OptiAssist Simulation Software

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“We are very proud to have supplied OptiAssist to the Formula 1® Team winning the Driver’s Championship for 16 of the last 17 years, driving a pedigree of success that can help you.”

Martin Gambling, Simulation Group Director

What is OptiAssist for Abaqus?

OptiAssist is a powerful, efficient & easy to use composite laminate development tool for SIMULIA Abaqus users. Delivered as a dedicated pre & post-processing environment and solver module, OptiAssist for Abaqus uses optimisation-driven techniques to provide users with:

Real-time evaluation of laminate changes.
Automated ply shape optimisation.
Efficient laminate optimisation of existing designs.

This proven technology empowers engineers to perform cutting-edge structural composite optimisation, this technology delivers the edge needed to succeed in the most demanding engineering environments.

Why use OptiAssist for Abaqus

Eliminate costly manual iteration.

Maximise a design's performance for multiple requirements.

Seamlessly perform structural optimisation tasks inside your Abaqus workflow.

Shorten laminate development times and reduce engineering iteration overhead.

Maximise potential of composite materials through optimisation.

Seamlessly integrate powerful optimisation tools into your engineering team.

OptiAssist Features

Laminate Exploration Using Real Time Response

Requiring no further Abaqus simulations, OptiAssist’s Real Time Response module allows engineers to interrogate laminates, instantly predicting changes in displacement, mass and global stiffness.

Use Real Time Response to explore laminate changes, accelerating design iteration time to deliver solutions more quickly.

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OptiAssist’s Real Time Response provides an automated flow to augment Abaqus analyses, providing live prediction & exploration of laminate changes. The fully automated flow can be integrated into standard Abaqus local or HPC based analysis solves to create the additional post-processing files for design exploration.

The automated mode delivers predictions for:<

Mass
Compliance (Global Stiffness)
Displacement

Requiring no user input or data setup, incorporate Real Time Response into your Abaqus analysis submissions to add:

Live performance prediction of laminate changes
Sort plies by maximum influence or maximum efficiency for selected responses
Automatic update of Abaqus model data
Automatic creation of updated CATIA .layup file

Ply Shape Optimisation

The technique, developed through OptiAssist’s application in Formula 1™, allows users to automatically develop laminates based upon multiple structural requirements with the freedom to evolve the ply preforms.

Users can define candidate ply materials, types and orientations and closely control the sub-division of preforms in order to achieve manufacturable solutions.

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When developing a laminate for new part geometry, composite materials present tremendous flexibility to place fibres precisely where they are needed. Understanding the ideal placement of fibres, particularly when considering multiple loading requirements, is understandably challenging.

OptiAssist’s ply shape optimisation capability enables Abaqus users to efficiently identify and develop composite laminates, evolving ply shapes to efficiently meet structural requirements.

Starting from user selected ‘candidate plies’ of chosen material types and orientations, OptiAssist develops laminates with a minimal number of Abaqus simulations, presenting results in .odb, updated .inp and exported .layup formats.

Ply Shape Optimisation key features:

User controllable ply sub-division in global and local orientations
Link plies in pairs or groups to follow manufacturing rules
Mirror plies
Laminate thickness controls
Optimise for stiffness, strength, mass and displacement

Detailed Laminate Optimisation

Optimise existing laminates, considering both the number of plies and orientation. Considering multiple structural requirements, the detailed laminate optimisation techniques allow engineers to refine their existing designs through revisions to their existing laminate definitions, whilst not making changes to ply preform definitions.

Within both ply shape and detailed laminate optimisation methods, the OptiAssist solver engine uses a minimum number of Abaqus solves, enabling results to be obtained within practical development timescales.

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Working directly with the Abaqus layup definitions, OptiAssist allows users to control which plies may be considered for optimisation and which must remain unchanged. Design rules allowing the change in the number of plies and orientations can be assigned to selected plies.

