Here’s how the US Navy solved a real engineering problem with 3D printing

When a team of engineers from the Consortium for Advanced Manufacturing Research and Education (CAMRE) loaded their 3D hybrid-metal printer onboard Somerset as part of the experimentation sector of Exercise Rim of the Pacific 2024, they had no idea that they would soon be asked to solve a real-world engineering casualty.

Hours after being loaded on board, a critical component of the reverse osmosis pump, which generates clean water for the crew – an absolute necessity for ships spending long periods at sea – shattered.

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New 3D printing technologies to watch

3D printing seems like a novel technology to many people, but it’s already been around for more than 30 years. In that time, the industry has aligned on classifying various additive manufacturing (AM) technologies, as evidenced in the seven process categories laid out in ISO/ASTM 52900:2021.

Although these generally well-understood processes have been used in various industries, they aren’t the only ways to 3D print parts. Two exhibitors at this year’s RAPID + TCT tradeshow showcased technologies that don’t fit neatly into the above categories but could presage the future of additive manufacturing.

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The ultimate guide to buying an engineering computer

The greatest computational tool engineers have is their brain. The second greatest is their workstation.

You can’t choose the computer in your cranium, but you can choose the one on your desk. That choice will impact how effectively any engineer can do their job, so it’s worth taking the time to consider it properly.

Need some help? We asked industry insiders for their best advice on configuring engineering desktops. From understanding your workflow style to picking the perfect processors, here’s everything you need to know when buying your next engineering computer. (Though this advice is tailored to desktops, it’s also generally relevant to engineering laptops.)

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What happens to Boeing’s Starliner now?

NASA initiated the Boeing Starliner crewed spacecraft program to provide a second source for human lift to low Earth orbit, ensuring access to space in case of difficulties with the SpaceX Crew Dragon system. Program delays, cost overruns, hardware problems with the Starliner uncrewed test flight and the first passenger-carrying trip to the ISS have placed the program’s future in question.

Will the incoming Trump Administration cancel the Starliner program? Everything may depend on the next flight of Starliner. If successful, the economics suggest a continuation of the program. If not, and with the Sierra Space Dream Chaser vehicle nearing flight status, the Starliner program may be on the bubble.

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The 5 traits of a great engineer

Lonnie Johnson has reached a level of success that most engineers can only dream of. He helped choose nuclear targets for the U.S. Air Force, designed critical spacecraft systems at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and holds more than 100 patents. Generations of children have cooled off in the summer with Johnson’s most famous creation, the Super Soaker, a pump-powered water gun that he invented by accident.

Johnson took a long road to get where he is today, and every engineer can learn from his journey. His incredible career reveals what it takes to be a model engineer—and how the right mindset can make all the difference.

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Generative design for aerospace engineering

Generative design represents a transformative approach to engineering and manufacturing, particularly for aerospace manufacturers facing stringent performance, weight and efficiency requirements.

This method leverages advanced computational algorithms to explore and generate optimized designs based on specified parameters and constraints. In aerospace, generative design offers significant advantages by producing innovative, lightweight and highly efficient parts tailored to meet specific needs such as aerodynamics, structural integrity and fuel efficiency.

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How AI can solve the green energy challenge

Creating a carbon-free energy infrastructure by 2050 is a widely sought-after goal for Western economies, and America is no exception. However, achieving both green energy production and grid distribution at scale is a problem almost impossible to resolve in only 25 years with current technology.

Argonne National Laboratory has published a report that presents a roadmap toward a clean energy future driven by artificial intelligence. According to the laboratory, the key will be harnessing large data sets from laboratories, the government and the private sector to enable AI systems to develop new materials, technologies and deployment strategies using established techniques such as the digital twin. If regulators accept artificial intelligence results at face value, timelines for certifying new technologies could be compressed by at least 20%.

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Applying AI in manufacturing: Q&A with Jon Hirschtick

The general sentiment about the usefulness of artificial intelligence (AI) has fluctuated over the last couple of years. After bursting into public consciousness in late 2022, the hype has subsided. As we enter the final stretch of 2024, the current thinking is that AI is in bubble territory, and companies should be wary of putting too much stock in its potential.

We caught up with Onshape’s CEO, Jon Hirschtick, to discuss the company’s entry into the AI playground, how AI can bring value to manufacturers and what the future holds for the still-nascent technology.

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A message to our audience: Thank you for your readership! We hope you enjoyed and learned from our stories the past year, and we look forward to helping you grow your engineering career in 2025!

The post Top engineering news in 2024 appeared first on Engineering.com.

