Baytubes®, the carbon nanotubes from Bayer MaterialScience, are now making waves in kayak design, marking a new chapter in the evolution of these popular boats, which were originally made by the Inuits using wood, bone and animal skin. Today’s kayaks are usually made from plastics and composite materials. Some new kayak prototypes have now been coated with an epoxy gelcoat modified with Baytubes® that has been developed by Norwegian research company Re-Turn AS, based in Gamle Fredrikstad. “We are confident that these prototypes outperform standard models in a number of areas,” explains Stein Dietrichson, General Manager of Re-Turn AS.

Reinforcing the outer skin of a kayak – the gel coat – with carbon nanotubes makes it far more resilient to abrasion from a shingle beach or contact with the edge of a river bank. In contrast, many conventional gel coats, especially those of particularly lightweight and sporty kayaks, are highly sensitive to external mechanical action. But that isn’t the only way that these tiny tubes in the solvent-free gel coat help to prolong enjoyment of the boat and therefore of the sport itself – they ensure that cracks appear less frequently over long-term use and reduce wear on the outer skin. They also absorb UV radiation, thereby minimizing the associated bleaching and embrittling effects.

Re-Turn AS modified the outer shell of one of the prototypes with Baytubes®. “This means that the kayak doesn’t get as dirty above or below the water line and is easier to clean,” states Dietrichson. And he hopes that this innovative combination will result in another effect: “The flow resistance of the hull should also be lower.” This will enable the kayak to glide through the water faster without its occupant having to paddle harder – a fantastic advantage for any aspiring kayaker. And there are further advantages to the use of Baytubes® in the epoxy base of the kayak, which the additive helps to make more stable and rigid. “This makes the boat easier to paddle and translates more of the kayaker’s muscle power into speed. The new gelcoat incorporates many experiences from the development of nanotubes reinforced marine paints which are already commercial,” comments Dietrichson.

During this summer, experienced kayakers will be putting the prototypes from Re-Turn AS through their paces. Meanwhile, experts from the Norwegian company are already working closely with Bayer MaterialScience to develop further nanotube-reinforced materials that could in future find their way into kayaks or, for example, into the rotor blades for wind turbines. “More and more innovative companies are beginning to recognize that Baytubes® have enormous potential to give established materials entirely new properties,” says Dr. Raul Pires, head of global activities for nanotubes and nanotechnology products at Bayer MaterialScience.

BayerMaterialScience

www.bayermaterialscience.com

PITTSBURGH, PA– The world’s first commercial “flying car” will go the distance on both highways and runways next year when it rolls off the production line — thanks, in part, to design optimization from ANSYS (NASDAQ: ANSS).


Terrafugia’s beta prototype design is shown in a near wing-stall case, with the propeller being modeled using software from ANSYS. Image courtesy Terrafugia.

Massachusetts-based Terrafugia used ANSYS® engineering simulation software to design and verify its new production prototype of the Transition® aircraft that also can drive on the highway. Terrafugia engineers conducted whole-vehicle airflow tests that assessed the effects of design changes on overall performance — working in parallel across the various Transition components. The simulations were used to maximize wing lift in the air and to minimize the effects of crosswinds along the road.

Terrafugia’s beta prototype design is shown cruising at 105 mph, with the propeller being modeled using software from ANSYS. Image courtesy Terrafugia.

“The Transition’s test flights identified some important engineering issues that ANSYS fluid dynamics software helped us to address in the production prototype,” said Gregor Cadman, an engineer at Terrafugia. “Our latest design improves both the in-air and on-road performance of the Transition, as well as ensures that the vehicle lends itself to full-scale manufacturing. Simulation software from ANSYS played a central role in these engineering efforts. Without the ability to work in a virtual environment, we would have had to construct complicated physical models, modify or rebuild them, and conduct hours of real-world testing, slowing down the process and adding significantly to development costs.”

Terrafugia’s beta prototype design is shown cruising at 105 mph from a rear perspective. Image courtesy Terrafugia.

The Transition is the world’s first vehicle to combine a lightweight, aerodynamic aircraft with the stability needed for long-distance driving on the highway. The vehicle can cruise up to 490 miles at over 105 miles per hour, can drive at highway speeds on the road, and is capable of transforming from plane to car in less than 30 seconds. The sophisticated design features foldable wings that span more than 26 feet, a rear-wheel-drive system for the road and a propeller for flight. Terrafugia’s team of aeronautical engineers earned global attention when the Transition proof-of-concept vehicle completed a successful 60-second test flight in March 2009. The company expects to begin commercial production of the vehicle in 2011.

Terrafugia’s proof-of-concept vehicle is shown in an actual flight configuration. ANSYS engineering simulation was used to validate Terrafugia’s models and to learn more about the vehicle. Image courtesy Terrafugia.

