NAFEMS SDM 2010 13 Petrovic Siemens

2011-03-04

: Ensight 13 Petrovic Siemens 13_Petrovic_Siemens Report Generation Investigation Material Misc

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Siemens PLM Software

Integrating Teamcenter Simulation
Process Management with ANSA
www.siemens.com/teamcenter

white paper

In most companies, engineers use tens or even hundreds of different tools to
perform various types of simulations. Integration of these various CAE
applications in a common product lifecycle management (PLM) environment will
enhance communication, accelerate the PLM process and increase the impact of
simulation on all product development phases. This white paper presents a
general framework, based on the open PLM XML protocol, to integrate external
CAE applications with a PLM system that supports simulation data and processes.
While the framework is applicable to a wide range of industries, the paper
describes how it has been used to integrate Teamcenter® software‘s simulation
process management capabilities with the ANSA CAE pre-processor for a major
automotive manufacturer.

PLM Software
Answers for industry.

Integrating Teamcenter Simulation Process Management with ANSA

Table of contents
Executive summary

Integration framework

Preparation of product data
for CAE work

Teamcenter-ANSA
interaction points

A simple use case: CAD data
translation and batch meshing

Handling connections

Full model build-up using
ANSA DM and
ANSA task manager

Conclusion

Executive summary

In recent years, the need to satisfy diverse consumer demands has forced vehicle manufacturers to
create better, safer and greener cars. This has inevitably impacted all phases of vehicle product
development, increasing the complexity at the design, validation and manufacturing stages.
The role of CAD has been elevated from a traditional mechanical design tool to a major product
definition process. Evolution of 3D CAD applications has helped designers to produce and handle large
numbers of component variations in shorter times. Furthermore, the design process itself has been
improved with the use of product data management (PDM) applications that support CAD complexity
by introducing efficient data management, versioning and configuration methods.
The use and importance of simulation has been elevated as well. The demand for more vehicle models
with more variations and options, satisfying tighter regulations and prepared at shorter time-to-market
intervals, drives the need for an increased number of credible simulations delivered in shorter times and
at reduced cost. Simulation now plays an active role in the identification and definition of vehicle properties
in the early design stages so as to accurately predict vehicle behavior and assist decision making.
The different phases of simulation-driven product development generate significant and increasing
amounts of diverse data whose loose management leads to error prone procedures that delay crucial
decisions. Integration of the various CAE disciplines in a common PLM environment will help enhance
communication, accelerate PLM process and increase the impact of simulation on all product
development phases.

Simulation data management challenges
With the increasingly important role being played by simulation, companies are looking for solutions to
manage their simulation data and processes. In most companies, engineers use tens, and for complex
products even hundreds, of different tools to perform various types of simulations. Bringing all of these
tools into a managed process is a challenge. Furthermore, the number of specialized simulation methods
for various disciplines has increased significantly. As a result, it is a challenge for the CAE process to
ensure that all disciplines work on the same up-to-date model data.
Existing PDM/PLM environments do not have the specialized integral tools required for the completion
of CAE work. As a result, these environments rely on external software for the preparation, verification
and execution of CAE analyses.
The CAE process usually starts with gathering information related to the simulations that will follow.
This information consists of the vehicle product structure and related CAD and metadata, extends to
simulation scenarios and finally covers simulation results and post-processing evaluation reports. Since
the bulk of this information is already handled by PDM systems, it would be beneficial to communicate
it to the CAE environment in order to serve downstream processes. The motivation is to accelerate the
PLM process, increase confidence in CAE and enhance the impact of simulation throughout the vehicle
development cycle.
To address these needs, Siemens PLM Software and BETA CAE Systems S.A. have taken the initiative to
bring Teamcenter Simulation Process Management (henceforth referred to as Teamcenter) together
with the ANSA CAE pre-processing tool, in order to offer an attractive solution that combines the
efficiency of these well established applications in the PLM and CAE fields respectively.