High-performance computing (HPC) is an advanced option for larger, highly complex problems that yield higher-fidelity results. HPCs resemble server racks with tens, hundreds or even thousands of CPUs working in parallel to divide and conquer large computational tasks. Such environments use resource management tools and job schedulers to allocate resources and manage job queues efficiently.

On-premises HPC units can require extensive upfront investments and ongoing maintenance, impractical for many startups and small to medium-sized businesses. Even larger companies may grimace at the initial and long-term costs and effort of managing such resources on-premises or offsite, even if maintenance is outsourced. Therefore, cloud computing offers a flexible alternative for accessing high-performance hardware without significant upfront investment. With cloud-based HPC, multiple engineers can run complex simulations in minutes or hours instead of days or weeks and pay only for their usage. Alternatively, SaaS tools relieve engineers and IT departments of setting up and maintaining complex HPC cloud environments so they can run simulations around the clock.

While planning a simulation study, engineers must consider their available time and computational resources to solve a given problem. Defeaturing, refining and mesh optimization strategies help reduce the number of equations needed to represent the problem, yet computing capabilities significantly influence the study’s reliability and total costs.

What coding languages do simulation engineers need to know?

Coding skills are not always necessary but can boost engineers’ capabilities for various simulation tasks. For example, when dealing with highly complex or custom simulation problems, engineers may need to write custom code to implement specific algorithms or models. They may also need to write scripts to automate repetitive tasks, integrate different software tools or customize workflows.

When using open-source simulation tools, engineers often need to modify or extend the existing code to fit their needs. However, many popular simulation software packages include GUIs for engineers to set up, run and analyze simulations with low or no code.

Nonetheless, it is never a bad idea for engineers to learn or brush up on coding skills. Commonly used languages in engineering simulation include Python, C, C++, Java, JavaScript and Matlab. The choice of programming languages in simulation depends on factors such as the engineering field, software used and available computing resources.

The post What computing resources and skills are required for engineering simulation? appeared first on Engineering.com.

Though many software platforms use a single technique to solve specific problems, multiphysics simulation software leverages several techniques to solve multiple problems simultaneously. Multiphysics software also considers the interactions of various physical phenomena and how such interactions affect system, structure or component performance. Though this article discusses FEA, CFD and multibody dynamics (MBD) techniques separately, multiphysics software tools often combine all these techniques into one platform.

What is finite element analysis (FEA) simulation?

FEA is a computational technique to analyze the behavior of complex structures and components under defined conditions. Though the terms FEA and FEM (finite element method) are often used interchangeably, FEM refers to the discretization method, and FEA refers to the analysis technique that uses FEM.

FEA simulation is widely used across industries for different applications, including:

• Static and dynamic structural analysis: Assessing the strength and durability of structures or components under steady-state and changing conditions.
• Modal analysis: Understanding the natural vibration characteristics of structures or components and predicting their performance under various conditions.
• Thermal analysis: Studying heat distribution and thermal stresses in components.
• Fluid dynamics: Simulating fluid flow and its interaction with structures (often combined with CFD).
• Electromagnetic analysis: Investigating electromagnetic fields in electrical devices.
• Biomechanics: Understanding the behavior of biological tissues for designing medical implants.

During FEA pre-processing, engineers divide a model into a finite number of smaller elements to form a mesh. They select different types of elements, including 1D, 2D or 3D elements, based on the model’s geometry and nature of the problem. For example, aerospace engineers may use 1D elements for fuselage frames, 2D elements for the aircraft’s skin (outer surface) and 3D elements, often tet or hex elements, for the landing gear.

Then, engineers specify the material properties for each material used in the model. These properties include Young’s modulus and Poisson’s ratio, which define how a material deforms under stress. Engineers also define boundary conditions, including constraints and loads applied to the model. The FEA software uses the material properties and boundary conditions to construct mathematical matrices for each element. It then solves the system of equations, thereby predicting the material’s response to applied loads.

During post-processing, engineers analyze the results, such as displacement fields, stress distributions and potential failure points, to assess the performance and safety of the design.

What is computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation?

CFD is a simulation technique widely used to analyze the behavior of fluids (liquids and gases) and their interactions with surfaces. The fundamental equations governing fluid flow are the Navier-Stokes equations, derived from the conservation laws of mass, momentum and energy. CFD solvers often use the finite volume method (FVM) to discretize these equations, but the finite difference method (FDM) is sometimes used for simpler problems. FEM can also be used but is computationally expensive since CFD problems tend to require a large number of elements.

CFD simulation software analyzes fluid flows that are external or internal to a model. External CFD models are frequently used to supplement, inform or replace physical wind tunnel and aerodynamic testing in the aerospace and automotive sectors.

