Need honest opinions of Simulation 2010?

[aroundhere]

I would really like to add Simpro to our upgrade to 2010, but I cant get the boss to lay down the cash. To those that use this regularly, is it a good, solid program that gives you the results that you desire? I know this is a relative question due to different opinions, but I just wanted som honest feedback whether its worth it or is there another sworks plugin that is cheaper and better. It looks darn impressive on the demos, but so did photoworks, and I hate it. Anyway. Thanks for opinions, other suggestions and any feedback. Oh, I use it for open hole oil tools. So the majority of use is going to be assy stresses, high temperatures and up to 30K psi pressure related designs. Many motor arms lingages, pressure balanced type stuff. I dont think Simulation does corrosion, does it? Thanks

 

[kellnerp]

I would say that it depends on what you intend to do with it. If you are designing the way SW does in demos it may be OK.

I don't agree with the whole philosophy behind it so I went with standalone packages like Cosmos/M, DesignStar and CFDesign. In other jobs I went with NENastran and FEMAP for analysis.

My primary gripe with the philosophy behind simulation is five fold:

1. It is integrated into SolidWorks. This means that you can change the geometry after doing an analysis and therefore invalidate it.

2. Because it is integrated it requires a seat of SW to be tied up while running the analysis. As soon as you go non-linear, use CFD or extensive motion analysis you are looking at hours or days to run.

3. Because it is integrated it requires that you continue to pay for it's subscription fee. If you stop paying you can't use it. FEA is not like CAD in that it does not come to you in a form that makes calculation mistakes that you have to wait for the next service pack to fix. So once you have it there is really no reason to keep it tied to the update cycle of the CAD software to get good use out of it.

4. When Cosmos was supported by SRAC it was possible to get quality tech support you could count on most of the time. I can now ask the VAR support people questions which they don't even understand and have to explain to them what I am asking before they will even submit a question. If they do submit a question it will likely not be answered timely or correctly even if it is an easy question about something left out of the documentation.

5. Unlike other codes, the documentation does not tell you how it does what it does which is important if you are depending on the code for critical engineering decisions. ANSYS for example will provide very detailed mathematical information on the formulation of their elements. They will also provide a current and detailed list of bugs and how to workaround them.

Other than that it is pretty snappy and quick to create a model and run it most of the time.

TOP
CSWP, BSSE

http://www.engtran.com

http://www.niswug.org

"Node news is good news."

 

[aroundhere]

I see what you mean about Sim being integrated into sworks and even though you dont need to upgrade it every year, you still have to pay the subscription if you want to keep that seat of sworks current. Can you list the fea software that runs more like a plugin from what you believe are the best performers or best bang for the buck? I can get costs. Also, is the standard cosmos(sim)Xpress in 2010 any better than the standard 2007 cosmosXpress. Even doing simple stresses in 2007 seems to give me bogus info. But, like you said, if Im using it like the demo, it probably works well. Anyways, thanks for info.

 

[rstupplebeen]

I use Simulation for the quick and dirty analyses. For anything complex like difficult contact I go straight for Abaqus. A full featured FE package will be much more expensive however once you are proficient with it you will be more productive. In the end my usual advise is to get a 1 month free trial and see for yourself. I have also been happy with Femap however it is not capable of what I currently need however it appears to fit your bill nicely. I hope this helps.

Rob Stupplebeen

Rob Stupplebeen

 

[kellnerp]

Rather than reinvent the wheel have a look here: SolidWorks Partners

On my list would be:

NENastran or it's SW addin NEiWorks
CFDesign (I have it and it can do some things Floworks can't like axisymmetric flow and it runs outside of SW)
Ansys
Adina

CFDesign and Ansys are not Gold Partners, but then they can be had as standalones.

NEiWorks is integrated, but places the FEA model and solution outside of SW getting rid of my philosopical objections. The models also integrate perfectly with their big brother Nastran application and Nastran is well documented and support by many knowledgeable fora.

You may still be able to get DesignStar which is standalone and basically a version of Simulation with a slightly different subset of capabilities.

TOP
CSWP, BSSE

http://www.engtran.com

http://www.niswug.org

"Node news is good news."