What's New in V2013 (March 2012)

Getting StartedHelpAbout identifies the software as:

Autodesk Simulation 2013

Build 2013.00.00.nnnn dd-Month-2012

(where nnnn, dd, and Month are set during the final build of the software)

The Getting StartedHelpAbout dialog box title bar indicates whether the 32-bit or 64-bit version is being used.

Performance enhancements (general)

For analysis-specific performance enhancements, refer to the individual analysis type categories elsewhere on this page.

• Solve times are reduced for Thermal simulations.
• Legacy solvers, such as Banded, Skyline, and PVSS are no longer available. The solver is set to Automatic when you open a legacy model that previously used one of these legacy solvers.
• You no longer select a solution method to use with smart bonding in the Analysis Parameters dialog boxes. The condensation method is now automatically used for the solution. Use of the condensation method results in smaller, and potentially faster, analyses than the previously available penalty method, as well as elimination of the user-specified penalty multiplier. If you wish to change the solution method for smart contact, click SetupLoadsMulti-Point Constraint and change the Solution method.
• You can now select the number of threads/cores to use when meshing your solid model. The default value is All.

CAD Interfacing and Meshing

• You now use Autodesk Inventor Fusion to generate your fluid parts.
• Meshing uses multiple threads/cores/processors to solid mesh your assembly. Each core handles one part at a time.
• Model import success rates are improved using the Autodesk Shape Manager versus the previously used legacy CAD kernel. This improvement, in turn, results in improved graphics and a greater success rate for meshing models.
• Inventor assemblies that include surfaces are now supported.
• You can select to import Inventor and Pro/ENGINEER work points (ToolsApplication OptionsCAD Import (select appropriate plugin)Options). Work points import into Autodesk Simulation as construction vertices which forces the meshing process to place nodes at those locations. See Import files using Autodesk Inventor.
• Additional CAD model formats are now supported. You can open Autodesk Simulation Moldflow 2013 Studies (*.SDY), Creo Parametric, Catia (V4 and V5), JT, Parasolid (binary and text), Pro/ENGINEER, Solidworks, and NX Unigraphics formats, without having the corresponding CAD application installed.
• Support for Alibre Design, CoCreate, IronCAD, and Solid Edge file formats has been discontinued. These cannot be directly opened nor imported via an InCAD plug-in. To continue working with models from these CAD applications, you will have to export the models to a supported file format (such as ACIS, IGES, STEP, or Parasolid).
• The capability of rescaling STEP files to a different length unit while opening the file has been removed. However, you can still change the model units after opening the file by using the options in the Units branch of the browser (tree view). Display and model units manipulation is available for all models.
• All brick meshes, previously useful for fluid flow analyses, are no longer necessary. Therefore, the All brick mesh setting is no longer available. When you open legacy models that were previously meshed using the All brick setting, note that the mesh type is changed to the default for your analysis type.
• Commands and options formerly referring to surface knitting now use the terminology surface splitting.
• You now access the Mesh Study Wizard from the ribbon interface (AnalysisAnalysisMesh Study Wizard).
• The number of tolerances used for virtual imprinting is reduced to one. Accordingly, the MeshMesh3D Mesh SettingsModelAdvanced tab was removed and the new Tolerance control added to the General tab (available when Use virtual imprinting is active).
• You now access the Mesh Study Wizard from the ribbon interface (AnalysisAnalysisMesh Study Wizard).
• Updated the Feature Matching dialog box.
• Improved rendering of the CAD surfaces within the FEA Editor.
• Models are now upgraded to the version of the software opening the models and you can choose to archive the models.

Linear Stress

• You can now output normalized stress and strain results for Natural Frequency (Modal) analyses. You can select this option under the Output tab of the Analysis Parameters dialog box (off by default). The normalized stresses and strains are not scaled to any specific structural load or excitation and are only intended to demonstrate relative stress and strain distributions for the various mode shapes. The absolute magnitudes of these results are not meaningful. Normalized displacement and rotation are also available for you to visualize your model deformation for each mode.
• You can apply a new Remote Force which uses a mathematical means to apply the load to the surface. The Remote Loads command, now renamed Remote Load & Constraint, generates line elements to connect the load to the surface.
• The frequency log files for Natural Frequency (Modal) and Natural Frequency (Modal) with Load Stiffening now include the frequency in Hertz. You can access the log files from the Report environment.
• You can apply moment loads to surfaces. Previously, you could apply moment loads only to nodes.
• You can apply frictionless constraints to surfaces. Frictionless constraints allow nodes on the surface to move parallel or tangent to the surface at every point, but not perpendicular to the surface. For planar surfaces, the frictionless constraint acts like a symmetry constraint. However, frictionless constraints are not limited to planar surfaces.
• Displacement magnitude is now the default result.
• You can apply up to a maximum of four loads to the same surface. For example, you can apply both a normal and hydrostatic pressure to a surface to simulate a pressurized vessel.
• You can now perform fracture analyses on models with tetrahedron elements.
• The mass moment of inertia about beam element axis 1 is now taken into account in Natural Frequency (Modal) and Natural Frequency (Modal) with Load Stiffening analyses.
• You are no longer limited to a single load case when surface contact or gap elements are included in a linear static stress analysis.
• The stress output code has been optimized, resulting in improved solution performance.

• You can now apply bearing loads to cylindrical surfaces: SetupLoadsBearing. Bearing loads approximate the vertical load (a parabolic force distribution) when a cylinder rests in a hole.

• You can add hydrostatic pressure to brick and tetrahedron models in any orientation. Hydrostatic pressure was previously restricted to the -Y direction.
• Accuracy and convergence rate, when using surface contact, are improved. The automatic contact stiffness now accounts for the area of the elements around the node.
• You can now use Shrink Fit / Sliding and Shrink Fit / No Sliding contacts in your model.

