NEi Software and Firehole Technologies to Deliver Advanced Composites Analysis to NEi Nastran

Westminster, CA: NEi Software, developer of Nastran Finite Element Analysis (FEA) software, and Firehole Technologies, a leader in advanced composite analysis and simulation, have announced a software integration and distribution partnership. The partnership will first focus on leveraging Firehole's multiscale composites analysis technology, Helius:MCT, to deliver an advanced composites analysis application to users of the NEi Nastran FEA package. Firehole and NEi formally launched their partnership at the 2009 Worldwide NEi VAR Summit held this year in Helsingborg, Sweden. Jerad Stack, the CEO of Firehole, presented the integrated NEi and Firehole solution to a large enthusiastic audience of NEi VARs from around the world including North America, Asia, Africa and Europe.

"The integration of Firehole's composites simulation technology is a continuation of our commitment to provide best-in-class composites analysis capabilities within NEi Nastran," said David Weinberg, CEO of NEi Software. Recent releases of NEi Nastran have added functionality such as nonlinear Progressive Ply Failure Analysis (PPFATM), and 3D composite elements.

Integrating Firehole's Helius:MCT directly into NEi Nastran will enhance the composite - specific toolset with its powerful constituent-based analysis technology. Helius:MCT excels in modeling of composite failure because it uniquely decomposes the stress and strain fields of a composite material into the stress and strain fields for the fiber and matrix components ­ allowing better insight into the root of composite failure. Jerad Stack, Firehole's CEO added "We are eager to move this partnership forward and provide NEi Nastran users access to results that are more accurate and realistic than classic composite theory. In addition, we are excited to have the reach of NEi's extensive distribution network to deliver these analytical capabilities to engineers and designers globally."

Helius:MCT will form the core technology behind NEi's Advanced Composites module, anticipated for release with NEi Nastran V10.0. Available with other commercial FEA packages as an add-on, this will be the first time Helius:MCT will be integrated directly within the base FEA package. NEi's President Philip Potasiak further explained the basis for the partnership, "Firehole is an obvious partner for us; we share similar goals and look forward to providing our NEi Nastran users with advanced composites technology that is easy to use, efficient and proven. NEi's customers have requested additional composites functionality; we look forward to exceeding their needs through this partnership and the development of NEi's Advanced Composites module."