MSTR Technology The MaSTeRs of Finite Element Technology

FEM analysis tool for structural acoustic interaction problems.

MANUAL

EXAMPLES

ANIMATIONS

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Key Benefits

MSTR Technology has a number of acoustic related analysis codes in house or commercially available. Our major commercial package, FEWaves, is a complete finite element software package for modeling and analyzing combined structural and acoustic interaction. Just a shot list of advantages of using FEWaves are:

• Water loaded transducers with complex geometries can be analyzed using FEWaves.
• Engineers using FEWaves enhance and verify system performance through computer simulation studies.
• Time and money are saved by reducing product test and redesign cycles.
• FEWaves can be used to explore new designs and technologies.

A summary of FEWaves capabilities follows.

FEWaves

• Solve combined acoustic radiation / structural vibration problems.
• Piezoelectric, electrostrictive, and pressure sources.
• Absorbing boundary conditions for infinite domains.
• Analyze radiation from sources enclosed in complex structures.
• Determine transducer array interaction effects.
• Study cavity resonance frequencies and modes.
• Intuitive, consistent user interfaces with error checking.
• User defined output data format.
• Parameterized geometry description allows easy sensitivity and "what-if" studies.
• Extruded 3D mesh generation produces well-formed elements for accurate results.
• Advanced numerical techniques for fast and efficient numerical solutions.
• Software built with object-oriented methodology for efficient customization.
• Full featured versions for PC and SUN platforms.
• Extensive product support backed by expert consulting services if required.
• Affordable and flexible pricing structure.
• Basic stress analysis is also available.

Additional Services

• Far field patterns from an array of points sources in space or surrounded by acoustic materials.
• Noise calculations
• Acoustic scattering cross sections from complex 3D structures.
• Expertise in GTD, Moment, and Boundary Element methods.
• 3D, 2D, and Body of Revolution Finite Element Frequency Domain Methods:
• Coupling of finite element methods to Method of Moment techniques, Geometric Theory of Diffraction, and Harmonic Expansions.
• Implementation of finite element methods on massively parallel distributed memory computers for large scale analysis.

Support, Consulting, and Customization

All MSTR Technology products are backed by comprehensive product support. But we go beyond that with these additional services to ensure that you get the full benefits of our services:

Expert Consulting: Our experts in numerical analysis and modeling are available to work with you and your staff. Combine your engineers’ knowledge of your products and requirements with our expertise in analysis.

Software Customization: Every design department has unique needs. Our software can be customized to fit your existing design process.

Finite Element Product Details

Model Creation

Create your model using our parametric modeling system, where dimensions can be expressed as named variables and/or expressions involving other dimensions. If you change a dimension later, the change will be automatically reflected in your entire model. Alternatively, you can import your model from other programs (contact MSTR Technology for details). Once the geometric model is ready, finite element meshing is fully automatic.

Mesh Generation

MSTR Technology designed our fully automatic 2D and 3D finite element mesh generator to be robust and intuitive, so that the engineer can concentrate on engineering, not model building. Our meshing process can be invoked as an interactive program, or we can create custom batch meshing programs for specific applications. The mesh is attached to an underlying parametric geometry so that the grid can be quickly changed by altering parameters (dimensions) of the model. Mesh density is automatically calculated to track geometric features of varying sizes, with the ability to add extra control to refine the mesh overall of in selected locations. Our 2D and 3D meshes support a full range of element shapes of first- through third-order, not triangles/tetrahedra only as with many other mesh generators. The numbers of nodes and elements are limited only by the memory available on the computer, not arbitrary pre-programmed limits. Finally, a mesh smoothing algorithm can be invoked that serves the dual purpose of optimizing element aspect ratios and snapping the boundary nodes back to the underlying geometry when the user changes the geometric parameters.

Boundary Conditions and Material Properties

Boundary conditions are attached to the geometry or finite element model using simple mouse commands to select geometric objects and associated boundary condition types from menus. FEWaves automatically applies the boundary conditions to the finite elements. These boundary conditions are analysis driven and MSTR Technology can readily add new or unique capabilities to your software package. In this way the code can be tailored to your needs.

Material properties are also selected with simple mouse commands from menus. You can easily add, delete, or modify your own materials using our material interface window. Each model can have its’ own material file associated with it.

Finite Element Solution

The finite element solution is calculated without additional user input. MSTR Technology designed the finite element solver for FEWaves using the latest numerical techniques to make the best use of computer memory and CPU speed. MSTR Technology is always improving the speed and CPU requirements of our solvers. The maximum size model that can be solved will depend on the memory available, but a typical PC running Windows with 32 Mbytes memory can readily handle problems of 20,000 nodes or more. Although the GUI based solver is only supported on the PC and SUN, a non GUI executable can be provided which will port to any number of platforms (contact MSTR Technology with questions regarding this topic).

Post-Processing

The post-processing module of our products allows you to view the results in many different formats. You can also calculate numerical quantities of interest such as terminal impedances and array coupling coefficients. Some of the capabilities include:

• Visualize solution.
• Display solution on user defined lines, arcs, planes, model surfaces, and material interfaces.
• Static and Animation displacements plots.
• XY plots, polar plots, and color/line contours.
• Save plots for fast retrieval.
• Output formats compatible to third party packages.

System Requirements

• UNIX Workstations (Sun 2.5.1 or better).
• Pentium PC with minimum 32 Mbytes RAM, VGA or SVGA graphics display, WindowsÔ 95, 98 or NT.

Pricing

A single license for the PC platform retails for $10,950 and for the SUN platform for $15,900. This price includes six months free consulting and support and free upgrades for one year. Please contact us for packages for multiple licenses.

More Information

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Last modified:12/18/98 8:00 AM