Internal CFD simulations are also used in such industries to help design and optimize the fuel flows, exhaust fumes or internal combustions associated with a vehicle’s engine. CFD simulations can also model mixing, heat transfer, chemical reactions and other phenomena that include the flow of gases or liquids.

Engineers start by inputting test geometry from CAD to CFD or multiphysics software. Tools within the simulation software, or third-party options, pre-process the geometry by filling in unintended gaps and simplifying complex shapes that will increase computations without affecting results. Then, engineers select whether a flow field is internal or external to the geometry. When choosing an external flow field, engineers must also denote how far the fluid flow will be calculated from the input geometry. They then input initial conditions, flow models and materials properties.

Engineers using CFD simulations must pay close attention to the flow models selected, particularly when dealing with turbulent flows. Chaotic, stochastic changes in pressure and flow velocity characterize turbulent flows. Several classes of models are used to simulate turbulence, such as direct numerical simulation (DNS), large eddy simulation (LES) and Reynolds-average Navier-Stokes (RANS) models. Different turbulence models may better suit certain applications, geometries, fluids, flow volumes, scales and internal or external flow fields.

Next, the geometry is typically meshed into smaller discrete cells to break the problem into smaller parts, making it easier to assign and solve the governing equations. These inputs are then passed onto a CFD solver to iterate the computations until their results converge to an answer. Tools within the simulation software, or external third-party options, are then used to post-process the results into flow diagrams, charts, geometries and reports.

What is multibody dynamics (MBD) simulation?

In the CAE simulation world, MBD refers to multibody dynamics, not model-based definition, model-based design or model-based development. Model-based definition is a feature in various CAD, PDM and PLM software that enables users to annotate and associate part information with a 3D model, making it a single source of truth for that part. Model-based design or development has roots in systems design and process control and involves producing a complex system model using flow charts, mathematical equations and simple simulations.

MBD simulations assess mechanical systems made up of rigid or elastic parts. Using equations of motion, the software numerically assesses the kinematics of each part in the system based on its mass, center of mass, inertia and properties after applying internal and external forces or torques. The motions that MBD simulations might describe include the translational and rotational movements of aircraft parts, construction equipment, robots, vehicles or any other system with moving parts. Some assessments engineers can perform using MBD include the study of noise, vibration and harshness (NVH), vehicle performance, electronic control systems and more.

Much like model-based design and model-based definition, MBD simulation is often used early in the product development cycle to virtually test the performance of a design before any physical assets are produced.

MBD simulations can also be used in digital twins to monitor and assess real-world assets. However, unlike model-based design digital twins, which traditionally assess industrial systems, MBD digital twins assess real-world system motion.

The post What’s the difference between FEA, CFD and MBD in engineering simulation? appeared first on Engineering.com.

When looking to improve, a good starting point is studies on workplace satisfaction and effective measures. For example, a recent study in Germany found that equality action measures in companies (such as women’s empowerment, childcare and special offers for parental leave) significantly decrease the pay gap. Looking specifically at women working in the tech industry, an empirical international study determined that women generally look for more work-life balance and fair recognition at their workplace. Feelings of imposter syndrome, invisible and overlooked barriers and the so-called maternal wall are significant disadvantages for women working in tech due to having to balance work and family duties alongside each other. These aspects can be addressed by training the management to become aware of the struggles women face and ensuring that women receive equal payment and opportunities. Lastly, women also reported that they miss peer parity, which can be simply resolved by hiring more women. In this sense, ModuleWorks is actively working towards employee’s work-life-balance by providing flexibility of working hours by location and time, discouragement of extra hours, sabbatical policies, and parenthood support.

ModuleWorks is part of a regional and a national network of family-friendly employers. In a more general commitment to diversity, including gender, but not limited to it, ModuleWorks signed the Charta of Diversity. This Charta is an initiative of employers to appreciate and foster diversity in their companies. is an initiative of employers to appreciate and foster diversity in their companies.

Flexibility, parental support, inclusion

Apart from considering the well-being of women in technology, and more specifically in ModuleWorks, in the big picture, it is important to listen to what women in this company have to say. This is why women from different departments were invited to share their perspectives and their personal experiences at the company. Starting on the topic of childcare, Eva, a member of the research team, stated she appreciated most the “flexibility, like working remotely and having flexibility regarding working hours. Having children, it is great to have this flexibility.” Employees will soon also benefit from a childcare room, which is currently under construction. This room will allow parents to bring in their children to work when necessary.

