The Role of the Internet in Design/Analysis

The Role of the Internet in Design/Analysis

Application Engineer Andy Fields demonstrates Algor’s InCAD technology for seamlessly capturing CAD solid models for FEA during a weekly, one-hour Webcast. Webcasting uses the Internet to fill the demand for quality engineering software education with full-screen, TV-quality video. InCAD technology enables engineers to perform a wide variety of FEA analysis types in an integrated environment within the CAD package. Algor FEA data is stored in database format to facilitate multiphysics analyses, which consider multiple physical phenomena, and the transfer of FEA data with other database sources.

Ed Moas, Ph.D.
Developer
Algor, Inc.
Pittsburgh, PA

As we move into the 21^st century, the Internet is becoming a part of the fundamental design and analysis process. What started as a mechanism for communication and data sharing has evolved into an enterprise solution for design management, analysis and education. The future is even more exciting, promising collaborative engineering and immersive virtual reality. While it may be decades before mainstream engineers are working in such an environment, we are already seeing design and analysis software companies supporting engineers in new and revolutionary ways. Let us take a look at how Internet technology has evolved and review its impact on the design and analysis process.

The Genesis of the Internet

By now, the genesis of the Internet is well known. The Internet began in 1969 as ARPANET, a research project studying failsafe network communication sponsored by the Department of Defense. Early usage of the Internet for engineering purposes was limited to communication via email and bulletin boards and file transfer via FTP. The introduction of the Mosaic browser in 1993 revolutionized how the Internet was used by providing a visual interface for searching and retrieving HTML web pages which was infinitely more intuitive than earlier tools. When Netscape became available in 1995, the door was opened for users to access text and graphics on the Internet from their desktop and the growth of the Internet exploded. Today, the Internet is ubiquitous and an ever-growing host of Internet technologies drive dynamic, multimedia sites. FEA companies support engineers with e-commerce, user groups, e-mail newsletters and online technical support as well as traditional text-and-graphic content and offer access to their sites through online advertising. As higher bandwidth connections become more widely available, the transmission of highly graphical video content is causing a revolution in software education for engineers.

The Internet as an Educational Tool

Changes within the engineering industry have increased the demand for quality software training that is inexpensive, time-efficient and accessible from anywhere. In the past, design and analysis was performed by separate groups within an engineering firm. Design engineers sat at drawing boards and based their prototype designs on handbook calculations. The designs were validated with detailed stress analysis using FEA by analysts who possessed specialized training and analytical experience. The distinction between design engineers and analysts has become more blurred as designers have access to complete analytical capabilities within an integrated CAD/CAE environment and as interfaces for analysis become more intuitive and easier to use. The capability to right-click on a solid model and apply, modify and remove loads, constraints and finite element properties for a wide variety of analysis types within a CAD environment has helped to make FEA more accessible to all engineers, even those who are not FEA experts.

Because more designers are performing analysis without necessarily possessing the training that analysis specialists have, one of the most important roles the Internet must play in the design/analysis process is as a vehicle for training and the dissemination of information about FEA. Streaming video, often referred to as “Webcasting,” has emerged as the leading technology for distance learning because of its capacity to deliver detailed, full-screen graphics. Only certain FEA companies are engaging in Webcasting, and not all are producing the same quality. Engineers may notice wide differences in the production quality, presentation, technical depth, topic breadth and frequency of Webcasts available on the Internet today.

At the highest level, TV-quality, full-screen video simulates a true virtual classroom by showing the details of the instructor’s computer on the student’s computer. This high level of production quality is complimented by a high level of presentation quality with point-and-click details presented by knowledgeable instructors to step engineers through the FEA process. Engineers should also look for a distance learning program that offers a wide range of topics, on-demand viewing, frequent live broadcasts (i.e., weekly) and sessions of different lengths and prices. This level of technology might also be available on CD-ROM or VHS video tape, so engineers can benefit from this technology regardless of their Internet connection speed. Some courses even qualify for Professional Development Hours within states that have Continuing Professional Competency requirements for P.E. license renewal. In addition, some FEA companies offer free Webcast sessions and/or customized Webcasts by request. One such site that embodies a high level of production quality, presentation, technical depth, topic breadth and frequency of Webcasts is eTechLearning.com.

Empowering Engineers to Communicate about their Designs on the Internet

Algor’s automatic HTML Report Wizard enables engineers to communicate analysis results to colleagues and clients over the Internet. In HTML reports like the one shown here (upper left), different types of visual output can be incorporated, including a stress contour at one moment in time (lower right), the time-dependent results as recorded in an animation file (upper right) and a plot of the displacement of several parts of the model over time (lower left). The featured model is an FEA-based Mechanical Event Simulation of a car suspension assembly in which the motion of the assembly produces stresses in the spring.

Once an engineer has learned how to use FEA software and performed an accurate analysis, the results of the analysis must often be communicated to colleagues and clients, who may be located across oceans and continents in today’s global marketplace. Engineers are increasingly using the Internet to communicate about their engineering projects during the design/analysis process. They are being supported by a host of easy-to-use HTML generation tools. While many such tools are available within office productivity software packages, FEA software ideally includes a Wizard-type tool to automatically collect details about a FEA model and its analysis results and generate a clearly organized report in standard HTML, which can be published to any Internet or Intranet site. HTML report wizards may include sections for customized, user-specified information. One exciting technology for communicating about designs within an HTML report is the VRML (Virtual Reality Modeling Language) file format, which many CAD/CAE software packages support. A VRML file enables 3-D viewing of solid geometry with dynamic zoom, pan and rotation capabilities.

Future Directions for the Internet

Possibly the most interesting direction that CAE software is taking is the move towards collaborative design engineering where engineers can share data in “design webs” over the Internet. NASA’s vision for the Intelligent Synthesis Environment (ISE) program, currently under development, is to create a collaborative engineering environment with immersive virtual reality and true multiphysics. NASA administrator Dan Goldin says the goal of this program is to “develop the capability for personnel at dispersed geographical locations to work together in a virtual environment, using computer simulations to model the complete life-cycle of a product/mission with near real-time response time before commitments are made to produce physical products.”

Current technology is quickly advancing toward that goal today. While original CAD software was limited to geometry modeling, today's software stores more complete information about the product, including materials and manufacturing data. Integrated CAD/CAE tools are able to utilize this additional information to allow the designer to perform a wide variety of FEA analysis types from within the CAD package, including simulation of motion, deformation and stresses in a virtual design environment. In addition, FEA data may be stored in a database format to facilitate multiphysics analyses, which consider multiple physical phenomena. FEA model databases also enable the integration of FEA data with other database sources, such as laboratory data, and other types of software applications. While most engineers are not working in an immersive virtual reality environment yet, the day is clearly not far off.