Design Engineering: Vol 1, Issue 5

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Global Engineering Consultancy Atkins Achieves Significant Increases in Productivity Leveraging HyperWorks Simulation Platform		DEM Solutions Releases Latest Version of Their Multi-purpose Modeling Software
TROY, MI - Altair Engineering, Inc., a leading global provider of technology and services that empowers client innovation and decision-making, announced that international engineering and design consultancy Atkins has selected HyperWorks' pre-and post-processing solutions, HyperMesh and HyperView as standard tools for future design projects. The decision follows measured business benefits from the suite including productivity and efficiency gains, the flexible business model and a common platform for supporting Atkins' multi-solver environment. "The majority of cost incurred when performing finite element (FE) analysis is during the initial model-generation phase, so reducing the amount of time spent at this stage is extremely valuable to us and our clients," said Jon Gittoes, FE team leader at Atkins. "Basically it comes down to minimising the time it takes to get from initial geometry to a working model, and that's what HyperMesh does so well. HyperMesh has excellent geometry idealization, which significantly improves our design efficiency and has a large impact on the overall project timescales."		Edinburgh, Scotland (UK) - DEM Solutions, experts in particle simulation solutions,today announces the release of EDEM 2.2, the latest version of the multi-purpose modeling software used to simulate and optimize bulk particle handling and processing operations. Recent versions of the software have seen the addition of a number of cutting edge features, driven by customer collaboration, to allow users to perform more sophisticated particle simulations. The latest version of EDEM includes a number of enhancements to allow the user to configure exactly the data they require for analysis, improving productivity and ultimately maximizing the time spent solving engineering problems. EDEM has always provided the ability to rewind simulations and to use the output of one simulation as the start point of another. By saving all EDEM simulation data users did not have to specify in advance which data they wished to analyze. But as EDEM simulations have grown larger, results file sizes have also become very substantial with associated impact on data storage capacity required.
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Data Translation Introduces Low-Cost, High-Throughput, Simultaneous USB Data Acquisition Module		Lattice Technology Releases 3ds Max Converter V 4.0
MARLBORO, MA - Data Translation today announced the DT9816-S multifunction, high throughput, simultaneous USB data acquisition module. The DT9816-S allows the user to sample six analog input channels independently at up to 800 kHz per channel. "The DT9816-S high throughput data acquisition module presents an extremely cost effective and efficient USB data acquisition solution to the market," according to Fred Molinari, Founder and President. "At the low unit price of $595, the data acquisition customer can correlate and make multiple high throughput measurements easily and quickly at a very reasonable investment." The DT9816-S is the latest addition to the ECONseries of USB data acquisition modules, providing a flexible yet economical series of multifunction data acquisition products. In addition to an extremely high throughput rate of up to 800 kHz per input channel, the DT9816-S offers a full set of features including 8 digital input lines, 8 digital output lines, and a 16-bit counter/timer.		SAN FRANCISCO, CA - Lattice Technology®, developers of digital manufacturing applications using the XVL® format, announced the release of its updated 3ds Max® converter into XVL format files.Version 4.0 of this XVL Converter application supports the new XVL v10 format, which delivers the industry's most compressed 3D format with no loss of accuracy. XVL v10 can compress 3D data to 0.5% of its original size, allowing anyone in the manufacturing supply chain to quickly view and understand even the most complex 3D data, even on a low specification PC. "Once 3D data leaves the designers' desks, it becomes a problem for others downstream who don't have the hardware and software to deal with it," commented Bill Barnes, general manager, Lattice Technology. "XVL and the XVL applications are focused on making 3D data lightweight, usable, reliable, and manageable downstream, and this updated converter makes that even easier for 3ds Max users."
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Emerson's Mass Flow Measurement Technologies Enable Overall Economic Improvement of 1 Percent for Solvay Solexis, Italy		Austriamicrosystems' New Magnetic Rotary IC Provides an Optimal Motion Sensing Solution for Conventional Angle Position Systems
BOULDER, CO - Solvay Solexis in Alessandria, Italy, has specified Emerson's Micro Motion® Coriolis flowmeters throughout its Spinetta Marengo plant for the accurate and reliable measurement of mass flow. Solvay Solexis is part of the Solvay Group, a worldwide leader in fluor chemistry, manufacturing innovative fluorinated products for speciality markets. Solvay is a 145-year-old Belgian group, with 400 production sites, 28,000 employees and a total income of US $14 billion (9.82 billion Euros). The Spinetta Marengo site, which is dedicated to the production of fluoride polymers, has over 200 flow measurement points, and over 75 percent of these applications have Micro Motion Coriolis meters installed addressing special challenges. Micro Motion ELITE®, F-Series and Model D Coriolis flowmeters have been implemented in critical areas and extreme conditions, including cryogenic applications and the dosing of fluoridric acids.		Unterpremstaetten, Austria - Austriamicrosystems, a leading global designer and manufacturer of high performance analog ICs for automotive, communication, industry and medical applications, introduced the AS5215, a dual die automotive magnetic rotary encoder IC for safety challenging applications, such as electronic power steering systems. This solution is also based on austriamicrosystems patented stacked-die technology. "Micro controlled systems are increasingly used in automotive position sensing applications. In most of these systems, the microcontroller capacity is only partly used. The AS5215 has been specifically developed to provide a position sensing solution which leverages on this fact, and allows our customers to design the most cost efficient systems", says Andreas Pfingstl, Product Manager Automotive Encoders at austriamicrosystems. "The AS5215 can be easily implemented in existing system architectures, providing high reliable contactless angle measurements, without a need to replace or modify proven electronic control units."
