PLM Express Offering

SIMULIA

CATIA – Generative Structural Analysis (GAE)

Allows structural and modal analysis to be performed on parts and
assemblies at any stage of the design process
Overview
Generative Structural Analysis (GAE) allows designers to Product Highlights
understand how their designs behave and to accurately calculate • Allows designers to more accurately size parts and
the displacements and stresses within the part or assembly under assemblies and understand the mechanical behavior
a variety of loading conditions. It also allows the vibration of their designs.
characteristics of parts to be assessed by calculating the natural • Provides a rapid and accurate assessment of stress,
frequencies and the associated mode shapes. Analyses can displacement, and vibration characteristics.
be performed on volume parts, surface parts, and wireframe
geometries. • Analysis is performed within the CAD environment
so the analysis model is fully associative with the
GAE is ideal for designers who are not experts in finite element design geometry and specification.
analysis (FEA). The finite element mesh automatically adjusts to • Tightly integrated with knowledge-based
ensure accurate results without manual intervention. The analysis engineering.
specification is an extension of the design specification and • Seamless analysis data management within PLM.
the analysis is performed directly on the design geometry. The
user interface is a natural extension of that in the CATIA design
workbenches. This makes it intuitive and natural for designers to
use GAE to ensure that their parts meet their design requirements.

The PLM Express offering Generative Structural Analysis (GAE) is packaged GAE being used to analyze a cellphone casing
to include GPS, the backbone of the CATIA V5 Analysis products, and GAS
for assembly analysis.
PLM Express Offering
SIMULIA
Features and Benefits
No boundary between design and analysis Interactive interpretation of results
GAE is an easy-to-use tool tailored to designers and design GAE provides a number of ways for designers to understand the
engineers. The native integration within CATIA allows users behavior of their designs. The deformed shape can be plotted
to perform stress, displacement, and vibration analysis at any and the displacements scaled to ensure that they are visible. The
time in the design process, allowing more accurate sizing displacements, stresses, contact pressure, and local solution error
of parts and assemblies resulting in fewer design iterations. can be visualized using contour plots. Sensors allow the forces
Individual parts or hybrid assemblies consisting of solid, surface, passing through a connection to be output. A cutting plane can be
and wireframe geometries can be analyzed under a variety of dynamically moved though a part, with contours shown on the
loading conditions. The analysis specifications, such as loads cut plane. Any of the principal stresses or the von Mises stress
and restraints, are associative with the design and allow users to can be plotted—the latter is particularly useful to determine if
perform analyses quickly and easily. the loading would cause yielding of the material and permanent
deformation of the part.
Straightforward analysis definition
The analysis specifications, including loads, restraints, and Report generation
material characteristics, are applied directly to the design Standard reports can be automatically generated in HTML format,
features. These specifications are then automatically incorporated providing clear and detailed information about the results of the
into the underlying finite element model, meaning that users do analysis, including images associated with the computations.
not have to work directly with the finite element model. “Virtual These reports can be used to document the analyses that have
parts” allow items like forces, moments, and restraints to be been performed and to communicate the results of the analysis to
easily modeled without having to have a detailed geometric other stakeholders in the organization.
representation. Assembly connections defined in other CATIA
modules can be reused and a wide range of connections and Controlled accuracy
interactions between parts can be defined, including frictional Normally, GAE automatically creates a finite element mesh and
contact, rigid, and user-defined connections. adapts the mesh to ensure that the results are accurate. However,
more experienced users can control the size of the mesh on the
Extended vibration analysis entire part or in specific areas, switch between linear or quadratic
GAE can calculate the natural frequencies and associated mode elements, and create, modify, and remove elements directly.
shapes of parts, allowing designers to understand the vibration
characteristics of their designs including potential areas of High performance
resonance. The non-structural mass distribution associated with GAE uses a state-of-the-art sparse solver that computes the
the part can be defined using linear density, surface mass density, results rapidly while minimizing the amount of memory
and point masses. The user can choose the number of modes and consumed. It takes full advantage of the additional memory
frequencies to be calculated and can animate the deformations of available in 64-bit computers and will run in parallel on multi-
the mode shapes. core computers, allowing the solution of very large models.

Knowledge-based technology
The knowledge associated with design analyses can be captured
and used to perform optimization. The generative analysis
specifications are recognized as knowledge parameters called
“sensors,” providing measures that can be reused. Rules, checks,
and formulae can be used to define best practices and ensure that
analyses performed are compliant with corporate standards.

Seamless analysis data management within PLM

CATIA V5 Analysis users benefit naturally from the overall PLM
solution provided by Dassault Systèmes, including ENOVIA V5
for data and product lifecycle management. CATIA V5 Analysis
users can store, manage, version, and share all the data associated
with their product’s simulation, as well as share the information
within the extended enterprise. This unique capability enables
collaboration and provides access to advanced PLM practices
Stress analysis of fan blades
such as concurrent engineering and change management.

SIMULIA World Headquarters

166 Valley Street
Providence, RI 02909 USA
+1 401 276 4400
E-mail: simulia.info@3ds.com
SIM-CAT-GAE-1108

The 3DS logo, CATIA, and SIMULIA are registered trademarks of

Dassault Systèmes or its subsidiaries. Other company, product,
and service names may be trademarks or service marks of their
respective owners.

Copyright Dassault Systèmes, 2008