Bolted Connections

A typical bolted joint (as shown) may contain a washer and gasket to improve the bond, a nut and a bolt
besides the basic structure that it is connecting. The bolt assembly may be pretensioned or it may only
resist shear. There are many options involved with a bolted connection. Each option has advantages and
disadvantages, and none of the options will be right for every situation.
Gasket
Bolt

Nut

Washer

To model the joint completely, the model would include the washer and/or gasket which is probably a
hyperelastic material, the contact between the nut and the bolt, the nut and the washer, the washer and
solid body and may also include friction, this could be done with a solid model, but would require a
very detailed model, without including the threads in the bolts.

1609 Elements
7341 Nodes
29 Contact Pairs

Most analysts do not have the time or hardware to build this type of model. In addition, a
detailed model would probably produce more information than is necessary.
When modeling a bolted connection, the first action should be to determine what information is
needed. Some questions that should be considered are:
Will the holes deform?
Will the bolts deform?
Do the bolts contribute to the overall deformations and stresses?
Will the bolts fail first?
Are the gasket/washer interfaces critical to the behavior of the structure?
Will the bolt resist axial, shear, and/or bending?

Determining the required information would then determine the type of model that could be used. For
instance, if joint forces are needed, the bolt must be modeled with an element that can recover forces..
Different element types will result in different behavior of the bolt.
There are local effects that could be modeled with a break out model or submodel. Some local effects
are:
Bolts can prevent the hole from changing shape.
The interaction of the hole and the bolt is usually a local effect.
A sub model would be needed to find bolt failure, if the failure mode is known.
The gasket and washers generally contribute to only localized effects.
There are many modeling options. None of the
options will produce exactly the behavior of the
connection. The decision of which option to
choose is dependent on required results and time
available to produce results.
Some of the modeling options include:
Merge Nodes
Rigid Connection
Spring Element
Beam Element
Constraint Element
Coupled DOF

This paper will discuss some of the modeling options. It is intended as an introduction to the topic
and is not the final answer to modeling beam connections. The results presented were calculated
using I-DEAS as the post processor and Model Solution as the solver. The paper will present some of
the advantages and disadvantages of using different modeling options. It will discuss merging nodes,
rigid connections (using rigid elements), spring elements and beam elements. The constraint element
and coupled DOF will be left to another paper.

Merge Nodes:
Considerations:
Connecting two bodies represented by
solid elements. (Shells would not have
coincident nodes)
All forces are transferred.
No localized behavior is considered.
Concerns:
It can be difficult to get the nodes to
match. (Section meshing can help)
No joint forces available.
The contact between the surfaces would
be very friction dependent.

There are two possible methods of merging nodes:

1. All nodes on the connecting surfaces could be merged

Behavior would be the same as one body

2. Only the nodes representing the bolts could be merged

Contact between the surfaces should be considered

Merge Nodes Using I-DEAS

1. Pick Nodes
Select nodes to be considered
For all nodes, use MB3 All done
2. Enter distance between nodes to be considered
coincident (0.0003937008)
Enter distance between nodes, the default is
1mm
3. Enter method to select coincident node
Lower Number is the default
4. Ok to list element labels? (No)
5. Ok to merge coincident nodes? (No)
Default is NO
Select Yes to merge the nodes
6. Ok to delete nodes that have been replaced (Yes)

Rigid Elements:
Considerations:
Selected DOFs can be transferred.
No localized behavior calculated.
The holes shape can be maintained.
Concerns:
Joint Forces can be recovered.
May add numeric stiffness around the
hole.
If the nodes are not coincident, a
moment will be induced.

There are three possible methods using rigid elements to model the bolts.

One rigid element

connecting all the nodes
to one central node

Two rigid elements

connected with one
rigid bar

Rigid Elements Using I-DEAS

Two types of rigid elements:
RBARs - connect only 2 nodes
RBEs connect multiple nodes
The first node is the
independent node.
Rigid elements can be created:
Manually using create
element
Geometry-based Elements using
reference points or center points
Section meshing will automatically
suppress the hole.

One rigid element

connecting a node at the
center of the hole

Recovering Joint Forces using Rigid

Elements:
1. Constraint forces must be stored.
They may be listed.
It is recommended that element
forces also be stored and listed.
2. Select constraint forces in display
results.
3. Select arrow plots in display
template.
The forces may be listed using the report
writer and similar to Arrow plot.

Spring Elements:
Considerations:
Nodes should be coincident.
Selected DOF can be transferred.
Some calculations prior to the FE model would
required to obtain the equivalent bolt stiffness.
No localized behavior considered.
Concerns:
Joint Forces can be recovered.
If nodes are not coincident a moment may be
introduced.
- For Ideas, it is suggested that the uniaxial flag be
turned on.
- For Nastran, the nodes should be coincident.
To have no stiffness for a given DOF, set the stiffness
to zero.
- Ideas defaults to 3 DOF, either translational or
rotational.
- Nastran uses 1 DOF, multiple springs may be
required to resist different forces.

There are two possible methods for

modeling spring elements:
1. Connecting nodes at the
center of the hole.
2. Model the hole using a rigid
element and connecting the
rigid elements with a spring.
3. If midsurface data is used for
shell models, the spring
element may induce a
moment.

Spring Elements Using I-DEAS

Springs elements can be
created:
Manually using
create element
Geometry-based
Elements using
reference points or
center points
Set the solver mask before
creating the physical
property table entry.