The Teamcenter-ANSA integration is facilitated through PLM XML files. PLM XML is a protocol created
by Siemens PLM Software to boost PLM interoperability by defining a set of XML schemas and
associated services that facilitate open, high-content product lifecycle data sharing. It is open, published
and compliant with the W3C XML schema recommendations. PLM XML file and associated data serve
as input to ANSA. In turn, ANSA performs all required pre-processing actions based only on the
information residing inside the PLM XML file. Finally, ANSA reports the result back to Teamcenter
through PLM XML.
The development of the Teamcenter-ANSA integration is an ongoing process. It is expected that the
collaboration will result in an “out-of-the-box” solution for CAE model preparation in the context of a
managed design and simulation environment.

Integration framework

Teamcenters’s CAE data model
Teamcenter provides an out-of-the-box data model specifically designed to manage CAE data.
The data model consists of item types to store CAE geometry and CAE models such as
meshes, analysis models that may include definitions of loads and boundary conditions, results,
and structure maps that contain rules which can be applied to a product structure to create a
CAE structure. Relationships between these different items are used to answer questions, such
as “What CAE model is the basis for this analysis result?”
With this generic data model Teamcenter can manage data authored in a wide variety of preprocessors (NX™ software, ANSYS, Mechanica, ANSA), solvers (NASTRAN, ABAQUS, ANSYS)
or post processors for a FEA type of analysis. Teamcenter can also manage data authored by
mathematical and analytic tools (Matlab, Excel, Maple).

Teamcenter’s external process launch framework
Launching applications in an integrated environment requires a number of factors to be
addressed, such as gathering all the input files, launching the applications locally or on a remote
cluster, gathering the data generated and finally storing the data back into the data management
system with the correct relationships. Teamcenter’s simulation process management capabilities
include a framework that allows external CAE applications to be integrated and launched with
minimal effort. This is accomplished through a process wherein a simulation administrator can
configure external simulation tools by specifying the file types, launch scripts and other
information. Configurations can then be shared across multiple sites. The external applications
can be organized hierarchically (for instance to support multiple versions of a solver) and can
inherit properties from a parent for even faster setup.

Configuration

Teamcenter
data model

PLM XML
transfer mode

Post
operations

Teamcenter

PLM XML
export

ANSA

Script

Preprocessing
actions

ANSA

PLM XML
import

Working
directory

PLM XML
file

ANSA

PLM XML
export

ANSA

Teamcenter

Process

Environment

Teamcenter-ANSA interaction

PLM XML
import

ANSA
mapping table

Figure 1: The framework for Teamcenter-ANSA interaction.

Figure depicts the three blocks that set up the framework for the Teamcenter-ANSA
interaction, including the environment block, configuration block and process block. In the
environment block, Teamcenter functions as the application that handles the product and analysis
information and ANSA as the pre-processor that is called to execute CAE-related actions. The
means to facilitate the information exchange between the two applications include a working
directory, into which data are placed, and a PLM XML file describing the content of this data.
The configuration actions that need to be taken in each application to enable their
communication are shown in the configuration block. On the Teamcenter side, users first
leverage a CAE-specific data model and a framework to launch external applications that will
identify ANSA as an external tool and make it directly accessible. Then, again in Teamcenter, a
new PLM XML transfer mode dictates the rules that control the amount and depth of product
and/or analysis information that will be extracted from Teamcenter and will be included in the
exported PLM XML file. Finally, in ANSA, a mapping table defines the correspondence between
Teamcenter and ANSA keywords, so that ANSA will know how to act when this information is
communicated. As the list of dataset types used in Teamcenter can vary from company to
company, the PLM XML transfer mode and the ANSA mapping table can be tuned or configured
for each implementation.
With respect to the configuration process, the Teamcenter-ANSA interaction covers a number
of typical CAE use cases. These can be simple cases such as CAD data translation and batch
meshing, or cases of higher complexity such as full-vehicle assembly with connections, the
handling of component updates, the re-use of common content (meshes) and the build-up of
ready-to-run solver input decks. Since every use case has a different starting point and requires
different pre-processing actions, an easy solution would have been to use a dedicated PLM XML
transfer mode for each use case and have ANSA read/act differently depending on the use case
at hand. However, by placing more intelligence in the pre-processor side, all use cases are
covered using a single PLM XML transfer mode, thereby minimizing the need for extensive
configuration on the Teamcenter side. The aim is to standardize the amount and level of

