Ingenieurgesellschaft für
technische Software

New Features in PERMAS Version 13

New in Version 13

The new Version 13 of PERMAS is the result of about 24 months development work. For a complete and detailed overview on changes, a Software Release Note is shipped with Version 13.
Great effort has been spent in the past years to provide with VisPER (i.e. Visual PERMAS) a dedicated tool to improve pre- and post-processing for special PERMAS functions. The second regular VisPER Version 2 is released at about the same time as PERMAS Version 13.

PERMAS V13 offers again improved computing performance:
  • Gasket elements are now handled by contact analysis instead of nonlinear material algorithm (leading to run time reduction by a factor of larger than 10, if no other material nonlinearities are present),
  • Contact analysis with normal contacts only or with normal and frictional contacts shows run time reductions of up to 40 percent,
  • A new eigenvalue solver kernel shows significantly improved performance for a larger number of eigenmodes,
  • Faster calculation of modal participation factors for a modal timehistory response analysis,
  • Iterative solver option for modal frequency response analysis (recommended for a large modal basis),
  • Improved performance and disk space reduction for direct transient temperature analysis,
  • Iterative solver option for steady-state temperature analysis.
New Modules
  • In order to provide more optimization methods a new module AOS (Advanced Optimization Solvers) has been created. It contains additional derivative based methods but also derivative free methods as well as globalized and global methods. With these new methods it is now possible to optimize nonlinear analysis tasks like contact problems or nonlinear material analysis. Global methods can be used to optimize highly nonlinear optimization problems, where derivative based methods fail.
  • A new interface to AVL EXCITE is available.
  • A new interface to Altair's MotionSolve is also available.
Major extensions
  • Extensions to Basic Module (Module MQA):
    • Most of the names defined by the user in the input deck can now have long names (up to 40 characters). These include names for materials, components, variants, situations, geometrical data, sets, contacts, parts, pretensions. Some of these names can be further described using a free text, like contacts, parts, and pretensions.
    • A user stop file is provided to explicitly break iterative procedures without losing already computed results, like contact analysis, nonlinear static analysis, nonlinear heat transfer analysis, or optimization.
    • A special comment feature supports improved communication with SDM (Simulation Data Management) systems. These comments provide a means to describe any entity in the model description in any desired level of detail. To this end, the comments can be included in the model input file or the comments are linked to an additional file which also can include XML documents.
  • Extensions to Contact Analysis (Modules CA/CAX):
    • Gasket elements can now be handled as integral part of the contact iteration instead of a feature in nonlinear material analysis. If no other material nonlinearities are present in the model, run time reduction factors can be higher than 10 (e.g. for analysis of combustion engines with pretension, temperature loads, and cylinder pressures). In cases, where other material nonlinearities are present in the model, a run time reduction by a factor of about 2 can still be achieved.
    • Information on gap widths is now available as scalar result for the normal gap width and as tangential slip vector for frictional degrees of freedom.
    • Contact locking was extended to couple frictional degrees of freedom even in cases where friction was not taken into account during contact analysis.
  • Extensions to Nonlinear Static Analysis (Modules NLS):
    • Initial conditions (e.g. from casting) can be described as initial strains (without displacements).
    • User defined material laws can be used. User subroutines allow the incorporation of own material laws. The subroutine does the necessary calculation of stresses and strains together with the tangent matrix associated with the material law.
    • Extrapolation of stresses for linear and nonlinear elements is now fully provided. For linear elements, stresses are calculated at the stress points and either assigned or extrapolated to the element corner nodes. For nonlinear elements, stresses are calculated at the integration points and either assigned to the element nodes or extrapolated to the element corner nodes. If stresses are not assigned to the element midside nodes, these stresses will be calculated through linear interpolation from the element corner nodes. In plasticity analysis, stresses at the element nodes are showing stresses at the integration points or they are showing extrapolated stresses which do not lie on the yield surface any more. In case of subsequent generation of nodal point stresses in post-processing, the original element stress results can be seriously modified.
  • Extensions to Dynamic Response Analysis (Modules DRA):
    • Modelling of damping was extended to any component including subcomponents by Rayleigh damping and component structural damping. In subcomponents, damping is applied to Guyan as well as Craig-Bampton reduced parts. This type of damping can also be used with fluid-structure coupled analysis.
    • In addition, modal damping can be specified by a modal damping matrix. The input of matrix elements can be as viscous damping ratio, damping value, or material damping coefficient. The modal damping matrix may be diagonal, symmetric, or non-symmetric. The modal damping matrix is applicable to systems with modal degrees of freedom including Craig-Bampton modes.
    • For rotating structures, any number of rotational speeds is now defined in a separate input. A reference rotational velocity is used in the static pre-run. From this pre-run, additional matrices are built for the reference rotational velocity. The specified rotational velocities are used to scale the additional matrices during dynamic response analysis. This procedure makes response analysis of rotating structures very efficient.
  • Extensions to Design Optimization (Modules OPT):
    • New design elements for shape optimization, bead design, and free coordinate modifications are available. Shape optimization is supported for any arbitrarily shaped design space, with an arbitrary number and location of design nodes, and with a smooth interpolation between design spaces (and boundary). Bead design supports automatic generation of bead design variables according to a user-defined reference.
    • Shape optimization and bead design can always be combined with sizing optimization.
    • Contact analysis results are available as new design constraints: contact pressure, contact reaction forces, and contact gap widths.
    • Heat flux results from heat transfer analysis is available as new design constraint.
    • Material parameters are available as design variables in optimization.
  • In Topology Optimization (module TOPO) a fixed mold parting line can be defined for opposite release directions.
  • In Reliability Analysis (module RA) material parameters can now be used in the same way as for optimization.
  • For a number of input data, PERMAS can generate postscript files using gnuplot (if gnuplot is available on the currently used machine). It will generate gnuplot command files, and a table with the xy-data of the curves will be exported to a file. Such input data include load history, material curves for plasticity, and transient loads in timehistory response analysis.
New Elements
  • A new nonlinear control element with 3 nodes and 6 natural forces. This element has been developed in order to model e.g. nonlinear interaction of two parts like between tool and workpiece, or between hub and shaft in a journal bearing.
Minor extensions
Many smaller extensions of almost all functional modules had been performed in addition. Moreover, all interfaces were updated and adapted to the new functionalities. Major interface enhancements are:
  • Medina
    • Support of MEDINA 8.2,
    • Support of new contact menus,
    • Enable material and property labels as comment,
    • Transfer of connector label to corresponding property label,
    • Support of contact names,
    • Long names for sets, components, variants, situations, contact, geometrical data,
    • Long material names as default for MEDINA door,
    • Export of new PERMAS Version 13 results.
  • Nastran
    • Long names for sets, components, situations, geometrical data,
    • PBARL support (rod, tube, and bar).
  • Hyperview
    • Support of HyperView 8.0 Libraries,
    • Post-processing on HyperView 11.0 libraries possible.
  • ADAMS (AD)
    • Support of MNF library ADAMS 2007 r1,
    • Extensions for invariants (mass, inertia),
    • Support of modal general condensation.

For all system platforms an update to the current release of the operating system had been performed.