ReadMe

This ReadMe highlights important updates and known issues for the latest release of Helius PFA, including Advanced Material Exchange.

Minimum System Requirements

• 64-bit processor
• Windows 7 or higher, RHEL 5 or higher
• 3 GB free hard disk space
• Microsoft .NET Framework Version 2.0 (For Windows only)
• Abaqus 6.14 or higher
• ANSYS 16.0 or higher
• Autodesk Nastran 2017 or later
• Localization: English, German, Japanese, Simplified Chinese

Updates (2017 Update 3)

This section identifies important updates to the product in the Helius PFA 2017.3 release.

• The new version of Advanced Material Exchange is now compatible with Moldflow Insight 2017 R3.
• Advanced Material Exchange now disables rupture predictions by default. Rupture can be enabled in the Export Settings dialog.
• Weld surface strength reduction factors are now applied at the individual part level, as opposed to the assembly level.
• Advanced Material Exchange now supports C3D8S, C3D8HS, C3D5, and C3D5H Abaqus elements.
• Previously, the user material definition was applied to all sections of an ANSYS input file after exporting from Advanced Material Exchange, even if only a select number of those sections were chosen for pairing with the Moldflow study. This issue has been resolved.
• Helius PFA includes a new splitting criterion to control element deletion of continuous fiber composites.
• Helius PFA now allows you to define a unique moisture content for each step of the analysis.
• Previously, shell sections in Abaqus input files that were generated by Hypermesh were not recognized by Advanced Material Exchange. This issue has been addressed.

Updates (2017 Update 2)

Helius PFA 2017 Update 2 provides a side-by-side installation of Advanced Material Exchange. The new version of Advanced Material Exchange is now compatible with Moldflow Insight 2017 R2. Other updates to the product include:

• A number of updates were made for localized versions of the product.
• An issue was fixed for mapping parts using the icon on the Quick Access Toolbar. Previously, Abaqus input files were not listed as a supported file type. This issue has been resolved.
• Advanced Material Exchange now supports the mapping of uncorrected residual strains from Moldflow. To include the uncorrected residual strains, you must activate this option in the 3D flow analysis process settings in Moldflow.

Updates (2017 Update 1)

This section identifies important updates to the product in Update 1.

• The default method used for mapping weld surface results has been changed to use the Minimum Projection Method. The Minimum Projection method produces a better weld surface result than the Shepard's Algorithm when the structural mesh is more coarse than the Moldflow mesh.
• Advanced Material Exchange now provides a workflow that allows you to easily re-optimize a nonlinear material that contains Ramberg-Osgood data from a previous release of Moldflow. After importing the Moldflow and structural models you will see a warning message asking if you would like to re-optimize the material. Selecting 'Yes' will immediately re-optimize the material. Selecting 'No' will allow you to proceed using the existing Ramberg-Osgood data.
• The Mapping Suitability Plot now correctly displays results after using the Interactive Alignment tool.
• Advanced Material Exchange no longer requires you to select a temperature environment when nonlinear data is added for a single environment. The single environment is selected automatically.
• Advanced Material Exchange no longer produces warnings in a vtkoutputwindow when using the Unpair functionality (Home > Assembly > Edit > Unpair) to edit an existing pair of Moldflow and structural bodies.

Updates (2017)

This section identifies important updates to the product in the 2017 release.

• Helius PFA is now supported for use with Autodesk Nastran (continuous fiber solution only).
• Advanced Material Exchange now supports the use of structural assemblies.
• Advanced Material Exchange now supports the mapping of weld surface results. This includes the ability to calculate the strength reduction factor for each point on the weld surface.
• Advanced Material Exchange now supports a compressive material response. This includes the load drop commonly displayed in the compressive response of short-fiber filled materials.
• The microstructure for satin woven composite materials in Helius PFA has been improved. This allows for faster material characterization and eliminates the dependency on using Abaqus to characterize the satin weave materials.
• Advanced Material Exchange now includes a new default Multi-Layer material characterization routine to capture the through-thickness variation in fiber orientation tensors.
• Advanced Material Exchange now includes a new default MCT rupture criterion.
• Helius PFA now supports cohesive element deletion in Abaqus 2016.
• Helius PFA is now supported for Simplified Chinese.

Known Issues - Advanced Material Exchange

The list below identifies the known issues in the latest release of Advanced Material Exchange. Please contact Autodesk Support with any questions.

• Advanced Material Exchange 2017.3 initially installs with English as the default language. To switch to a localized version:
  1. Open Advanced Material Exchange.
  2. Open the Application Menu and click Options.
  3. Switch to the Language and Help System tab.
  4. Select the desired Language and click OK.
  5. Restart the application to enable the localized version of the product.
• Windows 8.1 user's must install the Windows updates provided here before installing Helius PFA. Follow the Install Instructions provided by Microsoft to ensure proper installation of these updates.
• Older versions of Advanced Material Exchange projects may be opened in Advanced Material Exchange 2017, but projects created in the 2017 version cannot be opened in older versions of the software.
• Advanced Material Exchange is installed on the C:\ drive, even if you select another drive on your machine to install too. Advanced Material Exchange can still be used as normal, despite this issue.
• The Minimum Projection method for mapping weld surfaces can project weld surfaces to adjacent elements when the elements are distorted. This only applies to 10-node quadratic tetrahedral elements (refer to the table of Supported Continuum Elements to see specific element types that could be affected). Use the Shepard's method for mapping weld surfaces if you use these element types. When the structural mesh is comparable to or smaller than the Moldflow mesh, the Shepard's method is recommended as it produces more accurate results.
• We recommend the following Abaqus hybrid elements are not used with Advanced Material Exchange:
  • C3D10H
  • C3D10M
  • C3D10MH
  • C3D15H
  • C3D15VH
  • C3D20H
  • C3D20RH
  • C3D27H
  • C3D27RH

  While these elements are supported by Advanced Material Exchange, Abaqus instructs that they are only used for incompressible, isotropic materials.

• While Mapping Results for large models, the dialog can stop responding without showing the progress bar. If this happens, just keep waiting. As long as the models are aligned correctly, results will be mapped.
• Advanced Material Exchange will only allow you to pair a Moldflow study to a single structural body. You must duplicate the study file to pair it to another structural body.
• Advanced Material Exchange cannot import multiple structural input files. You must unpair the selected structural file or start a new instance of AME to select a different structural input file.
• Jobs run with Abaqus 2016 on MPI report an 'RCP Copy Error' to the .log file after the analysis is complete. This error does not affect Helius PFA or Advanced Material Exchange simulations as it still occurs even with standard Abaqus materials. The error is a result of Abaqus attempting to copy the .msg file from the working directory of the slave node(s).
• Moldflow studies that have a short shot (< 99% fill) can cause Advanced Material Exchange to close unexpectedly. Re-run the Moldflow study to increase the % fill and try Advanced Material Exchange again.
• Fiber-filled materials must have fibers with an aspect ratio > 1. The aspect ratio is measured as L/D, where L is the fiber length and D is the fiber diameter.
• Moldflow Dual Domain elements are not supported. See the list of supported element types for more information.
• Nonlinear material data is only allowed for the standard test angles of 0, 90, and 45 degrees.
• Nonlinear material data must have at least 15 entries per angle or environment.
• At least one data point on the nonlinear stress-strain curve must lie in the material's elastic region.
• Abaqus models that contain shell elements must have at least five section points through the thickness.
• ANSYS models that contain shell elements must have at least seven section points through the thickness.
• You cannot save an Advanced Material Exchange project on a network server.