Simulations FEA CFD

[Anonymous]

Hello,

I have a student license in Mexico and we use Solidworks in a class, however I am looking at Autodesk for an alternative. In Solidworks we can do stress simulations on parts as well as simulate flow and heat all in the same program. To be able to do the same with Autodesk programs how can I do it? What is CFD, is it only one program, if so why is there a CFD Design Study Environment, CFD Motion and CFD Flex, what is the difference? Also what is the difference with Nastran and Nastran in-CAD? What can I do in Inventor and what do I need extra software for? I have been looking for answers but can't find them. Thanks in advance

[petestrycharske · Accepted solution]

Mario,

Good morning!  Those are all good questions and I will do my best to elaborate.

- Inventor Professional does have an FEA solver for Parts and Assemblies

- Inventor Pro's solver is limited to linear analysis and rigid bodies

- Inventor Pro can also do dynamic simulations and modal analysis (vibration studies, think natural frequencies)

- Inventor Pro CANNOT do Heat Transfer or Flow Analysis

- CFD is computational fluid dynamics

- CFD comes in a few different versions and each one allows different types of analysis (see this link for more info: http://www.autodesk.com/products/cfd/compare)

- CFD Design Study Environment allows a user to compare several different versions of a model to see how they compare and determine which is best

- CFD Flex allows for simulations to be performed in the cloud, leveraging servers in the cloud to reduce simulation times

- Nastran is a tried and true solver first developed by NASA and the results are very reliable

- Nastran is an Autodesk product that will allow users to upload models and perform FEA (you could even push your Solidworks models to Nastran)

- Nastran-in-CAD is a version that runs directly inside of the CAD tool, so you don't have to leave the design software to perform the analysis.

- Nastran's capabilities (and Inventor Professional capabilities) are listed here: http://www.autodesk.com/products/nastran-in-cad/compare

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.  Hope this helps and have a most blessed day!

Peace,

Pete

[Anonymous]

Hey man yeah thanks, I did find it helpful. I tried kudoing it, I don't know if it went through. Did some more research based on your answers and got more answers. Basically Nastran is the higher end solution but I can do with Nastran in-CAD, and for the fluid simulations it seems that CFD Motion is the answer for me for the free student license.

[Anonymous]

Does ADSK's version of In-CAD NASTRAN support non-linear solutions and things like contact surfaces?

[petestrycharske]

jpblower,

Yes, I believe the Nastran-in-CAD solver can handle non-linear anlaysis and provides contact surfaces.  If you look at the following link, it will give you a better idea of what the capabilities of the different software is.  Nastran is based on the NASA code and Sim Mechanical is based on the Algor code, I believe, if that helps further.  Hope this information and helps and have a most blessed day!

Nastran Capabilities

Peace,

Pete