AutoForm Engineering GmbH unveils AutoFormplus R2

Zurich : AutoForm Engineering GmbH, the leading supplier of software solutions for the sheet metal forming industry, has unveiled the latest software version AutoFormplus R2. This release focuses primarily on superior speed performance. Apart from this extraordinary achievement, AutoFormplus R2 brings further powerful benefits to the users.

AutoFormplus R2 is the second major release of the new product line AutoFormplus. It is characterized by an outstanding speed performance, which is achieved as a result of the redesigned software architecture. When using elastic plastic shell elements and bending enhanced membrane elements, the speed of the solver is now increased by an average of 30% and 12%, respectively. This improvement in speed is made without compromising the accuracy of the results.

Deterministic parallel computing is another area in which AutoFormplus R2 excels with the latest results. The shared memory multiprocessing (SMP) solver version has been enhanced in order to deliver deterministic numerical results that do not depend on the number of used cores or processors. Computations with identical input data that use different numbers of parallel threads now lead to identical results. On average, speed-up factors of 1.6 and 2.4 are achieved for 2 and 4 threads, respectively. By combining the SMP option and increased solver speed, AutoFormplus R2 leads to outstanding results with an impressive speed-up factor of 3 compared to the previous version.

AutoFormplus R2 brings further new features and benefits, such as accurate material modeling for stainless steel 1.4301, refined drawbead model, addendum profile templates and option for hidden internal cost data. Further progress has also been made in springback compensation. As a result, the user can implement more advanced compensation strategies to address complex issues that arise in practice.

Dr. Markus Thomma, Corporate Marketing Director of AutoForm Engineering, stated: “We have always been focused on short computation times and accurate results. An example to illustrate our success in this respect: Running AutoFormplus R2 on today’s PC generation, which has an integrated quad-core processor and costs under 1000 €, enables one to simulate a B-pillar – including all operations and springback – in less than 5 minutes. Even more complex parts, such as a door inner, can be simulated in less than 2.5 hours. This remarkable speed adds tangible benefit to our customers. AutoFormplus R2 will be available on the market in June.”