Recovering Joint Forces using Spring

Elements:
1. Create a group of the spring
elements.
2. Store Element Forces.
3. Select Arrow Display.
In Visualizer, arrows can be
set to show either 1 direction
or 3 directions
The forces may be listed using the
report writer and similar to XY graph.
An XY graph must first be created.

Beam Elements:
Considerations:
Nodes should be coincident
Stiffness in axial, shear and bending are
included based on beam section
Forces can be transferred in selected DOF
Localized behavior can considered
Preload may be included
Concerns:
Joint Forces can be recovered
A beam or a rod element can be used...
- Beams model all 6 DOF
- Rods model translation only
In short beams the shear deflection will
control the overall deflection of the bolt.

The beams are modeled connecting nodes at the center of the hole.
The hole is not modeled, because the beam section models the bolt volume.

Beam Elements Using I-DEAS

1. Create a beam section that represents the
bolt.
2. Create beams between the center nodes of
the holes.
3. The holes may be suppressed (using
section meshing)
OR
3. Use a rigid element to connect the edges
of the hole with the beam.
4. Store Element Forces

NX 3 Supports More Languages!!

by Elango Ramanathan Programming tools Technical track chair

Grrrrrrr! Yes! That is exactly how I felt when I heard UGS is adding more languages. Oh
my God, GRIP, GRIP NC, C, C++, TCL, Intent! and now C#, VB.net. None of the
existing language covers everything I need. We have been asking UGS to added more
coverage in CAM area. What is wrong with these UGS people? Why are they wasting
their resources in adding more languages? I was so curious when I attended beta testing at
Cypress CA, I could not resist asking for a presentation on what was happening. But the
more I found out about UGS strategy, the more impressed I became.
Initially I thought UGS is just going to add a few more language to their list. But UGS has
a well thought out strategy to help developers in the long run. UGS is providing a new
recording tool called Journaling, and, by NX 3, will support VB.NET, C# and C++ for
traditional automation. By NX 4 Java will be supported also. Any developer working with
the NX Open for .NET API can use all the functionalities of the Microsoft .NET
environment. NX 3 will support full object oriented programming concepts. Also, with
the .NET API a developer can do remoting and distributed programming, as well as create
Graphical User Interfaces (GUIs) using WinForms.
Journaling is more like macro recording in Word or Excel. Journals will record VB.NET
commands instead of menu clicks. They can also record in C++, but journal replay is
limited to VB.NET only. Since journals are capturing functional code, and are not
recording GUI or screen picks, they will work across multiple versions of NX. And
journaling supported automation code provides the added benefit of recording actual
automation commands. In the past, I used to make a lot of calls to GTAC to find out
whether a function was available in Open C and how it worked. Now, with journals, it is
so easy to find out. I can just record a journal and I get my sample program in no time. I
can cut and paste directly into an automation program, then add only a few variables and
logics to make the program work.
My next worry was that I would have to learn yet another new language. I never had a
need to fill my brain with one more language. But I saw it as opportunity to beat my son.
Since he already knows C#, I borrowed his C# book and started to go through it. I was
really surprised to know C# is more like C++ than what I had originally thought. A lot of
the syntax is very similar to C++ except for arrays and the fact that there are no pointers.
There are differences like delegates etc., but I felt comfortable with C# very fast. And,
since I could add the NX .NET classes in the Visual Studio development environment, I
got all the benefits of 'intellisense'. Wow!
NX Open for .NET supports not only internal/external programs but now it supports
remote programming as well. Remoting allows an NX user to execute an automation
program from the same or a different machine from where the NX session is running. Via
remoting, a user can connect to another system running NX within a network. This

addition is available through the .NET version of the NX Open API only. This mode is
not available in the legacy Open C API.
Okay! The future is very bright, but what about the past? I have about 150K lines of code
to support. As usual UGS is committed to supporting their customers and has promised to
continuing to support legacy Open C (User Function) libraries and GRIP. But no new
functions will be added to Open C and GRIP. All the new functions will be added to the
NX Open for .NET API and to the new NX Open C++ API. Both the .NET API and the
new C++ API are derived from the same Common API kernel, so any new functionality
will be provided equally for the new APIs. Customers with existing Open C licenses will
automatically receive the new Open C++ API free of charge. As for my existing code, I
recompiled and linked my code with the NX 3 Open C library. Everything worked fine
except for few minor changes like the unit conversion function in expression is inch(....)
instead of in(.).
Not all NX functionality is available for automation through the native.NET API yet. To
provide complete programming coverage in .NET, UGS is providing an additional library
of .NET-wrapped Open C functions. This added library provides a .NET programmer
with nearly the same automation access to NX functionality that the existing Open C and
Open C++ libraries provide. Although UGS have plans to provide all existing and new
functionality through the .NET API in future releases, the .NET-wrapped Open C library
will not be removed.
UGS is continuing to support C-based programming by releasing a new C++ library built
from the same object and class structure of the new .NET library. Although this library is
different than the existing Open C++ library, I can compile and link my existing C and
C++ programs with this library. But if I want to use any of the Microsoft .NET classes I
have to follow a book full of protocols and conventions. I tried and failed miserably. So I
have decided to stick with C# because I want to program with .NET classes.
NX Open for .NET comes with a new set of documents that are presented in a standard
Microsoft help file format. The documents are user friendly and more like Visual Studio
docs. And details about the NX Open for .NET classes and methods show up
automatically in the Visual Studio Object Browser. It should be noted, though, that a user
needs to be running Visual Studio .NET 2003 (Version 7.1) if they want to work with the
.NET API. They also need to have the Microsoft .NET Framework 1.1 loaded on their
workstation
I need to buy a new NX Open for .NET authoring license if I want to program in C# or
VB.net, but no additional execution license is required. No new licenses are required if I
program in C++ and link with the new library.
Over all I am quite impressed with UGS strategy to support more object oriented
programming languages. In the long run, I believe this new direction will help developers
a lot.