Mechanical Event Simulation (MES) and Nonlinear Static Stress

• Added a second type of Full Newton nonlinear iteration solution method to the six already available.
• You can apply a new Remote Force which uses a mathematical means to apply the load to the surface. The Remote Loads command, now renamed Remote Load & Constraint, generates line elements to connect the load to the surface.
• You can apply moment loads to surfaces. Previously, you could apply moment loads only to nodes.
• Displacement magnitude is now the default result.
• You can now apply bearing loads to cylindrical surfaces: SetupLoadsBearing. Bearing loads approximate the vertical load (a parabolic force distribution) when a cylinder rests in a hole.
• You can now perform fracture analyses on models with tetrahedron elements.
• Removed the Conserve Energy (EMCA) option from the Analysis Parameters dialog box for Surface to Surface Contact.
• Multi-threading is now available for analyses using tetrahedron elements.
• You can now add prescribed displacements to edges and surfaces.
• Impact planes are now shown in the FEA Editor. A new dialog lets you define them with any orientation.
• Improved convergence rate for models with impact planes.
• You can now specify several different time intervals and capture rates for your simulation (SetupModel SetupParameters). For example, use a few time steps during the free fall portion of a drop test, then increase the number of steps during the impact.
• You can use selection groups to define contact pairs for surface-to-surface contact. See more information in the Other section of the Release Notes.
• You can now view a graph of the convergence history while your simulation is running. Choose between various options such as the number of iterations, time level, and residual.
• Improved surface-to-surface contact for 2D and 3D contact models. Now, fewer iterations are required for the solution to converge when using automatic contact stiffness or the Extend Area options.
• Hydrostatic pressure on brick and tetrahedron elements now includes the option for applying the pressure in the horizontal direction. The load was previously normal to the surface.
• The material properties input for MES brick and tet elements, Arruda-Boyce material model, do not include the Shear Modulus and Bulk Modulus of Elasticity. Instead, the input needs to be for "mu" and "K". This has been corrected.
• Shear strain components are now correct when you use a local coordinate system.
• Documentation and ribbon UI now reflect Engineering strain results as opposed to the strain Tensor results available for linear analyses.

Heat Transfer

• Multi-Point Constraints (MPCs) now available for thermal analyses.
• Thermal analysis performance has been improved through OpenMP memory parallelization and I/O buffering, resulting in shorter solution times for both steady-state and transient heat transfer analyses.

Electrostatic

• Multi-Point Constraints (MPCs) now available for electrostatic analyses.

Results Environment

• You can now export your results for use in Autodesk Showcase and Autodesk Publisher. Use Showcase or Publisher to enhance the presentation of your simulation results. See Showcase for more information.
• You can now display the residual stresses and coefficient of thermal expansion as calculated by Autodesk Simulation Moldflow.
• Save To Default Settings and Reset To Default Settings, previously under Results ContoursSettingsLegend Properties, are now available under Results ContoursSettings.

Other

• You can now access the Autodesk Exchange Store where you can post and download useful apps.
• You can unpin the browser. The browser hides when the mouse is not over the browser. To reveal the browser, position the mouse over the Autodesk Simulation tab along the left edge of the window.
• You can assign selected objects to a selection group, and use the group in subsequent commands when a selection is required. After selecting the objects, right-click and choose Selection Groups > Create new group.
• When you pass the mouse over a selected object, the object turns a different color. Now, you can choose the color used to highlight such objects: ToolsApplication OptionsGraphicsHighlight and Selection
• Point Select and Rectangle Select are now combined into one command (SelectionShapePoint or Rectangle). Click the canvas to use the point select, or drag the mouse to use the rectangle select.
• A new command reverts the selection shape to the Point or Rectangle after using the rectangle, circle, or polyline selection: SelectionShapeReset To Point.
• Workflow enhancements were made for adding loads and constraints. The dialog box now appears when you activate the command and you can make and change the selections after beginning the command. The selection types are filtered based on the locations acceptable for the load or constraint. If the load or constraint only accepts one selection type, that type is set automatically. A mini-toolbar is now available to quickly switch between the selection shape and selection type.
• You can now import bearing loads from Inventor Professional simulations.
• You can now select surfaces on the canvas even when the mesh is not visible.
• You can delete results from the hard disk using ToolsDelete Results.
• You can now isolate a part or surface in the FEA Editor and Results environments. Isolating a part or surface hides everything else in the model. Right-click the part or surface and choose Isolate.
• You can make all surfaces in all parts visible. Right-click on the Parts branch of the browser and choose Show All Surfaces.
• Report lengths were shortened by removing irrelevant columns from some of the Loads tables of the report and by eliminating the log files by default.
• The title image and other images in the report are now larger by default.
• The commands for Vault Basic now appear on a tab in the ribbon. Some of the less frequently used Vault commands were removed from the ApplicationVault Server menu.
• Windows Vista is no longer supported.
• You now control visibility of many objects using commands on the ViewVisibility panel. Previously, these commands were part of the ViewApplication panel.

Learning Solutions

• Click Getting StartedHelpAccuracy Manual to access the Accuracy Verification Manual which contains over 200 models comparing simulation results to known results,
• Help files are no longer installed to your local machine.
• Help buttons and F1 keys now connect to the online Wiki. If you are unable to connect to the Internet while using Autodesk Simulation, you can download the non-Wiki help from our online Documentation page and install the files locally.
  Note: The first time you access the local help files, you could experience a short delay before your browser opens to the files.
• Several more Essential Skills videos are now available to demonstrate basic work flows for Autodesk Simulation.