Working closely with ANSYS product specialists, the Terrafugia engineering team also studied the impact of the Transition’s propeller on air flows around the vehicle. As the project developed over time, engineers applied simulation tools to study ever-smaller and more precise design modifications, which added to their confidence that the Transition will perform well in flight testing.

“The dual challenges of driving and flying present significant challenges for aeronautical engineers,” said Greg Stuckert, aerospace industry manager at ANSYS. “Terrafugia’s use of engineering simulation to fine-tune designs throughout the development process — not just at the end for verification — contributed to an optimized historic vehicle and an efficient product launch. Their earlier successful test flights and this year’s production prototype are the proof that their efforts are paying off.”

Terrafugia, Inc.
www.terrafugia.com

ANSYS, Inc.
www.ansys.com

::Design World::

Source: :: Design World ::

The D-Cubed 3D DCM (Dimensional Constraint Manager) will now be deployed in any in-house software application that requires a 3D geometric constraint solving component. The 3D DCM is already integrated in NX™ software, which Joe Gibbs Racing continues to use for all aspects of product development.

Hendrick Motorsports, winner of the 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2001, 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup Championship; Joe Gibbs Racing, winner of the 2000, 2002, and 2005 NASCAR Sprint Cup Championship; Roush Fenway Racing, winner of the 2003 and 2004 NASCAR Sprint Cup Championship; and Andretti Green Racing, winner of the 2004, 2005, and 2007 Indy Racing League® (IRL) IndyCar® Series Championship; have been using Siemens PLM Software for years to help develop their cars and improve their performance on the race track.  KB Racing, winner of the 2003, 2004, 2005, and 2006 National Hot Rod Association®   (NHRA®) Pro Stock Championship, began using Siemens PLM Software technology in 2005, and the Renault®  F1 Team, winner of the 2005 Formula One Drivers and Constructors Championships, established a partnership in 2004 using Tecnomatix® software.

Siemens PLM Software
www.siemens.com

::Design World::

Source: :: Design World ::

Continental will replace its existing PLM system and standardize its three automotive divisions – Chassis & Safety, Powertrain and Interior – on PTC’s Windchill platform. The software will be used as the worldwide PLM backbone for engineering change, multi-CAD data management, ECAD data management and for third-party integration, thus enabling seamless process integration and global collaboration. Windchill is ultimately expected to support more than 12,000 users in both engineering and non-engineering departments.

PTC
www.ptc.com

::Design World::

Source: :: Design World ::

Chrysler Group has now added NX software, Siemens’ comprehensive digital product development solution, to provide efficiency gains in engineering and design and to help create a common product development platform.

Siemens PLM Software
www.siemens.com

::Design World::

The HydraForce product-enhanced software will allow complete modeling of an integrated hydraulic circuit inside Automation Studio. HydraForce Distributors and OEM customers will be able to easily design system circuits using HydraForce components and provide quick circuit simulation to verify various system functions including performance calculations, heat-load requirements and other engineering considerations such as horsepower, pressure drop and volumetric efficiency.

HydraForce incorporated over 900 valves, components, and options into Automation Studio, an innovative system design, simulation and project documentation solution for the design and support of automation and fluid power systems.

HydraForce and Famic have developed detailed, functional simulations for Automation Studio software that will simulate HydraForce products performance in a hydraulic circuit, as well as their compatibility with other system components (see Figure 1). Automation Studio provides system animation with interactive operator components such as joysticks, steering wheels, and switches, in order to input proportional function commands to a simulation (see Figure 2).

Figure 1: Real-time functional test of a hydraulic circuit using HydraForce component

HydraForce and Famic have worked together in the past on i-Design, a hydraulic system design software that allows users to create custom integrated manifold circuits, specify valve assembly layout, as well as determine the price of the assembly.

Figure 2: Real time functional test of HydraForce valve in Automation Studio simulation software.

Automation Studio V5.7 has now incorporated a fully compatibly HydraForce library so that a user can start a project in i-Design and then export into Automation Studio for simulation. Tony Casale, VP of Worldwide Sales and Marketing at HydraForce had this to say about the project, “The integration of HydraForce components into Automation Studio offers a huge advantage to system designers. The time it takes to develop and prototype a machine lowers significantly as the number of iterations of a hydraulic circuit, and testing time decrease. Incorporating our products into the Automation Studio platform and making it compatible with i-Design was the next logical progression for making system design easier on our customers.”

Tony Casale also added this, “i-Design has become the primary vehicle for our customers to submit projects through our sales and engineering department. Because of our previous work with Famic on i-Design, our customers can now seamlessly integrate circuits from i-Design and Automation studio for functional testing prior to quoting and shipping a product. The industry has been trending toward cartridge valves for quite some time now, the inclusion of our products into Automation Studio should help to broaden the awareness of cartridge valves in hydraulic applications.”