However, ModuleWorks is aware that flexibility is not only important to caregivers. Another recent multinational study found that the free choice of workspace, either remote or office work, is important not only to caregivers but also for lesbian, gay, trans, queer, intersexual, or asexual (LGBTQIA+) people, who need to be considered in conjunction with feminist concerns. Employing more women and diverse people is one of the aims that the company has been striving for already for years.

Currently, the company is also supporting women through FemWorks, a working group created by employees to increase female visibility in the company and the recruitment of women outside of the company.

Speaking about her first days at ModuleWorks, Kristin, an algorithmic developer in the 5-axis SWARF and geodesic team, said, “Christine was really happy about the fact that we are now three women in our team and added me quickly to the FemWorks group”.

With the task force, Miriam, a software developer in the industry team, feels that “FemWorks shows that the company supports women.”

At the same time, FemWorks is actively trying to attract more women into the company. Roxana, QA department head in Bucharest, stated, “As a Team Leader, I never was stopped to bring more women in my team (actually, I can say that in my team, about 40% are women).”

Personal experiences — story time

Cristina, a product manager in Bucharest, has wanted a technical career ever since she was little. She described it this way: “Studying engineering was always a passion of mine since I was a small child. I would have picked changing a tire or fixing up a computer with my dad anytime. I did my studies in Robotics and CAM and always pursued the mechanical side of life. ModuleWorks gave me the chance to have a career and to gather a lot of experience with the industry.”

El-Marie, senior team leader in the Bucharest office, shared her experience after joining the company: “Everything was correct and fair all the time. I never felt any difference between me and the boys. I was always part of the team, and the responsibilities, opportunities or the expectations were the same as for everybody else.”

Similarly, from the research team, Eva mentioned, “It happens quite often, that I am the only woman in a meeting, but the male colleagues and project partners are very polite and do not make a difference here.”

Christine, senior team leader of the 5-axis SWARF and geodesic team, said, “I have a voice, and people are listening to me (even our CEO is interested in everyone’s opinion). When encountering a problem, people are always willing to find a good solution. There is no competitive thinking. People are trying to help.”

Being a woman in STEM

The support for women in a field dominated by males is not restricted to ModuleWorks as 5-axis and additive developer Eva said: “I was often the only or one of few women during my studies (especially computer science), but I never had the feeling that it mattered.”

This is also true after university when working in a tech company such as ModuleWorks, as Christine stated, “I was able to become a team leader. The team counts now 13 people. The team spirit and the products we are providing are strong.”

Yet, having this passion or interest does not mean freedom from doubts, as Kristin showed: “The focus of my master’s and my Ph.D. was very theoretic, and thus I doubted that I had skills that are helpful for a ‘real’ job. Before working at ModuleWorks, I only programmed in my free time and a little bit at university, but this was far away from doing this professionally.”

Also, Kaya, a student worker of the integration team, explained: “Overcoming those doubts is not easy, but I try to imagine that everybody has once gained their first professional experience and gender shouldn’t be important at all.”

What helped Kristin in the process was the encouragement from fellow ModuleWorkers, specifically her team. “I think the thing I enjoy the most at ModuleWorks is the team spirit. From the beginning, I feel as part of the team and not like the new one. When I was new at ModuleWorks, I knew that I could always ask my colleagues for help without feeling uncomfortable.”

Liliana, product manager in Bucharest, shared a similar experience: “The icing on the cake for me is the little things: the words of appreciation when a job is well done, an inside joke that reminds me that I’ve been here for a long time, a sigh of frustration when an application crashes and a colleague finds the right words to create a sense of belonging, taking a sick day when I can’t focus and can’t get any work done, finding activities to do outside of work with others, and the list can go on.”

Hence, women are welcomed by the same warm family-like environment, as Roxana added: “I appreciate the fact that ModuleWorks is open to good ideas and encourages people to be involved and work to implement their ideas (no matter if we are women or men).”

All in all, having been in ModuleWorks almost since its foundation, El-Marie rounded up: “In general, I had a great experience as a woman in STEM. Especially in the old days, women were only a handful in this domain, so we were treated as ‘very special’ … That was 20 years ago. Now the industry is slightly different, women are more present, which I appreciate, as it is refreshing to have also girls around in the office and to be able to chat some ‘girl talk’ from time to time.”

Cristina from Bucharest added: “A lot of women have been more interested in engineering and science lately, which is very important. We are slowly breaking the ideology that women can’t have a career in science and engineering which is absolutely amazing.”