NX Manager I-DEAS via Team Center Engineering

One of the main areas that I-DEAS users need to focus on is the transition from I-DEAS to NX. This process
involves two distinct phases, migrating TDM to NX Manager I-DEAS (via TC Eng) and then migrating
I-DEAS NX CAD data to NX3 (or beyond) CAD. I am very happy to be able to provide news about the process
relating to the TDM to NX Manager I-DEAS migration.
We under went our "early adopter" I-DEAS to NX initial audit by UGS in August 2004. UGS came out to our
company and spent two days with us, analyzing our CAD data and showing us the new products. My overall
anxiety has pretty much disappeared now that I have seen the products as they relate to our CAD data. The
products - both CAD NX and TDM to TC Eng NX Manager I-DEAS look solid. I also found great benefit from
attending the recent Denver Colorado Team Center of Tour and NX3 event hosted by UGS.
In order to migrate your TDM to NX Manager I-DEAS, there is a great tool to help. The MiAdmin tool is a
gem! This tool analyzes your TDM. It lists everything you ever wanted to know and more (but were afraid to
ask) about the items in your TDM. Also, it provides wonderful automated tools for you to fix your data! The
I-DEAS user needs to understand that in order to utilize NX Manager I-DEAS, they must also work within the
Team Center Engineering environment. While this might seem like a daunting task, it is possible to start out
with basic TDM like functionality first and then add on modules of TC Eng if one so desires. The interface for
accessing I-DEAS thru TC Eng has an easy to use windows feel to it and users should quickly adapt to this new
structure.
The added benefits of working within the TeamCenter Engineering environment are fantastic. These include the
potential for Global CAD data sharing, being able to link other types of file (MS and such) to your CAD object,
markup and viewing of both 2D and 3D CAD data. The NX Manager I-DEAS product looks like a go now. I
would say that the I-DEAS NX CAD product is still evolving. Each new release will ensure a greater success
rate with migrating part features and drawings. NX3 has some great features and its ease of use is a definite
welcome to this next generation CAD tool.
Follow the user discussions relating to I-DEAS to NX on the I-deas to NX Transition Digest bulletin board.
https://citizen.plmworld.org/login.php?ru=/access/conferencing.php
You must be a registered PLM World Citizen!

Rick Rueger

PLM World Article

Submit Date: October 15, 2004

Word Count: 856

First of Two Simple Applications of Using Part Equations in I-DEAS

Part 1 of 2
Have you ever needed to model a spring specified by the pitch and number of turns? Have
you ever needed to balance a number of slots or other features and position them
uniformly along a face? Did it cause you to struggle when you tried to do this within IDEAS and struggle even more when you had to go back and change them? If so, read on
because these articles were written to give you a couple of examples of using the Part
Equations form to create dimension-driven parts that can be easily and controllably
modified.
Part 1 (this article) will look at driving a spring design by specifying the pitch and
number of turns.
Part 2 (next issue) will examine how to uniformly space and balance an array of slots (or
other features) on a given face.
Driving a Spring by Pitch and Number of Turns
It is relatively easy to create a spring within I-DEAS. This can be done by sketching a
profile, picking the Revolve command, selecting the profile, then selecting the axis to
revolve about and completing the rest of the form. What might be a little more cryptic is
the way that you need to fill out the rest of the form to accomplish the helix. You next
need to calculate (or put in an expression for) the Revolve Angle to specify how many
revolutions are in the spring. An example of this is shown in Figure 1.

Rick Rueger

PLM World Article

Submit Date: October 15, 2004

Word Count: 856

Figure 1: Initial Input of Revolve Angle

Next click on the options button to enter the Translation along Axis. This is the total
translation distance from the beginning of the spring to the end. For an example of this
see Figure 2.

Figure 2: Initial Input of Total Translation

A more intuitive way of defining a spring might be to specify the number of turns and the
pitch (distance between turns). This can be done by going into the Part Equations
command (Icon row 4, column 1) after you have created the initial spring. In the
equations section type:
NUMBER_OF_TURNS = 5
PITCH = 50|mm|
Note: There cannot be spaces in your variable names. Use underscores to accomplish
readability. Also, when entering constant values in this form make sure to specify units.
This is done in the example above by typing the vertical bar or pipe symbol (found as
the shift of the backslash on your keyboard) both before and after the actual units.
Anything between these two pipes is evaluated as a unit. If no units are specified,
2

Rick Rueger

PLM World Article

Submit Date: October 15, 2004

Word Count: 856

everything is solved in SI (System International) which means that it will be interpreted

as meters, not millimeters.
Next, in the dimension section, highlight and enter values for the following two
dimensions:
RevolveAngle = NUMBER_OF_TURNS * 360
AxialTrans = PITCH * NUMBER_OF_TURNS
See Figure 3 for an example of the equations form and the resulting spring. You now
have a spring that can easily be modified by changing these two parameters at the top of
the Part Equations form.

