ANSYS and VISTAGY Integrate ANSYS Composite PrepPost and FiberSIM®

Bi-directional integrated solution provides cutting edge design and analysis workflow for composites.

VISTAGY, Inc., a provider of industry-specific engineering software and services, and ANSYS have taken a major step in closing the loop between composites design and analysis by integrating ANSYS® 13.0 Composite PrepPost™ and FiberSIM® 2010 composites engineering software. This bi-directional integration, enabled by FiberSIM’s Analysis Interface, allows customers to exchange detailed layup information between design and analysis quickly and accurately. As a result, users can optimize parts, assemblies, and structures more efficiently.

With composites quickly becoming more prominent in a variety of industries—including aerospace, automotive, wind energy, marine—both companies recognized the need for an integrated, bi-directional solution that allows stress engineers and designers to expeditiously exchange accurate composites data for laminate plies and fiber orientations. Traditionally, designers and stress engineers have worked in very different environments, which prevented an efficient exchange of data. This greatly slowed and limited the product development process.

As a result of this integration, customers can conduct a faster and more iterative process for optimizing composite parts, ensure there is no disconnect between part certification and manufacturing since layup details can be validated by ANSYS Composite PrepPost, and be confident that the analysis of the design model is accurate.

“The partnership with ANSYS will enable our customers to develop products around a complete and detailed master model available to both design and stress,” said Dr. Olivier Guillermin, director of product and market strategy at VISTAGY. “The integrated solution will allow engineers to spend less time making sure their designs and analyses sync up and more time innovating. As a result, they’ll be able to reduce errors, shorten development times, and get composite products to market quicker.”

“From an overall product development perspective, a composites solution is not complete without the ability to create an optimal layout—through engineering simulation—well before any manufacturing concerns are addressed. The second part of the process involves the capability to move the product into manufacturing, with assurance that it is still a valid design. The ANSYS and VISTAGY solution does just that,” said Barry Christenson, director of product management at ANSYS. “The sophisticated combined technology offers the capability to reach an end-to-end composites design.”

The combined composites solution requires purchasing software from both VISTAGY and ANSYS.

VISTAGY and ANSYS will present a live Webcast to detail how this integrated solution can improve the process for optimizing composite parts. Closing the Loop Between Composites Analysis and Design is scheduled for Thursday, February 3, 2011 at 8:00 PST / 11:00 EST / 16:00 UTC/GMT. Register at http://events.vistagy.com/vistagy-ansys-webcast.