab 2023 Release Highlights
Altair Employee
Altair SimLab is a process-oriented simulation environment to analyze the performances of single components or complex assemblies. As illustrated below multiple physics can be modelled in SimLab:
The latest version of SimLab adds many exciting features and enhancements to enable our users to consider new modelling approaches and speed up the process of CAD to results.
Structural Highlights from SimLab 2023
For structural solutions SimLab supports a wide variety of applications. Some of them are represented in this table:
All these applications are supported for Altair solvers such as OptiStruct and Radioss. However, as an open architecture SimLab also supports solvers widely used in the industry like Abaqus, Permas, ADVC…
Spring finger solution
Spring finger contact is a type of connector used to make contact in a printed circuit board (PCB). Dimensions of spring fingers are usually small, and this makes them difficult to model in full electronic devices. To address this issue a dedicated solution has been added in SimLab to calculate the equivalent nonlinear stiffness of spring finger contacts.
Thanks to this new solution, spring fingers can be easily replaced by springs with the equivalent nonlinear stiffness in full electronic device. This innovative solution allows users simplify and fasten the calculation of their system without affecting accuracy.
Acoustic solution for e-Motors
In SimLab 2023 the E-Motor acoustic solution has been significantly enhanced by first overcoming one important limitation of the electromagnetic excitations mapping tool.
In the electromagnetic model the section of the e-Motor always lies in the XY plane. To successfully map the electromagnetic excitations in SimLab 2022, the acoustic model has to be co-axial to the electromagnetic model. This condition is not mandatory anymore and the acoustic model of the e-Motor can be at any location now.
In SimLab 2023 a direct coupling between the Magnetic Transient 2D Solution (MT2D) and the e-Motor acoustic solution has also been introduced. When a database contains both solutions, the user can directly extract the electromagnetic excitations from the solved MT2D solution.
Durability of e-Motors
Plane strain and plane stress properties are now supported for shell elements. This enhancement is particularly useful to predict stress on e-Motor where only a section of the rotor is usually modelled.
This enhancement, combined to the existing electromagnetic and e-Motor acoustic solution, reinforces SimLab positioning as a multi-physic platform for electric motor design and validation.
Post Processing
The comparison tool, which allows user to compare results in multiple windows mode, has been enhanced in SimLab 2023. In addition to views, result animations can now be synchronized. This reinforces the capability for the user to compare results between load-cases of a single database, or between several solutions or databases.
Legends associated to contour can now be interpolated by using logarithmic scale. This capability is extremely useful when it comes to analysis Fatigue Life results for instance.
A new legend dedicated to the contact has also been introduced. This helps user to quickly analyse the contact status at the end of an OptiStruct simulation.
Finally, all legend settings can now be saved and re-applied at any time during the post-processing session.
Flow Solution Highlights from SimLab 2023
Floating Surface Output
This feature allows surface output to be requested at the desired locations in the model without editing / modifying the mesh. There is no limit on the number of outputs that can be requested. This feature enables faster model setup times.
Particle Flow Solution
A new solution has been created to provide an intuitive & easy to use workflow for particle flow simulations. This reduces the need to set up CFD and DEM simulations separately. This solution enables seamless integrated coupling of AcuSolve-EDEM solvers for sequential, 1-way and 2-way simulations.
Battery Thermal Runaway
A new Battery Thermal Runaway solution is created which enables modelling of chemical decomposition reactions within a battery and how this information can be used to understand and mitigate extreme heat release and associated thermal runaway propagation.
Battery Thermo-Electric
This feature enables thermos-electric-CFD analysis of battery modules and packs to enhance thermal management design process. A large variety of practical operating scenarios can be simulated. E.g. driving cycles and standard charging profiles. V2023 supports modeling of battery packs with multiple modules and this enables solving large and complex models.
Linear Spring / Damper Suspension Model for Vehicle Wading
SimLab SPH Flow now supports the Linear Spring / Damper model for the car body. This is to support situations where fluid forces on the car body produce non-negligible movement and the rigid suspension model is not longer applicable. This suspension model is recommended only when the modeled linear spring / damper response results in non-negligible difference in body position and angle when passing between different road segments.