Figure 3: Finished Spring and Example Equations Form

Also, notice that the name of the other dimensions have been changed to be more
meaningful than the default D11 and D12. The names wire_diameter and spring_radius
are far more apparent as to what they will control. Highlight on the dimension in this
form and then type in the new name in the lower left-hand box instead of the right-hand
box where you enter the value. Again, no spaces in dimension names (same rule as for
user-defined variables). This dimension name change can be done in the Modify
command as well.
If you go back into the feature parameters form of the revolve you will notice that both
the Angle and the Translation along Axis are greyed out and not available to change here.
This is because the values for these two dimensions are now controlled at the part level
through the Part Equations form and are no longer able to be (accidentally) changed at the
feature level.
3

Rick Rueger

PLM World Article

Submit Date: October 15, 2004

Word Count: 856

Summary
The Part Equations command allows you to build design intent into your model. You can
quickly build a series of parts by changing the values of the constants in the desired set of
equations. The more intuitively-named dimensions and variables that you put into your
part, the greater the likelihood that someone will be able to change your part predictably.
The hardest part about using the Part Equations command is usually writing out the
mathematical relationships. Entering them in the form is easy. Hopefully, this simple
example has given you some exposure to this and will encourage you to try to build more
of these relationships into the next part that you create. Check back next issue for a more
involved example of equation writing and using some of the available functions such as
truncate and round.
Bio: Rick Rueger is the District Training Manager for UGS in Chicago. He has worked
for SDRC/EDS/UGS for the last 14 years and still occasionally teaches a few classes
there.
Rick Rueger
UGS Inc.
rick.rueger@ugs.com

As another year quickly closes, PLM World keeps the momentum going. 2004 was a
fabulous year, at our annual conference in May over 1600 attendees experienced a weeks
worth of technical and UGS Executive presentations, Teamcenter, Ideas, and Unigraphics
training opportunities, witnessed numerous capabilities to improve your bottom line
provided by the PLM World Partners who participated in our Vendor Fair.
In addition to our US meeting, the momentum is Global. Our friend Paul Averte, the
Australian PLM Expo Chairperson held their User Meeting in Melbourne in September.
Attendance doubled from earlier years. Great Job, Mate! Karla Kluth, organizer for PLM
Europe, held a very successful conference in Stuttgart, Germany in mid-October. Nette
Aufgabe Karla! Asia (Korea, Japan, India, Malaysia, and Singapore) has scheduled
several user events in late October and early November, Im sure they will be just as
successful. .So, no matter where you in the world, theres opportunity to experience a
world class User event. Give one a Try!
Looking into the future, the planning for our 2005 conference in Dallas Texas, May 2 6
is well underway. The Call for Papers has been posted on our website,
www.plmworld.org. Were looking forward to many top notch technical presentations
our users and UGS folks will be presenting. Scott Adams, the creator of Dilbert, will be
our keynote speaker on Tuesday Morning, Im sure everyone can relate a little bit of
Dilbert in their daily lives. Thursday night youll be invited to a little piece of Texas
hospitality at our Texas Barbeque. And yes, youll still have opportunities to attend UGS
Training Sessions headed up by UGS Education Services and experience the many new
innovative products the Vendor Fair provides. All in all, PLM World provides the
opportunity to learn and network with UGS experts and peers enabling users to apply the
technology at their workplace. Its 4 Days of non-stop action, dont worry, as you can
see well sprinkle in a little bit of fun too! We cant wait.
See you in Dallas,
Jim Wilson
PLM World Chairperson

PLM World - User News:

News from the Drafting and Dimensional Management Technical Committee
By Kristy Timbimboo,
Drafting and Dimensional Management Committee Chairperson

Although there has been strong representation of drafting issues in past years, for
a number of reasons, involvement appears to have diminished somewhat. It is difficult to
believe that 2-D, and the many drafting issues associated with it, has suddenly
disappeared (perhaps abducted by aliens). The decline is more likely attributable to the
fact that users have a multitude of other CAD-related issues vying for their attention.
Those issues are numerous and valid: elevated interest in 3-D and the move to solid
model-controlled paperless systems, focus on Teamcenter activities and related data
management issues, apprehensiveness about future products and migration issues, and
even reorganization of the structure within PLM World combining UG and I-DEAS
Drafting into one committee. The way we do business is changing for many users, myself
included.
2-D Drafting is still a big part of many peoples lives and will be for quite some
time. UGS and PLM World both recognize this and are committed to continued support
of this sector. We are in the early stages of forming the combined Drafting and
Dimensional Management Technical Committee and, in addition to myself, four other
people have volunteered their services to help focus on drafting issues (there is always
room for more!). We have recently been active in defining the purpose and function of the
committee, and outlining future challenges of the drafting user community as a whole.
This will allow us to move forward with purposeful vision and direct the attention to the

greatest needs of the user community. The following sentences outline some of the items
compiled by the committee. As always, user input is welcome please let us know the
things that are important to you. Contact information for committee members is listed at
the end of this article.
Committee purpose:
To represent the interests and the needs of the users in this sector. Our goal is to assist in
the development of the user community through communication and cooperation between
the users and UGS. Our primary objectives are to help the user optimize use of the
product and to help UGS provide the most efficient and effective tool.
Committee function:
We collectively:

Represent a cross-section of UG and I-DEAS users

Provide focus on 2-D to 3-D Drafting issues:

a) Dimensional Management (3-D Annotation/ASME Y14.41,
GD&T Associativity, Dimensioning Between Views, etc.)
b) Develop and mature correlation between 2-D and 3-D (Promote
Master Model concept)

Help determine Best Practices to share with others

Use what we learn and know as a basis for future conference

presentations

Be positive role models to encourage other users to get the most out of
the product

Future Challenges:

Migration issues as we move toward one common product

Maintaining support of two separate software applications

Encouraging strong user presence in newsletter articles and conference

presentations

Strengthen the committee as we focus on future products and draftingrelated issues

