Structures

In today’s performance-driven world, structures are constantly being optimized for stiffness, strength and weight. To meet these goals, Ansys Workbench is the perfect tool to give designers and engineers insight into how their structures will deform under static, dynamic, and impact loading.

At Fastway Engineering, not only do we offer industry leading Structural Analysis capabilities through our partnership with Ansys, but we also provide a full stack of services including Training and Consulting to support New Product Development and R&D activity for engineering and manufacturing firms.

Ansys offers several different software packages, with varying levels of speed, accuracy, and customization.

Ansys’s newest FEA capability for those who are looking for interactive design and quick results to determine performance trends, helps guide the design during the early, conceptual phase. Powered by "near instant" GPU-based processing, DISCOVERY LIVE offers an intuitive GUI, interactive CAD modeling, and near instant results. Coupled with the direct CAD modeling capabilities, structures can be sketched, updated, and optimized while the analysis results are constantly shown live on the screen. For a problem that requires a bit more attention to detail, Ansys Discovery's "Refine Mode" offers the same intuitive User Interface, but with a deeper bench of options, including direct control over the mesh - which is critical for obtaining a mesh-independent solution.

The flagship FEA solver, which the company was originally founded upon, ANSYS MECHANICAL is the best structural analysis software for the job when accuracy is needed above all else. The Ansys Workbench interface allows easy access to all steps of the process – Geometry, Meshing, Solving, and Post-Processing, as well as “drag-and-drop” capability which allows easy creation of complex phenomena such as Thermal Stress and Transient Dynamics. Don’t worry, behind the scenes, the “Implicit” solver still uses the original Ansys Parametric Design Language (APDL) commands that we all know, which allows for easy scripting/automation and endless customization and physics simulation capabilities.

For especially complex transient dynamics, such as in impact, collisions, and explosives, traditional implicit FEA methods just won’t cut it. LS-DYNA is the trusted FEA tool for impact analysis and structural collision simulation, and is easily coupled with the Ansys Workbench for quick climbing up the learning curve. Additionally, AUTODYN is the mission-critical standard when it comes to simulating explosions and ballistics, which are particularly difficult (and expensive!) to conduct testing for. When it comes to destructive testing, simulation is the only way to ensure repeatability, thus guaranteeing a statistically significant data set is captured.

When it comes to multi-body assemblies and complex joint motion, traditional implicit FEA code just won’t cut it. If your assembly model is taking days to converge, or won’t converge at all, then you’ll need to use a more powerful modeler, like ANSYS MOTION. Based on a robust explicit algorithm, Motion can handle dozens of joints in one model, complex motion profiles, and small time steps to capture the most subtle dynamic effects. However, Motion’s critical benefit is conducting Flexible Body Dynamics, which couples FEA with multi-body motion, to capture the most subtle peak stresses. The result is hyper accurate fatigue and life predictions.

As the world’s manufacturing processes continue to get digitized, simulation capabilities must advance similarly. ANSYS ADDITIVE offers a full suite of simulation tools to support the entire Additive Manufacturing Landscape. From Design for Additive Manufacturing (DfAM) like Topology and Lattice Optimizations and Distortion Prediction (and Compensation!) as well as Material Science Quality Analysis and Overall Process Data Management.

A structural analysis is only as good as the material properties that go into it. For the latest polymers and alloys, and detailed strain-tress curves, ANSYS GRANTA offers a massive database of materials, and unique tools for finding, comparing, and down selecting the ideal materials for your products.

ANSYS SHERLOCK is an electronics reliability simulation software that uses advanced algorithms to predict the lifespan and failure modes of electronic systems and components. It analyzes physical, thermal, and mechanical stresses to ensure the design meets industry standards and specifications.

HIGH PERFORMANCE COMPUTING will increase the amount you learn from your simulations, both in breadth and depth. For small, young companies that qualify, the ANSYS STARTUP PROGRAM delivers an unparalleled amount of capability (Multi-Physics, HPC, etc.) through the Discipline-specific Licensing Bundles.

For climbing up the learning curve, Fastway Engineering has bespoke curriculum and in-house instructors to lead timely, impactful, classroom-based training. Of course, we understand it’s tough to get out of the office, so for those who are looking for self-paced courses we offer a plethora of web-based training through the Ansys Learning Hub. Finally, for the highest level of simulation maturity, we work with our clients to create custom knowledge management programs using our Problem-Based Learning approach.

Sometimes the schedule just doesn’t allow for the weeks and months it takes to deploy, train, and build confidence in trusting your Structural Analysis. Sometimes, production is stopped, or the engineering team is spinning in circles. For those cases our team of FEA experts can review, scope, and execute analyses in-house in just a matter of days. Since Fastway Engineering started out as a training and services company, we are constantly using these tools in our own curriculum and projects. Additionally our workstations and server hardware is optimized for extracting the most performance from Ansys Workbench. From managing large models with contact, to analyzing Dynamic Shock & Vibration, and even Acoustics, Fastway Engineering uses simulation every day to help clients all over .