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ANSYS Launches Immersed Boundary Module for Rapid Design Evaluation		LEDAS Improves Assembly Design and Kinematic Simulation in Rhino 3D and Announces History-Free Geometry Editing
SOUTHPOINTE, PA -- (BUSINESS WIRE) -- ANSYS, Inc., a global innovator of simulation software and technologies designed to optimize product development processes, announced the availability of the Immersed Boundary module for ANSYS® FLUENT® 12.0 software. Jointly developed by ANSYS and long-time partner Cascade Technologies Inc., the module dramatically reduces the amount of time needed for fluid flow simulations and provides fast results by directly addressing challenges associated with meshing. This first release, which is fully parallelized, supports the physical models and boundary conditions needed for modeling low-speed external aerodynamics and automotive front-end airflows. The Immersed Boundary tool offers the ability to save customers time and money by reducing the human effort needed to go from computer-aided design (CAD) to an analysis solution. A conventional fluid dynamics simulation starts with the transfer of CAD data to a grid-generation package, in which a surface mesh and then a volume mesh are generated before the simulation can be set up and the solution run. The effort and time required for such pre-processing tasks can be significant.		Novosibirsk, Russia - LEDAS Ltd., an independent provider of variational design tools for different CAD platforms, today announced second preliminary version (0.2) of its Driving Dimensions plugin for Rhinoceros, a popular NURBS modeling application. The plugin can be downloaded with no charge at www.DrivingDimensions.com and offers easy-to-use parameterization tools, which considerably reduce the time required to make changes to the existing models and open new modeling capabilities. The new features of Driving Dimensions 0.2 for Rhino are improved kinematic simulation functionality, enhancement of graphical user interface, and an easy-to-use installer. Now animation frames are computed in a background mode when a user starts the animation of a driving dimension, and the animation can be controlled as a movie using a traditional interface (play/pause, reverse/backward, slider navigation bar). At any moment of the animation the user can pan, rotate and zoom the model. Animation parameters are now stored in .3dm files (Rhino native file format).
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National Instruments Introduces NI VeriStand 2009 Real-Time Testing and Simulation Software		Teamcenter to Serve as Foundation for Siemens' PLM Process
Austin, TX - National Instruments today announced NI VeriStand 2009, an open, configuration-based software environment for creating real-time testing applications such as hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) and controlled environmental tests. All of the common functionalities of a real-time test system are implemented and optimized inside NI VeriStand in a ready-to-use format, making it possible for real-time test system developers to complete their test application development more efficiently. NI VeriStand helps developers configure a multicore-ready, real-time engine capable of supporting third-party I/O interfaces including a variety of data acquisition and field-programmable gate array (FPGA)- based I/O interfaces as well as triggerable data-logging and stimulus-generation tasks. Customers' control algorithms and simulation models often required by real-time testing applications also can be imported into NI VeriStand from NI LabVIEW software and many other third-party modeling environments, including The MathWorks, Inc. Simulink® and ITI SimulationX® software environments because NI VeriStand is an open environment for real-time test system development.		PLANO, TX - Siemens PLM Software, a business unit of the Siemens Industry Automation Division and a leading global provider of product lifecycle management (PLM) software and services, today announced that Siemens AG has adopted Teamcenter® software as its corporate-wide standard for product data management (PDM). Teamcenter, the world's most widely used PLM portfolio, will serve as the foundation for Siemens' PLM process. "Siemens is an innovation leader and sets major technological trends in all its businesses," said Dr. Norbert Kleinjohann, CIO, Siemens AG. "PLM is an essential enabler of innovation. Teamcenter has the proven breadth of functionality, scalability and low cost of ownership to create value for all our diverse businesses." The PDM software tools in Teamcenter deliver core functionality for the complete PLM process. As Siemens' new corporate standard, Teamcenter will address functional areas in engineering and product design - such as product structure management, configuration management, product structure workflow and release management - in all of its deployments throughout the Siemens global enterprise.