****

The users of 2-D Drafting are instrumental in helping shape the future of the
product and are a large network of support for other users. Individual user participation is
important to other users in the learning process. I especially encourage those who are
migrating into the world of NX from UG and I-DEAS to contribute to the newsletter or
make a presentation at the upcoming conference in May 2005. Migration will be a big
topic over the next few years and for those of you beginning that transition, let the rest of
us know some of the challenges you are facing and the solutions you have found. ASME
Y14.41 is another topic that users would like to know more about. Let us know some of
the things you are doing to incorporate the ASME Y14.41 standard for 3-D annotation in
your work.
Finally, if you are interested in being involved as part of this committee, please let
me or someone else on the committee know there is always room for more. As much as
we all like to be involved in this, we all have other jobs to do and the time we can
contribute is limited, many hands make the work light. It is much more beneficial for
the users to have a broad range of representation.
Kristy Timbimboo
Chairperson, Drafting and Dimensional Management
Technical Committee
Design Drafter
ATK Thiokol Inc.
P.O. Box 707, M/S 251

Brigham City, Utah 84302

(435) 863-5882
kristy.timbimboo@atk.com

Committee Members:
First
Name
Paul

Last Name
Howard

Paula

Lambertz

Jim

Melton

Jim

Rawlinson

Background
I-DEAS
I-DEAS
I-DEAS/UG
UG

Company

E-mail

Goodrich Aircraft Wheels & Brakes

Paul.Howard@goodrich.com
Accelerator Cryogenic Systems,
Fermi National Accelerator
lambertz@fnal.gov
Laboratory
USA
james.m.melton-1@usa-spaceops.com
Goodrich Hoist and Winch Power
james.rawlinson@goodrich.com
Systems

Teamcenter

Repeatable Digital Validation:

Teamcenter's integrated solution for
digital product validation
www.ugs.com

white paper:
Te a m c e n t e r R e p e a t a b l e
D i g i t a l Va l i d a t i o n

Teamcenter repeatable digital validation (RDV) provides an integrated solution that enables
your enterprise to rapidly validate product configurations as they continuously change across
your product lifecycle.

Teamcenter Community

Table of contents
Executive Summary

Business challenges

Business challenge complications

Teamcenters RDV solution

Benefits

5-7

Why RDV excels

8-9

Executive Summary

Todays mainstream product development processes are inherently

inefficient when it comes to handling product change. Design teams,
suppliers and manufacturing stakeholders often encounter inaccuracies
as they exchange and share change-related data. Errors are introduced
as data is modified or when data is re-entered but not validated across
multiple disciplines and systems. Additionally, quality decision-making is
hampered by the failure to integrate data and core business rules
between multiple systems. Significant reduction in new product
introduction time and total cost and increased product quality is
possible with a new paradigm for engineering review and validation.
Product development requires that support systems focus on the entire
range of products and processes of the enterprise. As the complexity of
the products and processes grow, the product development community
needs tools that are integrated into efficient, process-oriented
applications. Critical product decisions require the continuous availability
of the latest digital product and process information. Finally, the
tremendous amount of data contributing to the definition of a product
and its manufacturing processes must be navigated efficiently and
reduced to the minimum set of data that will accurately represent the
full decision context.
A solution that enables a continuous and accurate decision context based
on the latest product and process information must be able to:
Integrate information from a variety of tools, including multiple CAD
authoring tools, validation and analysis tools and business systems
Configure and apply business rules to product and process
configurations for rapid what-if analysis and knowledge reuse
Quickly navigate large amounts of product and process information
and work with only relevant data while retaining the context of
total product

Interrogate and validate the configurations for form, fit and function,
and comply with requirements such as cost, weight and investment
Integrate into your product development process with minimal training
and support while sustaining your organizations ability to develop
innovative new products
Today, there are software tools available that attempt to solve each
problem separately. For example, digital mockup (DMU) software
addresses digital prototyping but is time consuming, static and invariably
prone to errors. Similarly, PDM solutions address problems related to
configuration and business rules but lack tight integration with CAD tools
or DMU solutions.
Teamcenters Repeatable Digital Validation (RDV) solution facilitates a
true paradigm shift for companies that perform complex product
development and want to integrate a suite of core systems, such as
design tools, visualization, product configuration, and change
management into a single integrated web environment. Never before has
such a ground breaking technology been able to dramatically reduce
time to market in product development while delivering decision making
knowledge directly to stakeholders responsible for getting the right
product to the right market.
RDV removes product development latency while providing an always
on digital mockup of the complete product and all of its variations. RDV
enables companies to make optimal product decisions quicker resulting
in faster and better products to market. Product changes and alternative
ideas can be done real time in a controlled process while assessing the
impact of change across the finished product and the impact on its
performance characteristics. No other product development suite in the
market can support this level of integration. In addition, RDV reduces a
companys ownership costs by supporting multiple product development
processes on a single integrated solution.

Business challenges

The discrete manufacturing industry is rapidly shifting from mass

production to mass customization which demands that companies
build a larger number of products according to geographic and cultural
style preferences and bring them to market on average 5 to 10
percent faster every year. Product innovation and time compression are
primary drivers across marketplaces.The sooner a product can be
brought to a customer, the greater its lifecycle profitability potential.
This is complicated by the need to increasingly deliver variations of
each product according to sub markets and respond to ever-changing
customer hot buttons.
Globalization has helped manufacturers find suppliers in far away places
at very competitive prices, but has added complexity to the product
development process. For example, the new global reach concept
requires communications and collaboration across a distributed supply
chain in order to avoid long delays and costly errors as information
propagates across all tiers of suppliers.
Since approximately 70 percent of a products costs are committed
during the product development phase, the biggest cost savings
opportunity is during the upfront product design phase.These large
savings opportunities are not going to come from ERP, SCM and CRM.
The biggest challenges to increasing productivity and eliminating errors
and cost overruns are:
Efficiency of the change process as demonstrated by a companys
ability to immediately evaluate and analyze changes in the context of
other changes and their impact on the complete product.