Conclusion: A better future

ModuleWorks has been at the forefront of providing employees with good work-life balance and career opportunities — not just females, as the Great Place to Work Awards of the past 10 years show. An important aspect of working to be a great employer is considering the individual needs, for example, for migrants, which is an aspect in which the company has been active and received an award. So, considering women, it is an equally logical and necessary step toward becoming an even better place to work; and ModuleWorks is excited to continue this journey of improvement and shaping a better future for everyone.

The post Listening to women’s voices at ModuleWorks appeared first on Engineering.com.

Some simulation software platforms include post-processors with various options to streamline workflows and make analyses easier. However, engineers can also export data from a solver and import it into separate post-processing or data analysis software. Some third-party software, including open-source tools, are optimized for specific techniques and datasets. Therefore, engineers should consider their simulation technique, data size and complexity when selecting a post-processor.

Although post-processing software can generate cool-looking pictures and impressive animations, the focus is less on creating appealing visuals and more on assessing results and gaining knowledge.

During post-processing, engineers must leverage their experience and mathematical and scientific training to evaluate the entire study and determine whether the results make sense. Recall that a simulation study starts with pre-processing a model under defined conditions, then discretizes the model’s governing PDEs into algebraic equations and solves the system of equations as an approximation of real-world phenomena. Pre-processing inaccuracies directly affect post-processing results and can give inaccurate representations of the model’s behavior.

Things to keep in mind:

• While planning a simulation study, clearly define the problem and what you want to achieve during post-processing.
• Select the right post-processing software that satisfies the study’s goals.
• Analyze the data for accuracy, validity and reliability to ensure the dataset makes sense and to evaluate the entire study.
• Consider who will use your results and ensure visuals are easy for such audiences to understand.

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“We gather as many people as possible to train them on what’s new and upcoming, as well as answer any questions they have,” said Robert Warren, product strategy manager for simulation at GoEngineer. “There are live demonstrations of the software on what’s new, technical features that are coming up, what to look for and how those features change year over year.”

The Solidworks 2025 release has about 200 enhancements that will be delivered throughout next year. GoEngineer covered new capabilities for parts, sheet metal and weldments, assemblies, drawing and model-based definition (MBD), collaboration, rendering, electronic computer-aided design (ECAD), mechanical computer-aided design (MCAD) and manufacturing. Common themes among the new features include improved performance, usability, visualizations and efficiency, and the presenters used Proteus Motion’s designs to demonstrate these. Proteus Motion creates exercise machines for professional athletes and uses Solidworks extensively for design changes, finite element analysis (FEA), and even packaging considerations.

“One of the benefits of Solidworks is every year, users submit recommendations for enhancements, and they listen to 90% of those,” said Warren. “It’s actually a popularity contest, so the more it gets voted on, the more likely they’re going to put it in. But I would say probably 90 to 95% of what is in the ‘what’s new’ came from user requests.”

In addition to the annual event, GoEngineer offers personalized training at its Cleveland location and many others around the U.S. and Canada. They also provide simulation services to help individuals and companies expedite product development, regardless of whether they have Solidworks licenses.

“One of the nice things that we do is if they want to invest in the software later or if they own the software but need an answer quickly, we do a technology transfer. So, not only do we do the project for them and get them an answer pretty quickly, but we also teach them how we did it and why we did it to empower them to do it themselves,” said Warren. “We provide a very detailed report of all the outputs they were requesting, and then also the files, so that they can move forward as quickly as possible.”

Warren has noticed an uptick in their simulation services, especially computational fluid dynamics (CFD) for thermal management on batteries, battery packs and electronics cooling. He and his team have also performed several external aerodynamic simulations to analyze fuel efficiency on vehicles and drag coefficients, for instance, coinciding with the push toward electrification. Warren also noted trends on the design side.

“Light-weighting is a big one,” he said. “Topology — so generated design, although we’re not quite to a point where we can readily use those. You still have to design over top of those, right? Because you can’t 3D print a full vehicle. But they do give a very clear direction, a way of looking at it that you wouldn’t normally see as an engineer. We’re taught to poke holes, not necessarily generate a lattice, and it gives you a new path to go down. It’s pretty interesting.”

Stay tuned as Engineering.com covers more on the Solidworks 2025 release.

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Now, not all features on a 3D model need to be meshed. For example, nonstructural or decorative features can be ignored if they are outside the scope of the simulation study. Ignoring or defeaturing the 3D model can save computational time and costs. Also, different parts of a design can be meshed differently with several types of geometries and refining methods based on the study’s scope and the part’s role in the overall design.

At a high level, meshing is considered either structured or unstructured. Structured meshing is uniform and comprises simple, regular shapes, while unstructured meshing is non-uniform and can contain irregular and varying geometries. FDM requires structured meshes (often called grids), while FEM and FVM can use either depending on the 3D model’s geometry and complexity. The size of mesh elements impacts run time and computational costs, so engineers spend upfront effort refining the mesh to optimize element size and shape.