Charbel Nasr, President of Famic Technologies, has said, “When companies are faced with challenging economic conditions, management teams have to be very creative in order to do more with less. Automation Studio is making them stand out! The tool improves productivity and efficiency at every step of the product lifecycle. It allows projects to be delivered on time and within their budget limitations. It clearly makes the difference. Most of all, it confirms once again the innovation that Automation Studio brings as a distinctive solution for engineering, training, and servicing of complete systems.”

HydraForce
www.hydraforce.com

::Design World::

Source: :: Design World ::

Recently released MapleSim 4 software sports a number of updates that could help you reduce development time and add higher fidelity to your models. The product now supports a range of domains and includes validated Modelica components for modeling mechanical, electrical, hydraulic, thermal, and signal-flow systems. Model diagrams map directly to your physical systems so they are easier to construct and validate.

MapleSim is a drag and drop physical modeling tool that applies advanced symbolic computation techniques to  produce high-performance simulation models of multi-domain systems.

In addition, system equations are automatically generated from the system diagram and simplified using lossless symbolic techniques to produce an optimal set of equations. These equations can be viewed, manipulated, and analyzed using math notation. An advanced multi-body system handles optimized kinematic and dynamic equations for multi-body systems.

A flexible model construction environment supports block diagram and 3D model construction. Built-in analysis tools support parameter optimization, sensitivity analysis, equation extraction, multi-body analysis, and Monte Carlo simulation. A symbolic scripting language provides access to mathematical solvers, structures, and visualization tools.

3D robot arm
3-D model construction, visualization, and animation can help reduce the time required to build and validate models.

The Electrical Machines library now includes new components for stepper motors. The vector operations components in the Signal Blocks library help simplify working with multiple signals in parallel.

Your models can be deployed to other applications using the built-in optimized code generation feature or through connectivity add-ons for platforms from The MathWorks and National Instruments.

Maplesoft
www.maplesoft.com

::Design World::

Source: :: Design World ::

The AEM is integrated at the core of a geometric modeling application, providing end-users with motion simulation tools without the need for expensive, complex and less well integrated motion simulation modules. You can save time and money by verifying the function of virtual assemblies and mechanisms, reducing design errors and lessening the need to produce expensive physical prototypes.

Direct interaction with the geometric model with little or no model preparation means you do not have to be a motion simulation expert. Unlike other motion simulation solutions, the AEM takes direct account of any 3D DCM geometric constraints than can simplify model preparation.

The AEM’s accuracy satisfies the rigorous demands of the engineering design process. Accurate 3D contacts are automatically computed between all permutations of points, edges, and faces of any geometric type including spline surfaces. The AEM does not use approximations such as loose solving tolerances or inherently inaccurate faceted formats that are better suited to less demanding visualization and entertainment applications.

AEM: Key features

• Provides accurate solutions on solid models from any source. Does not use faceted approximations
• Simulations include gravity and a variety of engineering devices, such as torques, linear and torsional springs, linear and rotary motors, conveyors and ropes.
• Automatically simulates genuine 3D contact behavior between all geometry types.
• Computes twisting motion as contacting parts separate.
• Interactive performance provides immediate feedback of results.
• Combines end-user dragging with independent motion caused by other forces.
• Enables assembly/disassembly verification.
• Supports contact based mechanisms, which have previously been difficult to fully simulate in a CAD system.
• More realistic motion than when using coupled dimensions.
• Produces quantitative results.

Siemens PLM Software
www.siemens.com

::Design World::

Source: :: Design World ::

DraftSight, currently in public beta and available for free download at 3ds.com, is a 2D CAD product that provides users with a better way to read, write and share DWG files. Based on an advanced architecture, DraftSight generally takes a few minutes to download, runs on multiple operating systems, including Windows XP, Windows Vista, and Windows 7 and is available for professional CAD users, students and educators.

DraftSight is based on Graebert’s acclaimed ARES Commander Edition software, announced in February 2010, with unique features and functionality that bring exceptional capabilities to their worldwide customers as well as the broader market, including students and educators.

DraftSight users will have access to an open online community, accessible through DraftSight.com aimed at providing CAD users with access to new services and products and the ability to unlock valuable data stored in millions of DWG files.

Graebert developed ARES focusing on a number of core benchmarks, with performance being a leading criterion. The program has received global recognition and been noted for both its exceptional speed and feature set. ARES is the end result of more than five years of development by Graebert, one of the pioneers in CAD software development since 1983.

Dassault Systèmes
www.3ds.com

::Design World::

Source: :: Design World ::