information that is exchanged between Teamcenter and ANSA, as well as the actions that
Teamcenter and ANSA will take during this interaction, in order to cover as many use cases
as possible.
The last building block of the framework gives an overview of the interaction process. It begins
in Teamcenter by exporting a PLM XML file and related product data into the working
directory. Then, ANSA is launched, reads the PLM XML file and proceeds to the required preprocessing actions using the data residing in the working directory. The actions that ANSA
follows are dictated by the contents of the PLM XML file. In the end, ANSA exports a PLM
XML file describing the modifications that were applied to the data. Post operations can follow,
if necessary, and finally Teamcenter imports the newly created PLM XML file and stores the
CAE models in the Teamcenter CAE-specific data model.
It is worth noting that the same process is applied for all use cases. This relieves users from
having to know what should be done in each use case and leaves all actions under the full control
of the pre-processor. Moreover, users have the choice of starting the pre-processing actions
either directly from Teamcenter or manually from the working directory. The latter
characteristic allows users to work in offline mode with ANSA and when ready bring back the
modified PLM XML file and import it into Teamcenter. This mechanism also supports OEMs
interacting with suppliers who don’t have access to the OEM’s PLM system, as the contents of
the working directory can be packaged and transferred from the OEM to a supplier site.
Suppliers in turn can carry out the pre-processing actions off-line and deliver the modified data
and the respective PLM XML file to the OEM, to be placed back into the Teamcenter database.

Preparation of product data for CAE work

Usually, product data representing a new vehicle is brought into Teamcenter directly from a
CAD program. The product structure at this stage covers all possible vehicle variations and
options and is usually called the unconfigured structure. As such it is not suitable for CAE work.
The CAE engineer needs to trim down the unconfigured structure within Teamcenter, remove
redundant information and derive a discipline-dependant, configured structure that will be used
by all downstream CAE processes.
Figure outlines the data preparation process. The first step for the derivation of a CAE-ready
configured structure begins in the structure manager (also known as the product structure
editor or PSE). Inside the structure manager, the original CAD structure is configured based on
a set of variant and revision rules. The variant rules dictate which components are used in a
specific vehicle variant (such as a sedan) and the revision rules indicate which CAD revision
(version) of each component is to be used for the CAE evaluation. This procedure produces a
structure that is configured in the sense of the components that it contains, even though it is
still not ready for CAE work. The final step of the preparation is achieved in the CAE manager
(also known as the CAE structure editor or CAE SE) with the aid of structure maps.
Teamcenter/structure manager
Unconfigured
structure

Revision
rules

Configured
structure

Structure
map

Configured
structure for CAE

Variant
rules
CAD assembly
CAD component
(multiple revisions)

Product assembly
Product component
(specific revision)

CAE assembly
CAE component
(discipline
representation)

Teamcenter/CAE manager
Figure 2: Preparation of product data for CAE work in Teamcenter.

A structure map is a set of user-defined rules to change an input product structure into a CAE
analysis structure suitable for a particular discipline. For example, a structure map for crash
analysis would dictate the meshing characteristics or FE-representation that the components
should take in order to prepare a model for crash analysis. The structure map could also filter
out components from the product structure that are not critical for a crash analysis while
adding other components, such as a barrier, that may not exist in the product structure.
Structure maps themselves are part of the Teamcenter data model and as such can be managed,
revised and shared. After the structure map is applied to the incoming product structure, the
resulting CAE analysis structure can be exported for pre-processing.