Meshes can comprise 1D, 2D or 3D elements with boundaries (also called edges) and nodes. 1D elements are lines with two nodes used to model trusses, beams, rods and connections. 2D elements are usually triangles with three nodes or quadrilaterals with four nodes and can be asymmetric or isoparametric. They are used to analyze planar stress and strain for thin shells, plates or membranes. Using 2D elements to estimate thin 3D geometries, such as sheet metal, often saves time.

Tets, hexes and other mesh elements

3D elements are commonly tetrahedra (tet) with four nodes, pyramids with five nodes, triangular prisms with six nodes, hexahedra (hex) with eight nodes or other irregular polyhedrons with varying nodes. They can be asymmetric or isoparametric and include additional midside nodes. In general, hex (also called “brick”) elements can simplify a model, improve accuracy and reduce run time. However, not all geometries are best represented as bricks, so tet elements are used, which often increases the number of elements and, therefore, the number of equations to compute.

Elements can be first-order or second-order, depending on their nodes. First-order elements have nodes only at their corners, while second-order elements have additional midside nodes between their corner nodes. Second-order elements increase accuracy but require more time and computing resources.

Elements can also have “hanging nodes” that aren’t shared with surrounding elements. Meshes with hanging nodes are considered nonconformal and can occur during mesh adaptation processes. Such processes, typically called adaptive mesh refinement (AMR), add or remove elements and nodes to optimize specific areas of interest. There are three general AMR methods:

• h-refinement: Subdivides elements by adding new nodes within elements to increase mesh resolution (and the number of equations). Contrarily, h-derefinement removes nodes to broaden elements and create a coarser mesh.
• r-refinement: Moves nodes to concentrate resolution in an area of interest without adding or removing nodes or elements.
• p-refinement: Increases the order of the element, from first-order to second-order, for instance.

Meshes can be refined iteratively until they “converge” or get as close as possible to solving the PDEs with algebraic equations and reducing overall error. Simulation software platforms with built-in pre-processors contain meshing tools to help engineers optimize geometries and refine meshes. Third-party meshing software also exists for engineers to import CAD files, create and refine a mesh and export for a solver. However, refining a mesh still takes time and skill and often involves running multiple simulations of different resolutions to compare the results and decide which makes the most sense.

Here are a few things to keep in mind:

• Consider the purpose of the simulation study to determine how much effort you should spend creating and refining the mesh.
• The geometry used in the simulation model should accurately represent the real-world problem.

The mesh directly influences simulation results. Higher-quality meshes yield better results but can consume more pre-processing and solving resources.

The post What is meshing in engineering simulation? appeared first on Engineering.com.

Pre-processing: This is the simulation setup and involves importing a CAD file, defining all properties of the 3D model, creating the mesh and applying constraints and conditions. This step is critical for a successful simulation study with accurate results. Some CAE software has built-in pre-processors with a graphical user interface (GUI) for easy importing and setup. Others without a pre-processor or GUI require engineers to create a data file in an exact format. There is also independent pre-processor software to make the entire pre-processing step, or parts of it, easier with exportable files.

Solving: A solver is the software that performs the calculations and computes the mathematical model. Depending on a model’s complexity, this step can require extensive computational resources and time.

Post-processing: This is the simulation output, such as data files, heat maps and charts. Some CAE platforms have built-in post-processors so engineers can view simulation results in the same program. If a solver doesn’t have a post-processer, engineers must download output files and load them into external programs to view results.

Some simulation software platforms integrate with external CAD programs for easy importing. Others provide CAD and CAE capabilities in a single platform, which streamlines workflows and helps engineers iterate faster. This also enables simulation-driven design. Regardless, once a model is ready for CAE analysis, engineers have options depending on what needs to be tested.

How to plan an engineering simulation

Here are the things to think about when planning a simulation study:

• What problem do you need to solve?
• How much time do you have to run the study?
• What computational resources do you have, and are they adequate for the study?
• What are your goals for the study, and what do you intend to do with the results?
• How will the results be communicated, and to whom?

Understanding the purpose helps engineers plan and run a simulation efficiently to minimize time, costs and other resources.

The post What are the steps required to run an engineering simulation? appeared first on Engineering.com.

Engineers use simulation technology to evaluate a model in a virtual environment and predict how it will behave in the real world.