Manufacturing rules can be applied by:

Defining multiple symmetry paired plies, based upon Abaqus layup ply names
Grouping plies to maintain consistent relative material distributions
Laminate thickness control for total laminate, ply sections or regional selections

Using its internal GENESIS optimiser, OptiAssist does not require additional Abaqus simulations to develop the laminate. Detailed results are provided in the form of graphical results in the Abaqus .odb. Enabling seamless transition within your analysis and design workflow, results are provided as:

Summary CSV data detailing change in count of each ply
Updated Abaqus model data and separate include for ELSET and SECTION data
Layup file of updated laminate definition

Other OptiAssist Products

OptiAssist for SimCenter

OptiAssist for Simcenter 3D is a fully integrated add-in for Simcenter 3D users, designed to unlock the power of structural optimisation using the Nastran Optimisation module (SOL200).

OptiAssist’s objective is to deliver a unified optimisation environment that both extends the available structural optimisation methods and greatly simplifies the Simcenter 3D interface to Nastran.

Features

OptiAssist for Simcenter 3D provides 4 optimisation workflows, each allowing different methods of changing a part’s design. These are Thickness, Topography, Free-shape and Composites.

Each workflow allows for automated optimisation of a design to be applied, eliminating the costly and inefficient process of manual iteration.

Gauge Sizing
Develop optimal thickness of thin shell structural components and assemblies. The process is well-suited to maximising stiffness or natural frequency of a design or minimising stress.
Free-Sizing / Topometry
Develop thickness distribution of thin shell structures. The process is suitable for automatically developing the optimal thickness of castings, mouldings and thin shell machined parts.
Bead / Topography
Develop reinforcing patterns in thin shell structures. The process improves performance for no mass increase for stiffness, frequency and stress.
Free Shape
Refinement of a design’s performance through nodal positon changes. Suitable for resolving localised stress and stiffness issues.
Composites
Develop optimal ply shapes and laminates. Provides a complete toolset for developing optimal laminates for multiple loading requirements.

Compatibility

As a direct add-in to the Simcenter 3D environment, OptiAssist provides an optimisation environment for Simcenter 3D that works directly with the native model data. OptiAssist for Simcenter 3D supports Simcenter 3D releases 2019.1 onwards.

Composite capabilities work with both the standard Simcenter 3D composite model and the extended capabilities of the Laminate Composites module. OptiAssist requires Simcenter 3D, Simcenter Nastran and its Design Optimisation module.

OptiAssist for Genesis

OptiAssist for Genesis combines the analysis & optimisation capabilities of OmniQuest Genesis with a composite focused user interface.

OptiAssist for Genesis provides a complete FEA suite of tools to laminate, analyse, optimise, understand and communicate your developing composite designs.

Features

Through the OptiAssist interface, composite engineers are able to efficiently develop laminates,working through the following key stages:

Laminate & Analyse
Using the Composite Modeller, develop your laminates in the FEA environment. Evaluate manufacturing feasibility through ply draping. Manage the creation of complex analysis property data and manipulate plies using efficient functions; split, merge, map & duplicate. Using the GENESIS FEA solver, analyse and interrogate the performance of your designs.
Optimise & Develop
Utilise ply shape and detailed laminate optimisation tools, seamlessly integrated into the analysis and laminate development environment. OptiAssist’s unique strength is its combination of powerful optimisation tools with an engineer-led laminate development process, harnessing optimisation whilst creating manufacturable layups.
Understand & Explore
OptiAssist’s Sensitivity Plotter & Real-Time Response tools automatically manage the assessment of your laminate, allowing live investigations into laminate changes.
Export & Report
Allowing direct communication of analysis generated laminates to composite designers and manufacturing, Composite Reporter automatically generates editable plybooks, allowing markup, dimensioning and annotation of each ply. Flat pattern export to DXF CAD format and direct export to .layup format is also supported.

Compatibility

Recognising that companies often have several, established tools and procedures for analysing and developing composite laminates, OptiAssist is compatible with the following data:

Nastran PCOMPG native data.
Laminate Tools/CATIA Layup File.
Simulia Abaqus .inp file import.

Contact our Simulation Team

To request a trial, get a quote or to ask any other questions, simply fill out the form or call us on 01926333777 and our team will be in touch. You can also contact us on sales@solidsolutions.co.uk

Solid Solutions | Trimech Group

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OptiAssist for Abaqus

Composite materials Optimization Software

Why use OptiAssist for Abaqus

OptiAssist Features

Other OptiAssist Products