Ansys Simulation Module

Latest news and user documentation related to Simulation Module

Latest news

17/09/2024: Ansys Simulation 4.0.1 release

25/06/2024: Ansys Simulation 4.0 release

 

Ansys Simulation is a module for Materialise Magics that enables you to improve the quality of parts and reduce the number of errors during production by simulating the metal AM build process.

Combining Ansys’ well-known simulation technology and Materialise’s knowledge of additive manufacturing (AM), it offers a powerful solution tailored to metal 3D printing.

Ansys Simulation 4.0.1

Simulation 4.0 was written from ground up to use a new simulation engine powered by Ansys to provide a well-known and a reliable solver technology.

Release Date: 17/09/2024

Build version: 4.0.1.1 — available via https://passwords.materialise.com/Download 

What's new: 

  • Localization in Japanese, Chinese, Korean, German, French, Italian, Spanish
  • Updated material properties (316L, Ni-Alloy 718, Ni-Alloy 625, Co-Cr)
  • Enabled basic license for Magics RP

 

  • Simulation is now completely based on Ansys solver technology. New Ansys material properties are available. Performance improvements especially to thermal simulations.
  • Compensation with matching support: supports are pre-deformed together with the part when running “Generate compensated part” to achieve a ready to print model faster than before.
  • Easier, guided mechanical calibration process. Measurements and calibration status stored in the profiles.
  • Job Results info section from Job Manager displays results separated in build-up and after cut support to know much faster if the part is within accepted tolerances even without visualizing the result.
  • Deleting a simulation job from the job manager list also removes all files from the disk to quickly free up disk space if needed (no need to remove the folder from file manager).
  • More build risk related results enable to manually fit simulation results even better to production conditions by setting the limits of the legend/colormap to custom filtering needs.

Release notes: English

User manual: English, Japanese

 
 

Ansys Simulation 4.0

Simulation 4.0 was written from ground up to use a new simulation engine powered by Ansys to provide a well-known and a reliable solver technology.

Release Date: 25/06/2024

Build version: 4.0.0.589 — available via https://passwords.materialise.com/Download 

What's new: 

  • Simulation is now completely based on Ansys solver technology. New Ansys material properties are available. Performance improvements especially to thermal simulations.
  • Compensation with matching support: supports are pre-deformed together with the part when running “Generate compensated part” to achieve a ready to print model faster than before.
  • Easier, guided mechanical calibration process. Measurements and calibration status stored in the profiles.
  • Job Results info section from Job Manager displays results separated in build-up and after cut support to know much faster if the part is within accepted tolerances even without visualizing the result.
  • Deleting a simulation job from the job manager list also removes all files from the disk to quickly free up disk space if needed (no need to remove the folder from file manager).
  • More build risk related results enable to manually fit simulation results even better to production conditions by setting the limits of the legend/colormap to custom filtering needs.

Release notes: English

User manual: English

 
 

Compatibility with Magics

Ansys Simulation 4.x officially only supports Magics 28.x.

  • Basic simulation is only available in Magics 28.01 and later
  • Supported combinations are highlighted in green in the table below

 

  3.x 4.0 4.0.1
Magics 25.x      
Magics 26.x      
Magics 27.x      
Magics 28.0      
Magics 28.01      
 
 

FAQ

What is available in the basic license?

Mechanical simulations (using transversal isotropic inherent-strains) showing total displacement on voxel mesh only, after build up and support removal step, calculation on up to 4 cores.

What is available in the premium license?

All features: Mechanical, thermal and compensation simulations (anisotropic inherent-strains possible), displacement components, deformed part geometry, layer by layer evolution, risk of shrink lines, risk of build failure, risk of re-coater contact, stress, strains, inherent-strain calibration, pre-deformation, temperature history, risk of overheating, calculation on up to 6 cores in parallel.

Why is calibration progress going several times from 0% to 100%?

The calibration might iterate several times to find the optimal inherent-strain values matching to the measured deformation.

Can a running job already be opened?

Currently not.

What can I do if a job fails?

The easiest is to try out another (smaller) voxel size.

What voxel size should I choose best?

A rule of thumb is the smaller the voxel size the more accurate the results (see manual). It is recommended to consider a maximum voxel size of the detail you are interested in. Optimal would be to cover the smallest feature of interest with 2 to 3 voxels. However, before running simulations with millions of voxels it is better so reduce the size step by step to get a feeling of the calculation time and result quality.

Can I use my old profiles?

It is not recommended to use old profiles as the material properties have changed (from 3.0 to 4.0 and have been adapted in 4.0.1 for 316L, Ni-Alloy 718, Ni-Alloy 625, Co-Cr slightly to ensure better performance) and calibrated inherent-strain values might not match to the measurements anymore. Please re-calibrate once if this applies.

I see duplicate default profiles. Which can I use?

Custom profiles are not removed from your program data. In case of an update from 3.0 or 4.0 to 4.0.1 some old default profiles (without space in the name e. g. “Titanium(Default)”) might still exist along with the new profiles (e. g. "Titanium (Default)"). It is save to delete the old ones manually. Please use the new ones (with space in the name) as they are referencing correctly to the existing materials.

 
 

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