A model is a representation of an object, system or process, such as a bearing for an industrial robot, a landing gear system for commercial aircraft or a food packaging process. Engineers create 3D models of components, machines and structures using computer-aided design (CAD) software and then use computer-aided engineering (CAE) software to test and evaluate the models under defined conditions.

For example, an engineer may design a component in CAD and then use CAE software to simulate peak loading conditions to analyze the component’s response. If simulation results show that the component satisfies requirements, engineers may build a physical prototype to validate the part in the real world.

Additionally, engineers can use simulation software to explain why a component or structure failed. For example, if many customers report that a machine fails repeatedly at a particular connection, engineers can use simulation tools to understand the problem and improve the design. Thus, simulation can be used at numerous points in a product lifecycle.

Engineers also use process simulation software to model and analyze manufacturing processes, such as production lines, robot operations and automated warehouses. Others leverage physical simulators, such as flight or heavy equipment simulators, incorporating gaming software and even virtual reality (VR) or augmented reality (AR) to conduct human-in-the-loop testing. Physical simulators are often used for training and evaluating a system or process involving human decision-making.

For engineers who design products, components, machines and structures, there are three widely used simulation techniques: finite element analysis (FEA), computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and multibody dynamics (MBD).

How does simulation software work?

While CAD software creates 3D models representing real-world designs, CAE software creates mathematical models representing the designs based on physics equations. Physical conditions, such as forces and heat, applied to the designs are often described using partial differential equations (PDEs), which are continuous functions with infinite solutions. To compute and output discrete values from such equations, CAE software uses discretization methods that convert differential equations into solvable systems of algebraic equations.

Engineers choose a discretization method based on the design and what they want to analyze. Without getting into the mathematics, here is a simplistic overview of three commonly used methods:

Finite element method (FEM): This method divides a 3D model into many smaller finite elements, collectively called a mesh. The software discretizes the PDEs into algebraic equations for each element. It then solves the system of equations for the entire mesh. FEM solves a myriad of physics problems and is widely used for complex geometries in FEA tools.

Finite difference method (FDM): This method divides a 3D model into a finite grid with evenly spaced intervals and endpoints. The software discretizes the PDEs into algebraic equations at the endpoints and solves the system. FDM is typically reserved for simple geometries that can be divided into structured grids.

Finite volume method (FVM): This method divides a 3D model into many smaller finite volumes called cells. The software discretizes the PDEs by integrating over the cells, accounting for variations between them and balancing fluxes. FVM is often used to solve fluid flow and heat transfer problems in CFD tools.

Since discretization approximates algebraic equations, there are inherent errors in each method. Engineers must understand which method is most appropriate for their models and set up a quality mesh or grid to help minimize such errors.

How to switch to a simulation engineering career

Engineers interested in transitioning to simulation-based roles can start building skills with open-source software and tutorials. Many commercial platform providers also include trials and introductory courses. Consider looking at job postings from various companies to see what software they use and become familiar with those interfaces by building basic models and running simple studies.

Despite the effort to democratize simulation software and make it more accessible to non-experts, engineers should brush up on relevant physics, calculus and programming skills to understand the calculations and ensure results make sense. That might mean revisiting concepts and equations for structural mechanics, fluid dynamics and heat transfer to gauge whether a model accurately reflects a defined real-world problem. It might also mean practicing coding or learning a new scripting language.

Simulation engineers are highly sought after, and many companies are willing to pay top dollar for expertise. Job prospects are favorable in nearly every industry, including aerospace, automotive, construction, electronics, manufacturing, medical and telecommunications. Demand in such industries continues to grow as more organizations seek to improve efficiency, safety and performance while reducing costs and environmental impact.

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Aerospace dramatically influenced hydraulics’ evolution in the last century. The move from manual to hydraulic actuation happened quickly in the 1950s and 1960s, yet fundamental hydraulic designs in aircraft have not changed as much since.

“If you look at some of the pumps on the 787, for example, they are probably identical to the ones that were on the 747 in terms of design — even though there were 40 years between them — for several reasons, not least of which is that they work and they’re good,” said Simon Jones, CTO of Domin.

Today, many aircraft have three central systems, each with multiple pumps and reservoirs. Power transfer units may be present if a pump fails to transfer pressure between different systems. Each actuator also has redundancies with separate hydraulic and electrical systems. Plus, all this equipment requires extensive piping that adds immense weight, complexity, and assembly time.

“What you end up with are planes lugging between one-and-a-half and two-and-a-half tons of hydraulic equipment around with them all the time and burning hundreds of kilos of fuel per flight just to lift these hydraulics,” said Jones. “They generally all have two-stage valves constantly taking a few kilowatts of quiescent loss the whole time you’re flying. For an eight-hour flight, that’s a huge number of kilowatt hours just to power the hydraulics to do nothing. So, you’re caught in this world where hydraulics are great, but having that hydraulic system on board is hugely costly in terms of infrastructure, size, weight, and power.”