Teamcenter – ANSA interaction points

The interaction points between Teamcenter and ANSA are shown in figure . The first and
simplest interaction point refers to component meshing and covers the translation of the
product CAD data into the native ANSA format and the subsequent batch meshing of the
components according to the directions given in the PLM XML file. The derived ANSA file for
each component is placed back into Teamcenter.
The cases of building a sub-assembly from its components and the building of a complete
vehicle assembly from its sub-assemblies are covered in the second and third interaction points
respectively. The difference between the two is the way ANSA handles the connectivity
information. In the former case, ANSA treats a sub-assembly by realizing only its internal
connections, i.e. the connections among its components. In the latter case, it is assumed that all
sub-assemblies are properly connected, so that ANSA realizes only the external connections
between the sub-assemblies. It is worth noting that, in both cases, if the connectivity
information is missing, the CAE engineer can easily create it in ANSA. When ANSA exports
the PLM XML file back to Teamcenter, a new CAE item containing the connections is
automatically created.
Point 1 – Component meshing
• Translation of CAD components
• Batch meshing of components
Point 2 – Create CAE sub-assemblies
• Assignment of component attributes
• Component postioning and instantiation
• Application of sub-assembly connections
Point 3 – Create complete CAE assembly
• Build-up from sub-assemblies and components
• Application of model connections

Teamcenter

PLM XML file

Capabilities within each
interaction point
• Process new data
• Handle component updates
• Re-use existing data
• Re-use common content

ANSA

Figure 3: Teamcenter-ANSA interaction points.

All of the above interaction points use a configured CAE structure, the respective data and the
PLM XML file exported from Teamcenter as a starting point for all ANSA actions. Upon
completion, the CAE engineer has the option of saving the ANSA result in Teamcenter either as
a monolithic file, containing the complete assembly, or on an individual component level.
Moreover, the CAE engineer does not have to modify the process in any of the interaction
points in order to handle component updates, re-use existing data or accommodate content
that is common between assemblies. These cases are all handled inherently either by
Teamcenter or by the intelligence put in the ANSA PLM XML reader.

A simple use case: CAD data translation and batch meshing

The following use case describes a simple CAD data translation and batch meshing example
where the PDM data for a complete vehicle resides in the structure manager (also known as the
product structure editor or PSE) as shown in figure a. You can isolate the small assembly of
the dashboard, as shown in figure , and place it under control of the CAE manager (also known
as the CAE structure editor or CAE SE) in order to build a CAE-ready configured structure.

Figure 4(a): PDM data for complete vehicle.

Figure 4(b): Dashboard sub-assembly.

Symmetric and multi-instanced components of the dashboard, and consequently of the vehicle,
are defined in their CAD form only once in the PDM system and their actual locations are
reproduced based on transformation matrices.
The application of a discipline-specific structure map to the sub-assembly will inherently
dictate the way these components should be meshed by ANSA. At this stage, if other
engineering data are available (e.g. properties, materials), they would populate the respective
columns appearing in the CAE manager (figure ).

Figure 5(a): Application of structure map.

Figure 5(b): CAE-ready configured structure.

The export process (figure ) will place a PLM XML file containing all information regarding the
configured product or analysis structure, as well as the corresponding CAD files of the components
comprising the dashboard assembly into the working directory that facilitates the data exchange.

Figure 6(a): Export of configured structure.

Figure 6(b): PLM XML file.

ANSA is then launched, imports the PLM XML file and begins to translate, position and
instantiate every component (figure ). Subsequently, when all components are ready, the batch
mesh manager is invoked, with a session populated by the dashboard components and with
meshing and quality parameters based on the representation decided in the structure map.

Figure 7(a): Import of sub-assembly CAD data.

Figure 7(b): Batch meshing of components.

Figure 8(a): Meshed sub-assembly.

