Myth and Fact about Dynamic simulation vs Ansys Simulation

[Anonymous]

Hi everyone, I am rahadyan

I am a beginner in Inventor and also Ansys

I have an interest in the automotive industry, since I am a mechanical engineering student I want to learn more about engineering simulation such as engineering design for suspension (stress analysis and so on)

honestly, I just wanna clear perception in my college friends circle,

but I don't want to be fool by uncertain information.,

so I want to ask this forum that I know there are lots of practical experts

the myth that spread in my circle is "learn cad from Inventor/SW and learn simulation in Ansys, Ansys will give you a wider range of set up condition(meshing, boundary, and so on), the industry will let you using Ansys/Abaqus to do a simulation"

could everyone give a point of view from it? honestly, I am very happy and want to learn more about dynamic simulation, even more, JDMather has lots of tutorials in his channel, but this problem really makes me confused

if that myth may be right,so what condition that a company will rely on the dynamic simulation?

sorry for my question, I just want to make a clarification inside my college friends

[johnsonshiue]

Hi! As a student, you should try to learn the theory behind these tools. In terms of CAD or Simulation tools, most work very similarly. If you can learn one, more than likely you can pick up others fairly quickly. But, you need to develop the basic engineering sense. These tools won't help you on that.

Most big companies use multiple tools. It is very rare to use one tool for the entire product development cycle. The tool of choice depends on many factors. Cost, training, ease of use, complexity of the project, performance, personal preferences, security, and other factors. Think of it like a toolbox. You don't just put a swiss army knife in the box. You need socket wrenches, a mallet, screw drivers, pliers, hardware, and so on. The point is that you choose the right tool, not the tool chooses you. There are just plenty of tools to select. If one does not work for you, there is always a replacement. However, your engineering judgement cannot be replaced.

Regarding dynamic simulation in automotive industry, I don't believe mid-range tools like Inventor or ANSYS is used (not 100% sure). But, these tools and more sophisticated ones all run on the same physics theory. Likewise, as any software, there will be bugs. There will be cases exceeding its capability. However, for learning purpose, they are more than adequate. I don't think you should be fixated on the tools. You should first study what problems you are trying to solve. Then find the right tool. This will help you learn quicker and you will be able to adopt to professional world much more easily.

Good luck! Best wishes,

[imajar]

Hi Rahadyan,

From my perspective, the myth in your friend's circle isn't a bad, I would suggest you learn CAD from Cad software and analysis from analysis software while you are in school.  Ansys and other specialized analysis software are much more specialized and much more capable, yes,  but are alot more expensive and a lot less accessible after you leave school, so take advantage of it while you can.

In my school, we learned Femap with NX Nastran.  Coming from that, I was able to learn Inventor Nastran pretty easily in comparison.  I use both at work.  Inventor Nastran is much more convenient to use, but is also much less powerful (even though it uses a Nastran solver, Inventor offers very little in terms of mesh settings), and much more buggy.

As a final note, learning to learn will be more valuable than learning a specific piece of software.  It's almost guaranteed that you will have to learn other software when you get a job.  I learned Solid Edge in school, my first job used SolidWorks, now I use Inventor, and am learning fusion 360.  So I would embrace the idea of learning all you can in school and be ready to keep learning after school is over!