Jones has an aerospace background and previously worked on gas turbines to reduce the weight of certain parts by tens of grams, even single-digit grams at times. He was hard-pressed to take every little piece of weight he could off the engine to get more out of the fuel. Every hundred grams of weight salvaged improved fuel burn by 0.1% and saved the company hundreds of thousands.

“The scale of waste in terms of the amount of energy needed to carry huge systems around on these aircraft is just baffling,” said Jones. “Hydraulics is great, but electrified systems are also great. The best solution, therefore, should be bringing those two together and using the best of hydraulics without the clunky central stuff, giving it full digital control, and putting it into an electrified system.”

Domin poses to decentralize hydraulic systems and move toward hybrid-electric aircraft to leverage the best of both worlds while shrinking components, reducing weight, and decreasing energy consumption. Jones stated that hydraulics persists because of its power-dense force transmission but doesn’t lend itself well to lightweight electrified architectures, where digital signal transmission enables asset monitoring and optimization.

“The other nice thing is that you can manage redundancy by having multiple units or multiple redundant systems within a given actuator, for example. You can also locally manage energy storage, harvesting, and reuse,” he said.

However, capturing and reusing energy may not be feasible for all systems. For example, braking would be challenging due to its immense energy requirements, whereas flight controls have fully reversible cycles. Today, a big pump applies constant pressure through valves that are always on alert to lift and lower the flight control surfaces. This could be an opportunity to manage energy and eliminate losses so that no energy would be consumed.

“The reason it’s not done today is because it’s really hard to shrink hydraulics and get them to a point where they are efficient, small, compact, and lightweight. If you buy a pump, a valve, and an accumulator and bring all those together, you then have a big block. It just doesn’t work.” said Jones. “If you look at electrohydrostatic systems today, they look like a Frankenstein thing. There’s a few flying, but it hasn’t taken the industry by storm yet because it’s big, clunky, and generally prone to reliability issues.”

Since hydraulics don’t naturally shrink very well in this case, electromechanical actuators may seem like the sensible solution. However, for applications with high levels of shock, vibration, dirt, and temperature fluctuation, as is common for aircraft brakes, landing gear, and flight controls, such solutions can jam and compromise safety. They also must be sized according to the largest force they’d have to exert and hold, drawing power the entire time.

“There have been billions spent on electromechanical systems for aerospace, and there are almost none flying. And the ones that are aren’t competitive with traditional hydraulic solutions,” said Jones. “So, we’ve identified this niche in the market where everyone wants to use less energy and have less weight. Everyone wants these modern digital systems, but no one can shrink and integrate traditional hydraulic systems nicely. That is the sweet spot for us.”

Domin’s core technology comprises ultra-compact, high-performance pumps and high-speed switching valves. The company uses enabling tools, including metal 3D printing, to develop hydraulic products that allow electricity to generate and modulate pressure in a very complex, high-bandwidth manner. Though large-scale commercial aircraft are on their radar, the team has progressed in validating its products on helicopters.

“We’ve done a lot of work on helicopter braking systems. Today, they’ve got a pump on the top deck and pipe all these things down to the cockpit. The pilots have some pedals, and they control some valves. Then, there are more pipes down to the brakes, and you have a separate parking brake with another pump and accumulator. All those things can come out, and we can drop in a really small — the size of an apple — little hydraulic system next to the brake. That’s all control over wire, effectively, and we’re talking tens of kilos of weight savings, which is significant on one of those aircraft,” said Jones.

But Jones and his team aren’t just looking to compete in the market — they want to make a positive impact on society while decreasing humanity’s footprint. He isn’t convinced that hydrogen and other solutions will be ready for a long time, so he’s thinking about what he can do right now to improve flying today.

“There’s obviously a trend of people who are motivated to look at the sustainability of things and the scarcity of resources,” he said. “But being sustainable doesn’t mean that people shouldn’t fly. It just means that we should make flying easier with a lower overall penalty to the environment.

“Engineers have the power to increase prosperity across the world. We have the power to deliver things that allow more people to do great things and give more people choices. We would love it if we made technology that meant there weren’t necessarily fewer flights, but more people would get on a flight and go and connect with people or see the world or travel — but while recognizing that the [resources] we have in the world … are scarce. Therefore, we should do our best to deliver things that let more people experience all that, but at a lower penalty than today. That’s where we’d love to get to.”

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