Ability to configure and visualize each part in all its usages in all
products to fully understand change impact
Ability to provide the right individuals the right data, rapidly and
easily, and in the right context at the right time.To meet this
challenge and facilitate a totally effective product decision, companies
need to deliver tightly focused product information to their
designers. In essence, all of the participants in your value chain need
to access virtual product content on a consistent and repeatable
basis.To illustrate the value of delivering the most relevant
information to your product team, your value chain needs to be able
to answer the following kinds of questions: find all parts within 5
mm of the engine so I can do packaging study, or get me the solid
models for all parts released this week so I can assess the impact on
product weight.
Ability to design and validate products with complex variability.This
functionality allows companies to correct error in early design
phases rather than during the manufacturing phase. For example,
designers need to be able to ask their digital solution to evaluate
behind dashboard clearance for wire harness with both left and right
side drive, with and without air conditioning, with and without a GPS
system. I need to know that I can assemble the product for all
variants, not just the one in the current configuration.
Reducing risk by institutionalizing the reuse of existing designs, which
already embed corporate best practices and lessons learned from
previous products.
Ability to configure and visualize a part in all its current usages in all
products to determine if it can be reused in a new product

100%
90%

95%

80%
70%

99%

85%
66%

70%

60%
50%
40%
30%

35%

34%

22%

20%

12%

10%

3%

0%
Concept

Validation

Lifecycle cost determination

Exhibit 1: Embedded costs per phase of product lifecycle

Deployment

Cost reduction opportunities

Production

Operation

Source: US Defense Advanced Research Project Agency.

Take the example of a new car design. A typical car has over 10,000
parts. On average, 2500 parts change during any given week.Trying to
pull all these changes can take 2-3 weeks. Once a change is initiated, it
must be validated and its impact on overall weight, cost and supplier
schedule must be analyzed.This is a time consuming, resource intensive
task.While knowledge workers are pulling the changes together, more
design changes will invariably need to be initiated.This cycle is repeated
every 2-3 weeks during the product development process, which lasts
12 to 18 months.The second problem faced by the design team is that
even when it brings up the whole product containing 10,000 parts, it
can take hours to zero-in on the part and surrounding area that needs
to be analyzed. Because of this complexity, many engineers try to only
work with a few parts at a time.This creates a risk of not envisioning the
change in the context of the entire product, or the entire surrounding
environment impacted by the change.
Technologys promised added value versus the reality of adding
more complexity. Todays software tools attempt to solve each of the
previously enumerated problems. For example, digital mockup software
address one set of problems while PDM solutions address another set.
However, productivity gain will only be significant when a solution is able
to address all of these problems simultaneously.
Consider the following excerpt on configured digital mockup from the
recent paper titled Fundamentals of Shared Product Structure by
Wayne Collier, DH Brown.

A design component may represent, for example, right and left tires
as two instances of the same CAD model. But digital mockups
create a visualization of a total product in three dimensions and
require separate entities to visualize the right and left sides.
Similarly, representations based on part records may use a single
part number for an entire end-item assembly actually consisting of
dozen parts, while digital mockups require unique identification of
each entity included in a configuration to resolve interference,
packaging and other design integration issues. Digital mockups
come into use during design reviews at early phases of product
development, before part records have been released, as conceptual
designers explore alternatives across multiple configurations. All of
these characteristics of digital mockup make it difficult and time
consuming to generate them automatically for multiple
configurations if those configurations are based on traditional, partsbased bills of materials or traditional CAD assembly model.
In response to these limitations most companies today resort to
brute force manual reconciliation to assemble as-ordered product
configurations generated by order configuration representations
from families of design components managed in CAD data
managers.This reconciliation is tedious and error proneTraditional
approaches and automated versions of them simply do not serve
the need to rapidly validate designs across hundreds of product
configurations generated on the fly.

Teamcenters RDV solution

Teamcenter Repeatable Digital Validation (RDV) combines industry leading CAD integration, product modeling
technology, high performance visualization, spatial search engine technology and a design in context application that provides
a powerful innovative, and integrated digital product validation solution.

Design evaluation

Re-use alternatives

Product
structure
Central design
repository

Rapidly configure

Repeatable
Team reviews the
same configuration to
analyze issues

Validation

Track and
publish

Design changes

Visualize

Analyse

Supplier 1

Figure 2.Typical RDV process flow

RDV reflects a wide variety of robust capabilities:

RDV is continuously repeatable with a new configuration or with an
alternative design configuration. It allows the same validation process
to be repeated at different sites or by different individuals including
suppliers.This insures consistency of result and eliminates human
errors during configuration.
RDV provides a powerful tool for abstraction and relevance in a
extremely complex product development process so that the entire
value chain can use a consistent way of accessing virtual product content
RDV enables engineers to design and validate products with complex
variability. Change is validated against one product, as well as against
all possible variations.
RDV always keeps product configurations up to date with the
latest changes.
RDV allows a user to visualize the whole product as well the specific
area of interest.The search engine database is specifically optimized
for quick search.