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Schunk's New Miniature Rotary Module		PTC Extends PLM Leadership with Otis Elevators' Switch to Windchill
Morrisville, NC - With the new RM 06 rotary module, SCHUNK adds to the lower end of its range of Gemotec rotary modules, and thus expands its selection of miniaturization products. In spite of its tiny dimensions - the RM 06 is only 19 mm in height - this new product has almost as much to offer as its larger brothers RM 08 - RM 21. A full range steplessly adjustable angle of rotation or complete integration compatibility with the GEMOTEC system - the modular design for SCHUNK assembly technology. The new rotary module functions in accordance with the rack and pinion principle. It can be monitored inductively in both limit positions and can be used in any installation position. As it has a standardized drilling pattern, the RM 06 is compatible to many Gemotec system modules with the corresponding adapter plates. That means it can be combined with other rotary modules, as well as with other system modules from the SCHUNK range - resulting in perfect conditions for combining the rotary module with grippers or linear units, and thus to make a wide range of gripping and rotary modules, portal systems or functional assemblies from the modular system.		NEEDHAM, MA - PTC, The Product Development Company, announced that Otis Elevator Company, the world's leading manufacturer and maintainer of people-moving products including elevators, escalators and moving walkways, has made a strategic decision to switch from Siemens Teamcenter® Enterprise PLM system to PTC Windchill. Otis is standardizing on Windchill as its global content and process management solution for its PLM initiatives to improve design and manufacturing efficiencies that accelerate time to market of new products. "Otis needed a PLM system that would give all our product stakeholders the ability to access, work on and share the most updated information on our extensive product lines," said Tom Saxe, vice president worldwide engineering, Otis Elevator Company. "Windchill provides the flexibility and broad capabilities we need to manage heterogeneous CAD data, improve concurrent engineering worldwide and streamline data delivery to our manufacturing sites in a global development environment."
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New Parker Frameless Torque Motors Reduce Costs and Increase Machines Reliability		PBC Linear Slides out New Stainless Steel Pillow Blocks
Cleveland, OH - As an extension to its current direct drive solutions offer, Parker Hannifin, the global leader in motion and control technologies has introduced the TK motors series, a new range of high torque / low speed frameless servomotors that distinguishes itself from existing solutions by its exceptional robustness. Leveraging Parker's unequaled experience and know-how in design, manufacturing and integration of frameless servomotors, Parker TK series offers the guarantee of a prolonged lifetime, as well as optimized design and operation costs. Especially designed to get rid of unreliable and wear prone transmission elements such as gearboxes, worm gears or belts and pulley, Parker TK series offers tremendous advantages over traditional solutions. Delivered as kits consisting of separate stator and rotor elements with large inner diameters, TK motors are intended to be directly integrated into the mechanical structure of the machine. The load is directly connected to the motor’s moving part, leading to simplified mechanical designs, reduced footprints and lighter weights.		Rockford, IL - PBC Linear introduces total stainless steel pillow blocks for their Simplicity® linear bearing product lines. Designed to ensure long-lasting linear and rotary performance in corrosive, wash-down, clean-room and food processing applications, PBC Linear's new all stainless steel pillow blocks can be integrated into a wide array of applications. The pillow blocks incorporate PBC Linear's Simplicity® technology bonded onto 300 series stainless steel-assuring years of trouble-free linear motion in the most demanding environments. The Simplicity® Frelon J liner provides smooth, quiet and nearly frictionless motion and is immune to most acids, caustic chemicals, salt water and de-ionized water. Since the self-lubricating bearings contain no rolling elements and they are designed to operate on PBC Linear's 300 series shafting, they provide the only true total corrosion resistant linear and rotary motion solution. Their ability to operate at high temperatures-up to 240°C - without lubrication makes them ideal candidates for autoclaves, ovens, and steam wash down applications. Even in severe cold (-240°C), they have the ability to effortlessly move heavy loads without catastrophic failure and lubrication!
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Altair: Technology that Strengthens Client Innovation

Altair empowers client innovation and decision-making through technology that optimizes the analysis, management and visualization of business and engineering information. Privately held with more than 1,300 employees, Altair has offices throughout North America, South America, Europe and Asia/Pacific. With a 20-year-plus track record for product design, advanced engineering software, on-demand computing technologies and enterprise analytics solutions, Altair consistently delivers a competitive advantage to more than 3,000 customers in a broad range of industries. Altair's focus is to deliver solutions that allow their clients to rapidly experiment with their ideas by evaluating options and trade-offs in near-real time. As they continue to make significant investments in their core offerings and add innovative new technologies to their technology portfolio, they increase their ability to make Altair customers the most competitive in their respective industries.

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