ALGOR V21 Upgrades Entire Spectrum of FEA: Modeling, Solution and Results

ALGOR, Inc. have announced that its latest, major finite element analysis (FEA) software release, ALGOR V21, significantly upgrades the entire spectrum of FEA: modeling, solution and results evaluation and presentation. V21 provides ALGOR users with increased power, flexibility and ease-of-use for simulating engineering analyses of their product designs. New and improved features include a behind-the-scenes representation of the CAD model (called the "virtual CAD" modeling layer) and meshing algorithms for better mesh matching and automatic contact in complex assemblies; calculation of mass transfer due to diffusion in 3-D transient analysis; full 3-D display of 2-D axisymmetric and planar model results (using rotation or thickness values); and enhanced reporting capabilities including a WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) dialog.

V21 users are praising this major software release:
"I found the meshing routines to be more robust with unusual geometry and isoparametric elements," said Jean M. Beaupre, CEO of Crescendo Technologies in Cincinnati, Ohio. "This has allowed me to spend less time optimizing mesh size, producing models with fewer nodes and quicker solve times, while retaining accuracy."

"The new capability for 3-D display of 2-D models works very well," said James A. Britch, P.E., a Houston-based project manager working in the oil and gas industry. "This feature is especially valuable for 2-D axisymmetric models such as might be used in pressure vessel analysis or in flange set analysis. Looking at a 3-D display gives one a sense of scale and as such provides another level of model quality assurance."

ALGOR Product Manager Bob Williams said, "V21 provides extensive additions to our modeling, meshing, analysis and presentation tools based on customer requests. In particular, this major software release's expanded analysis capabilities -- including mass transfer, phase change, fracture mechanics and cyclic symmetry -- open up new areas that can be examined with our software, allowing users to perform more realistic and sophisticated simulations than ever before."

Other highlights of ALGOR V21 include:
• Inclusion of Kubotek USA's KeyCreator CAD software at no additional charge
• Support for CoCreate OneSpace Modeling 2007
• Scheduling analyses to start at a later time, which provides support for design studies (batch run multiple solutions with varying input and analysis types)
• Capability to save customer-defined material input to a material library
• Improving automatic contact detection including contact pairs
• Cyclic symmetry constraints in linear static stress analysis
• Phase change in transient heat transfer analysis
• Fracture mechanics to simulate crack propagation in structures
• Duncan-Chang material model for soils
• Automated nonlinear analysis settings
• Display of displacements as vectors
• And much more.

The new and improved features of V21 enhance and expand ALGOR's wide range of simulation capabilities including static stress and Mechanical Event Simulation (MES) with linear and nonlinear material models, linear dynamics, steady-state and transient heat transfer, steady and unsteady fluid flow, electrostatics and full multiphysics. All analysis capabilities are available within FEMPRO®, ALGOR's easy-to-use single user interface.

www.algor.com