Validate against all

Validate variant/
options for reuse

Issues
Progress

Supplier 2
Designer

Configure

Figure 3. Key RDV capabilities

RDV synchronizes CAD, visual and product structure data based on

business rules and best practice processes captured in a companyspecific workflow.
RDV provides a powerful classification application enabling
both product and process reuse, while reducing risk and direct
material costs.
Collision detection and interference analysis is the first of many
potential product validation applications based on the RDV platform.
These common digital validation applications require easy and efficient
access to all CAD files of a specific product variation or product family.
The CAD data is converted to the standards-based JT format, an
optimal and accurate CAD geometry format for visualization and
collision detection. For collision detection and spatial searches, UGS
harvester approach replaces time-consuming queries on the entire
database with an efficient filter that carefully selects only the parts that
are changed, and for the selected or appropriate configurations.

Benefits

1. Substantial enterprise productivity gains are realized by

enabling continuous product validation. Digital validation in the
traditional form (DMU) is unable to address all the challenges and
offers disappointing payback.This is due to the lack of a repeatable and
continuous process available to everyone stakeholder in your
organization.With traditional DMU, you get some exciting discrete
events but you cannot count on them reflecting the latest product
intent. Benefits accelerate and allow you to achieve your vision only
when the process becomes repeatable and continuous.
In the past to stage a digital vehicle took 6 weekspulling 14,000 parts,
right version, right locationand now with this new technology (RDV) we are
able to do the same in 2 hours
CIMdata Conference 2001, Keynote Speech, Kirk Gutmann, Global
Product Development Information Officer, GM
2. RDV enables designers and suppliers to spend more time on
innovation and creativity. RDV removes non-value added tasks from
your product development process, such as searching for components
and creating the right context or environment for validation. RDV also
eliminates human error and ensures the right version and right
configurations are always selected. RDV presents only the relevant
information for decision-making and validation, instead of requiring
users to navigate through plethora of data to find what they need to
complete their job.

Huge productivity breakthrough for

the product validation process
From weeks to minutes
From static to dynamic
From concurrent to collaborative

Product validation cycle

Months

Weeks

Days

Hours

Physical
mockup
Physical and static

Digital
mockup

Repeatable
digital validation
Complete digital and dynamic

Technology and process

Figure 4. RDV productivity improvement

Examples of potential time savings

Task:
Product variation validation

Time

120 min.

Traditional
design process
60 min.

RDV enabled
design process
0 min.
100

1,000

10,000

Assembly size/number of components process

Figure 5. First example of potential time savings

Task:
Visual navigation
(Spatial search)

Time

120 min.

Traditional digital
mock-up or DMU
60 min.

RDV enabled
design process
0 min.
100

1,000

10,000

Assembly size/number of components process

Figure 6. Second example of potential time savings

Time savings per day = 75 minutes

Time saving per year = 200 * 75 = 15000 minutes = 31 days
RDVs ability to present only relevant data also benefits your
infrastructure. If you have 200 users searching a 5000-part assembly
once per day, your network will be burdened with
200 * 5000 * 1 MB/part = 1 Terabyte/day just for visualization
Using more intelligent searches, you could decrease your amount of
actual loaded relevant data by ~80 percent or more depending on
your users working habits.
200 users * 100 parts * 1MB/part = 20 Gigabytes/day.

This saves you money on network hardware and enables you to

maintain good performance and happy productive users on your
existing infrastructure.
3. RDV reduces errors during your production and/or assembly
phases by enabling early problem detection. RDV allows designers,
suppliers and manufacturing planners to evaluate product changes
continuously against specifications and business constraints, enabling
them to reduce errors and make optimal total product decisions.
4. RDV accelerates your time to market cycle. Companies are able
to quickly evaluate more alternatives early in the design phase, allowing
them to deliver right product faster to market.
5. RDV enables design reuse. RDV enables designers to easily and
quickly evaluate many alternatives early in the design phases.

Lo
w ok
or up
k
Se ord
w arc er
or h
k fo
pa r
Fi
nd rts
pa w
rt he
sa r
re e w
us or
ed k
Lo
ad
as c
se on
m te
bl x
ie t
s
Se
t
re th
vis e
io
Se n r
t t ule
he
op
tio
ns
Tu
r
no n o
t i ff p
n ar
pr ts
ox
im
ity

Without RDV

Tu
r
un n o
w ff o
an t
te he
d r
If
pa
de
rt
W s
s
i
IP re
re d, i
vi nc
sio lu
Pe
ns de
r
f
w or
or m
k
or
de
r

If designers spent 75 minutes a day searching and navigating to find

the right components and its context for validating their design then:

Time

r
de
or
k
or
w
e
m
ud
or ncl
rf
i
Pe ed, ons d
i te
sir is
de ev an
If P r nw ute ity
I
u
b
W ve ttri xim
o
o
m y a pr
Re s b in ts
rt ts ar
pa ar rk p
p
o
dd w
ns
A he
io
t
pt
of
o
d
ct he
le
c
Se t ca le er
c u
le r ord
n
Se isio rk
o
v
re r w
te
En

