Altair HyperWorks Newsletter November 2005

IN THIS ISSUE

Altair Hosts First-Ever

Grid and Grow

NOVEMBER 2005

HyperStudy Optimizes
Fatigue Life

Support Tips
& Tricks

QUICKLY MODIFY STRUCTURE SHAPES TO ANALYZE DURABILITY

Altair HyperStudy Provides an Elegant Approach to Optimizing

Fatigue Life
Fatigue life is an important design criterion in the development of numerous highly
engineered components. Popular codes, like nCode, FE-Safe or FEMFAT analyze the
durability of structures by evaluating inputs from stress solvers, such as OptiStruct/
Analysis, loading time histories and specific material parameters.
In an iterative process, the shape of a structure is often manually modified in order to
improve durability. A more elegant approach is to use Altair HyperStudy a design of
experiment (DOE) and optimization software for arbitrary solvers to optimize the shape
in order to satisfy fatigue criteria. HyperStudy not only allows users to automate the
optimization process, which includes multiple codes (FE and Fatigue solver), but also
makes use of HyperMorph, Altairs engine for finite element mesh morphing to create
shape design variables.
Using this combination of tools, it becomes very easy to solve the following optimization
problem: to minimize the damage on the structure by changing the shape of the part. The
process is shown in Fig. 1, in which HyperStudy runs the solvers, extracts the necessary
results (e.g. damage, safety factors), and modifies the FE model until an optimum is
reached.

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Fig. 1 The optimization process

What does HyperMorph do in this process?
For shape optimization, the optimizer must have design variables, which are the allowed
design changes. For example, the optimizer is allowed to change the fillet radius of a
design. In a finite element mesh, the design variable radius does not exist initially. The
only parameters actually available are the coordinates of the nodes of the radius.
HyperMorph parameterizes the nodes and creates the parameter radius, which then can
be used as a design variable for the optimizer.
Why not just optimize stresses to improve fatigue life?
A different load case with higher forces but fewer cycles. So, merely optimizing on stresses
could even deteriorate durability.
Case Study: Fatigue optimization of a connecting rod
The process described above was applied to an engine connecting rod. Seven different
design variables have been created:

Width of the rod

Radius of the crank end
Distance at the crank end

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Altair HyperWorks Newsletter November 2005

Cross section of the rod

Radius of the piston end (Fig. 2)
Radius of the piston ring
Distance at the piston end

Fig. 2 Example of a shape parameter from HyperMorph,

used as a design variable by HyperStudy
The optimization problem was formulated as:

Minimize the mass of the rod

Constraint on the log life above a critical value

HyperStudy not only made it possible to optimize the shape, but also made it possible to
understand the interaction and influences of the different shapes on the fatigue life by
performing a DOE study. (Fig. 3)

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Fig. 3 Response surface visualization after DOE study

The durability has been improved by more than 50 percent through the optimized shape.
(Fig. 4)

Fig. 4 Fatigue life before (on left) and after the optimization
HyperStudy made it easy to set up the optimization process and to develop an improved
design in a very short time.

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Altair HyperWorks Newsletter November 2005

ALTAIR HOSTS FIRST-EVER GRID AND GROW

Seminar Explores Grid Solutions for

Competitive Business
Altair Engineering, IBM and Intel invite you to participate
in a complimentary seminar that examines the
challenges of deploying an integrated solution to
manage computational workloads. The event will be held
Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2005, at Altair headquarters, 1820 E.
Big Beaver Rd. in Troy, Mich., and is important for
organizations interested in implementing a grid
computing environment. Registration begins at 8:30am,
and the seminar follows from 9:00am until 3:00pm.
Lunch will be provided.
Managing economic pressures is a reality in todays
business landscape. Whether the goal is to reduce IT
costs and improve return on investment or to maintain a
flexible infrastructure that can cope with business
demands without sacrificing reliability, resiliency and
security making the right choices is critical. This
seminar will highlight the options available to you and
your organization, as you examine these significant
business challenges.

NEWSLETTER FORMAT
Please view the PDF if you are
unable to see the pictures in this email. If you can't access the PDF
files or did not receive the
attachments, please contact infoupdate@altair.com.
REGISTER TODAY
If you are new to this site or have
not registered as an Insider user,
we invite you to complete a brief
sign-up form. As a registered user,
you will have access to other
support resources, including
documentation, tutorials,
software updates and macros. You
will also have access to the
iExchange message board.

What you will learn:

How to accelerate business results and time-tomarket

How to manage growth, while controlling costs
Customer testimonials describing real-life
experiences in deploying a grid computing solution

Who should attend:

IT professionals with compute-intensive

applications
Business executives looking for comprehension IT
solutions offered by committed industry leaders

To register for this complimentary event, please go to

www.altair.com/gng

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ALTAIR IN THE NEWS

SUPPORT TIPS & TRICKS
Using HyperWorks through NetMeeting - PDF
Contour the thickness change of components in gauge
optimization. - PDF
If you have not registered on our site before, you will be asked to
complete a brief signup form. This will also give you access to other
support resources, including documentation, tutorials, software
updates, macros and the iExchange message board.

Altair Engineering and

Accelrys Integrate Technologies
for Materials Sciences Community
- Link
Altair Engineerings PBS
Professional To Be Released for
IBM Blue Gene Architecture Link

HYPERWORKS ADDITIONAL MACROS

GaugeThickDiffPlot.tcl
The user can contour the thickness difference between
the initial and final thicknesses in HyperView or
HyperMesh. This macro grabs the original thickness
values from the PSHELL card image and grabs the final
thicknesses from the .prop file. The difference between
the two is calculated, and this file is converted to a .res
file. This .res file is directly loaded into HyperMesh, but
the user can load this in HyperView with a .fem file to
view the contour.
If the user has not requested a DENSRES card while
doing the analysis, then this macro is useful. Download
ZIP
TABLED1_CARD.tcl
This macro will be useful in creating and updating the
TABLED1 load collector card for NASTRAN/OS solvers
with multiple XY data. There is no need for the user to
enter all the fields manually. The user can have the data
in .txt or .csv file format. The user must import this file
using the macro, which helps in creating the load
collector or updating an existing one. Download ZIP

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TRAINING COURSES

Develop your skills

Here are our upcoming training sessions for
HyperWorks. Simply click on each title to view details of
the course's content.

Michigan training classes

Introductory FEA Modeling and Results

Visualization, Dec. 5-7, Dec. 19-21
Interfacing HyperWorks with LS-Dyna, Dec. 8
Introductory MBD Modeling and Results
Visualization, Dec. 12-13
Aspects of Model Definition Language, Dec. 14
Flexible Bodies for MBD, Dec. 15
Introductory DOE, Optimization and Stochastic
Studies, Dec. 16
Interfacing HyperWorks with ABAQUS, Dec. 22

California training classes

Introductory FEA Modeling and Results

Visualization, Dec. 6-7
Introductory Results Visualization and Data
Analysis, Dec. 8

Wisconsin training classes

Introductory FEA Modeling and Results

Visualization, Dec. 6-8

>> You can get more details on these courses, obtain a

full schedule, or inquire about tailored, on-site training
by calling your local Altair office or emailing
training@altair.com

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Altair HyperWorks Newsletter November 2005

Support inquiry? Unable to access the web links above? Please email hwsupport@altair.com
or call 248-614-2425 for assistance.
For more information about Altair Engineering, visit www.altair.com
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