Baffle Particle Generation Enhancements
Baffle particle generation tool is enhanced to create baffle particles along with the SPH particles. This enhancement enables automatic removal of duplicate particles.
Post processing - Volume Rendering
Volume rendering feature support is now available and can be used for all the flow related solutions.
Post processing - Notes
Notes features enables display of texts in static (fixed location) an anchored modes (moving along with the model). Time and time step are provided as in-built fields for display using the Notes tool. Text formatting is supported along with conversion of static and anchored note and vice versa.
Electronics Related Highlights from SimLab 2023
Handling different aspects of the thermal and mechanical reliability has been an important focus of SimLab for the past few releases. The upcoming release of SimLab also comes with some new features for our electronics users,
Drop Impact
Lots of new features dedicated to Drop Impact have been introduced in SimLab 2023. For Abaqus, users now have the possibility to perform pre-loaded drop tests to model bolt pretension for example. In this case the preload is performed with Abaqus implicit solver.
After running an implicit pre-tension analysis, users can map the resulting stresses as an initial condition for the explicit drop impact test. Unlike the traditional approach of having an explicit pre-tension load-case followed by an explicit drop test, this workflow should ensure that the pre-stresses are developed properly before the impact analysis.
For Radioss solver new features have been introduced such as material laws for paper or honeycomb, spring beam element definition or additional contact formulation for spotwelds. This greatly extend the range of problems and use cases that can be solved with Radioss in SimLab
Material Orientation
Orientation of orthotropic material can be specified now in SimLab 2023. This enable users to model composite materials which are massively used in the electronic industry for example.
Handle Large Assemblies Using the Merge Solutions Approach
SimLab users can now handle large assemblies more conveniently by working on smaller modules individually and then conveniently merging the databases. Merge Solutions operation in SimLab lets users combine parts, solutions, tie contacts and other loads from the individual module-level solution.
Advanced PCB equivalent material mapping with via support
SimLab 2023 has a new and improved ECAD reader, with support for ressading via-s, that enables users to get a better material mapping using the PCB-Equivalent Material tool.
This accurate metal mapping should help the users conduct detailed thermal simulations on their electronics systems.
Enhanced Tools for Creating and Handling BGAs and Solder
New tools that handle the creation of custom ball grid array (BGAs) and solder are now available in SimLab 2023. These tools should enable the users to easily create processor/memory units and will further help the users create and run simulations of 3D IC packages.
Electromagnetics solutions – Release Updates from SimLab 2023
With respect to solutions specifically related to low frequency electromagnetics, Altair SimLab supports a large variety of solutions as listed below:
With every release we are rapidly increasing the usecases that can be addressed with Altair SimLab Electromagnetics. This release focuses mainly on the anticipated Magnetic Transient 3D solution. Apart from this we continue to develop new tools for Pre and post processing along with new features related to solution setup.
Highlight features of 2023:
Magnetic Transient 3D solution
This new solution, with an intuitive interface combined with the advanced preprocessing of SimLab enables new use cases like skew machines, hairpin windings and Axial flux motors. Many new features are added to expedite solution setup.
Circuit Designer and Non-Meshed Coils
Many circuit designer components have been enhanced to improve the user experience. New tools like non meshed coils can be easily set up and reduce solution times.
Model Setup SMPM Motors
Added a new tool to quickly create Synchronous motor permanent magnet (SMPM) inner rotor machine sketches. The sketches created are fully parametric and customizable.
Create AFM Motors
Added a new tool to create Axial Flux Machines for Double Rotor Single Stator and Double Stator Single Rotor, Motor Types
PE solution
Added a new solution in the parasitics extraction solution for impedance computation to extract resistance, capacitance and inductance parasitic effects in impedance format. This comes along with new loads and boundary conditions to enable new use cases and speed up computation times.
Magnetic 2D solutions
Improvements in loads and boundary conditions to support symmetry and linear periodicity. Transient parameters can now be defined in terms of time, linear position and angular position.
Postprocessing
Many improvements have been included in postprocessing to cater to new usecases related to electromagnetics. Some notable improvements include results animation using vectors and isolines, ability to plot vectors contours and isolines simultaneously and the ability to compare multiple results. These enhancements are also complimented with the general improvements made to 2D plot tool and also results loading for 3D simulations.
