Is Cosmos worth it?

Discussion in 'SolidWorks' started by Jeff Mirisola, Mar 1, 2006.

  1. I'm looking for some input.
    We're going to be purchasing an FEA package within the next month or so
    and I'm looking for insights into Cosmos and whether it's worth it or
    not. We're also looking at NEi/Nastran and PlassoTech, so if you've
    used either...
    Any information would be greatly appreciated!
     
    Jeff Mirisola, Mar 1, 2006
    #1
  2. Jeff Mirisola

    TOP Guest

    I have Cosmos/M and it works fine. I currently use NEiNastran with
    FEMAP and am very happy with it. For quick and dirty I use DesignStar
    (an SRAC product).

    I am not a big fan of integrating FEA with CAD. There are many reasons
    for this. If you want to know more just ask. Before you do please let
    us know what you intend to do FEA on.
     
    TOP, Mar 1, 2006
    #2
  3. For the immediate future, we'll only be doing linear stress analysis.
     
    Jeff Mirisola, Mar 1, 2006
    #3
  4. Jeff Mirisola

    That70sTick Guest

    Quote TOP: "I am not a big fan of integrating FEA with CAD."

    Maybe we're both nuts, but at least I'm not alone in this anymore.
     
    That70sTick, Mar 1, 2006
    #4
  5. Jeff Mirisola

    TOP Guest

    Sounds like you are just getting started. The best investment you can
    make regardless of which FEA package you get is Vince Adams book. Look
    it up on Amazon.

    Of the ones I listed DesignStar would be the easiest to use and it can
    do linear, some non-linear and contact. DesignStar has a CosmosWorks
    type interface and you can choose to link to SW or not when making
    changes. NEiWorks would also be a good candidate because although it's
    CAD interface is integrated, it keeps a separate solver and a separate
    record of what was done. Having a separate solver and a record of each
    analysis is very important from the standpoint of keeping CAD busy and
    documentation.
     
    TOP, Mar 1, 2006
    #5

  6. You never were alone, you just didn't know it. Integrating CAD and FEA isn't
    such a bad idea if all of your analyses run in a few minutes. Most of ours
    don't.

    Jerry Steiger
    Tripod Data Systems
    "take the garbage out, dear"
     
    Jerry Steiger, Mar 1, 2006
    #6
  7. Jeff Mirisola

    TOP Guest

    Run time is an important consideration. With 3D tet meshes of solids
    easily exceeding 1 million dof memory can sometimes become a
    consideration. As soon as anything non-linear is added, be it gaps,
    inplane stress stiffening, or transient thermal analysis run time can
    greatly increase. One of the advantages of the higher end systems is
    that they allow hex meshing (using brick or rectangular elements) and
    using simplified elements like shells, plates, and beams. More skill is
    required in setup, but run time is greatly reduced and sometimes
    accuracy can actually be improved.

    I have on occasion run jobs that took over 60 hours to converge (or
    not) on a fast PC. Run of the mill is an hour. Quicky jobs run in a few
    minutes. So separating the CAD side from the solver side and resetting
    task priority is a big time saver even on a single processor machine.

    Take this model for example:

    http://www.engtran.com/examples.htm

    To do this in CosmosWorks might be possible, but in Cosmos/M it was
    quite easy and it was certain it was going to work before the project
    was started. What you are looking at is a four bar linkage with over
    center spring and a lever which contacts the joint in the four bar. It
    runs really fast and took an hour to build and get running. In the
    model are:

    beam elements
    spring elements
    generalize line type gap elements
    plate elements

    The model is driven by an enforced displacement.
     
    TOP, Mar 2, 2006
    #7
Ask a Question

Want to reply to this thread or ask your own question?

You'll need to choose a username for the site, which only take a couple of moments (here). After that, you can post your question and our members will help you out.