I don't want to double thread, so can you have a quick peek here http://www.eng-tips.com/viewthread.cfm?qid=319037
Cheers
Mick

The FEA capability in SolidWorks has the following history:

SRAC (Structural Research and Analysis Corporation) originally developed Cosmos/M to compete as a low cost alternative to ANSYS. It has a GUI/command line interface and still does. It is a very capable piece of software. It requires the user to have a knowledge of FEA principals to use it.

When SolidWorks came out in 1995 SRAC began to develop two products that were easy to use. CosmosWorks was an addin for SolidWorks and DesignStar was the standalone version.

SolidWorks users frequently confused CosmosWorks with Cosmos/M in discussions because most SW users had no idea Cosmos/M even existed.

SolidWorks then put a limited version of CosmosWorks into SolidWorks calling it CosmosExpress.

Then SolidWorks or more properly Dassault bought SRAC  and they relabeled CosmosWorks to Simulation and licensed a number of other non-SRAC products and marketed them under the Simulation label as well.

So SimulationExpress is in or should be in Standard SolidWorks as a teaser to purchase the more expensive Premium version with all the bells and whistles.

Express products can be used with care to solve some real world problems.
 

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Phenom IIx6 1100T = 8GB = FX1400 = XP64SP2 = SW2009SP3
"Node news is good news."

Thanks

I don't know, I have to disagree, the express products are so limited. I don't see their value other than as a somewhat rude marketing scheme.

Certified SolidWorks Professional

Thanks kellnerp, interesting to know. How does Geostar fit in, I thought it was known as Geostar before it became Cosmos? Or does Geostar basically mean SRAC?

I also agree with Kevin, it is a waste of time. Either you move to a dedicated FEA package or you don't bother because you probably don't have the people trained to use it. I basically see Inventor Simulation as an advanced version of SimulationExpress in SWx.

In SolidWorks either go the premium or professional version or don't use FEA. With Inventor they either need to buy Autodesk Simulation (Algor) or release all the PlassoTech features into Inventor. A toy for designers is not only pointless, it is dangerous.

Quote:

How does Geostar fit in

geostar is an executable in the Cosmos/M software suite that is responsible for pre and post processing. geostar is actually compiled in various versions depending on the size of the model you are building. This is a throwback to the days when 1 mb of ram was a big deal. Remember that Cosmos/M started out on DOS and Unix. I first learned it on DOS 6.3. Kind of dates me doesn't it. It even had a built in editor since you couldn't multi-task.
When solving you will see star, astar, dstar, hstar etc. running the actual solution.

It all makes sense if you think of the cosmos being made up of stars. :)

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CSWP, BSSE
www.engtran.com  www.niswug.org
www.linkedin.com/in/engineeringtransport
Phenom IIx6 1100T = 8GB = FX1400 = XP64SP2 = SW2009SP3
"Node news is good news."

So it was at least a 5 star program before they simplified it for the masses..

Cheers

Watch your task manager when running Simulation Express. You might see the stars come out there too.

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CSWP, BSSE
www.engtran.com  www.niswug.org
www.linkedin.com/in/engineeringtransport
Phenom IIx6 1100T = 8GB = FX1400 = XP64SP2 = SW2009SP3
"Node news is good news."

I don't use simulation express, in fact I try not to use Simulation Premium much anymore but it is sometimes unavoidable. I have seen the processes running during simulation before, usually because I had to end them when it became unresponsive.

While I would like to write scripts to utilise Cosmos/M I think I would be better learning to write scripts for Calculix. More likely to be available in the future and is constantly being developed.

EngAddict,
I note your interest in Calculix. I have not persevered for long with Calculix. My first impression was that it needed a good interface so that I could import cad geometry. I tried to bring in files from Inventor. I found the process difficult and gave up. I was hoping to use brick elements. I note that tet elements are probably easier to mesh with using netgen.

Do you mesh with brick elements or just use tets? Do you think that one could get similar accuracy and speed with tets?
What mesher do you use? CGX or something else like Roshaz?

We have SW Simulation, and with this you also get the Cosmos/M package. It is well hidden on the installation DVD, but possible to install and run. What can Cosmos/M do that the "easy to use" interface of simulation can't? When I talk with SW reps they don't know and they are not interested to talk about it.

I'm not very knowledgeable there either, but I believe for one Cosmos/M has more element shapes than just triangles and tets.

Certified SolidWorks Professional

I believe that you're correct. I found the manual on http://www.stresscalc.ru/cosmos/UsersGuide.pdf. Starting at page 4.4 they list the different element types.
Also you can restrain and load on node level. (can be done with split lines in SWSim).