Spend less time

searching,
waiting,
clicking,
with less errors

With RDV

Figure 7. Comparing RDV and non-RDV digital validation solutions

Why RDV excels

A variety of factors cause conventional digital validation products to

fail. The following comparison explains why Teamcenters RDV solution
succeeds while other approaches falter.
Problem: Single product focus.Typically, conventional solutions revolve
around a single CAD visualization or PDM product.This cannot work.
CAD and visualization products do not provide change controls,
configuration management or advanced searching techniques. CAD and
PDM do not have sufficiently rich and fast visualization capabilities.
PDM and visualization do not have sufficient validation capabilities that
complete solid models and high end CAD and CAE applications
provide.
RDV solution: RDV contains tightly integrated CAD visualization and
PDM modules. RDV combines PDMs control and searching capabilities
with high-speed lighweight visualization and high-end CAD validation/
modeling.These integrated capabiliteis work in concert to enable you
to achieve multiple validation goals in a single solution.
Problem: Too many tools, not enough application. Perhaps through
super human effort or a talented project champion, you can get enough
custom programming and procedures together to get through a
conventional validation pilot. However, many solutions are too shaky
and dependent on key individuals to keep running them on a long term
basis. Frequently, companies discover that nobody can remember the
right buttons to push to maintain and use their pilot system or
they learn that their customized code no longer complies with new
product versions. In addition, companies often find it difficult to justify
the budgeting requests needed to sustain a customized solution (e.g.,
when management no longer sees a financial payback).
RDV solution: UGS delivers a complete RDV solution. It is integrated
and tested for exactly your purpose before shipping. Out-of-the-box
processes and documentation are provided for exactly your purposes,
instead of a collection of independent, unrelated tools that you use to
build your own solution.
Problem: Unavailable digital environment when you need it. Many
design engineers face pressing deadlines on a regular basis deadlines
that result in the following mindset. My deadline is today. I need to give a
go/no-go answer on an engineering change today. I cannot wait a week for
other people to assemble a digital mockup for me. I cannot trust such a
decision to digital data that is 2 weeks old. I need all of the latest data now.
RDV solution: RDV is a process not an event. All necessary indexing
and caching is built continuously as data is released so that you can
perform searches whenever you want.Visualization and CAD can be
launched directly with the search results; there is no need to export
data into special environments or perform special translations.You get
what you need when you need it.

Problem: Too much data and manual filtering: Additional approaches

based on visualization packages require the user to load huge products
then filter down to what he or she really needs.This is often preceded
by a lengthy export and translation activity.The amount of data can be
so large that performance is unacceptable.Typically, the graphics scene
is too big and cluttered to be of immediate use until after considerable
manual filtering is complete.
RDV solution: With RDV, the filter is specified up front, indicating: what
project, what configuration and what spatial area you need.Then, the
system finds and loads only the data you require. Subsequent searches
quickly expand your data set if you need more. Good performance is
maintained on this smaller set and you always have a manageable
graphics environment.
RDV is a powerful platform for the digital product validation process,
providing a foundation for an all encompassing rapid decision system.
This rapid decision system for product development aggregates
results from multiple validation processes and presents them to
decision makers in easy-to-understand web based portal. RDV enables
optimal product and process decisions and allows more time for
creativity and innovation by eliminating mundane non-value added tasks.
Collision detection and interference checking (initial appications
released with the RDV platform) instantly obsolete traditional digital
mockup while eliminating many of the issues and drawbacks associated
with this current best practice technology. Although DMU applications
visually represent the product concept and facilitate complete product
validation, they encounter many problems when implemented on highly
engineered products. Examples of such issues are validating multiple
configurations, keeping configurations up to date with changes and
allowing anyone in the organization access to the latest information.
RDV provides immediate value by solving the issues associated with
these traditional techniques, while providing a solid foundation for the
addition of many future digital product validation applications that will
support a rapid decision system. UGS envisions a suite of digital
product validation applications, including:
Simulation analysis
CAE validation
Manufacturing validation
Cost validation
Function specification validation
Test analysis

Manufacturing
validation

Rapid decision system

Knowledge
library
Applications: CAD, CAE, costing, requirements...
Accept
Repeatable Digital Validation platform

Decision

Reject
Design
changes

Figure 8. RDV-enabled rapid decision system

RDV allows designers to make design changes, validate the complete

product for packaging, CAE, process simulation, manufacturability, test,
serviceability, cost and function, and compare the validation result to
other alternative designs. It enables designers to rapidly configure,
visualize, analyze and compare the new part design in all its usages in all
products to fully understand change impact. Design engineers can
configure and visualize a part in all its current usages in all products to
determine if it can be reused in a new product.

RDV enables designers to make optimal product decisions taking into

account all variability and constraints.
By delivering ROI long expected from digital product definition,
Teamcenters RDV solution provides the foundation for facilitating the
digital transformation of todays product-driven companies.

About UGS
UGS is a leading global provider of product lifecycle management (PLM) software and services
with more than 3.1 million licensed seats and 42,000 clients worldwide.The company promotes
openness and standardization and works collaboratively with its clients in creating enterprise
solutions enabling them to transform their process of innovation and thus begin to capture the
value of PLM. For more information on UGS products and services, visit www.ugs.com.

Corporate Headquarters

Regions

United States

Americas

Europe

Asia-Pacific

Granite Park One

5800 Granite Parkway
Suite 600
Plano,TX 75024
972 987 3000

13690 Riverport Drive

Maryland Heights, MO 63043
United States
800 498 5351
Fax 314 264 8900

Norwich House Knoll Road

Camberley, Surrey
GU15 3SY
United Kingdom
44 1276 705170
Fax 44 1276 705150

Suites 3601-2, Citibank Tower

Citibank Plaza, 3 Garden Road
Hong Kong
852 2230 3333
Fax 852 2230 3200

Teamcenter, Parasolid, Solid Edge, Femap and I-deas are registered trademarks; and Imageware is a trademark of UGS Corp.
All other logos, trademarks or service marks used herein are the property of their respective owners. Copyright 2004 UGS Corp. All rights reserved.
9/04