Figure 8(b): Import of sub-assembly into Teamcenter.

The CAE engineer can modify any of the CAE properties of the components at any time.
When finished, the PLM XML export process from ANSA will: (a) store the components in
ANSA format, (b) store a top-level single assembly file and (c) produce a PLM XML file
containing all modifications.
Teamcenter then imports the PLM XML file, attaches the corresponding ANSA files to the
components of the instrument panel and updates the analysis structure accordingly (figure ).
The next time that the instrument panel, or any of its components, is called to participate in
the build-up of a configured CAE structure, the CAD data translation process will not be
repeated, whereas the batch meshing process will be repeated only if the existing mesh cannot
satisfy the requirements of the discipline at hand.
It is also worth mentioning that the component meshing process is always accomplished in the
context of the sub-assembly. As a result, the transformation matrices and even available point
connections are considered at this stage. Once this task is done, the component meshes are
stored back in the Teamcenter data model in their original component position to ensure
reusability in other sub-assemblies.

Handling connections

The connectivity information that accompanies a structure is usually exported from the CAD
system and resides along with the other PDM data in Teamcenter. This information can have
various formats, but within the framework of the Teamcenter-ANSA integration, the
standardized form of master connections file (MCF) is used as the preferred way of storing and
communicating connectivity information.
When a CAE connections item of MCF form is included in a configured CAE structure that is
exported from Teamcenter, ANSA automatically identifies these connections. The connection
type is dictated inherently in the MCF file. The CAE engineer can now proceed to the
realization of the connections. Moreover, if the CAE engineer uses ANSA to create or modify
connectivity information, the exported PLM XML file from ANSA back to Teamcenter dictates
the creation of a new dataset containing the corresponding master connections file.
Figure 9 presents a case of a configured structure of a small sub-assembly that is exported from
Teamcenter to ANSA for the purpose of realizing the connection between its components. The
connectivity information is given in a connections item in MCF form. There are two possibilities
regarding the contents of the connections item: (a) to contain the connections for just this small
sub-assembly or (b) to contain the connections for the complete vehicle.
In either case, when this structure is exported to ANSA, ANSA will identify and process only
the connections that are internal to the sub-assembly and create an MCF file containing the
external connections. ANSA exports a monolithic ANSA file containing the properly connected
sub-assembly and its corresponding connectivity information, as well as the created MCF file,
back to Teamcenter.

Figure 9: Handling connections through a master connection file.

When the above process is applied on the complete car, all connections are considered since
now they are internal to the vehicle top-level assembly.

Full model build-up using ANSA DM and ANSA task manager

The Teamcenter-ANSA integration has so far covered the build-up of a vehicle assembly, starting
from its original CAD structure, stored as PDM data in Teamcenter, and moving on to the
suitable CAE configured structure in Teamcenter that is exported to ANSA for pre-processing.
The next level of integration will focus on the build-up and management of a ready-to-run
solver input file, by leveraging the already existing capabilities of ANSA to realize this in an
automated way. What was built so far corresponds, in ANSA CAE language, to the common
model. A common model defines the physical model that will participate in an analysis. It is
called “common” because it consists of all the components, connections, connectors and masstrim items that are common to all disciplines. The common model is stripped of any solver
specific features; it is, however, ready to adopt any form suitable for the analysis that will follow
(figure ).
This use case will leverage the common model to derive the solver common model through
enhanced integration between Teamcenter and ANSA. The solver common model dictates how
the common model should be transformed in order to render it more meaningful for the
particular CAE analysis at hand. In this sense, the solver common model may be essentially the
same for all analyses under the same CAE discipline and can be seen as a link between the
common model and the actual solver load case that follows.
For example, to perform front impact analysis using an explicit solver, you need to read the
common model, give the suitable representation to model connections and connectors, add the
necessary mass trim items, define the output requests and verify that the model is indeed valid
for the explicit solver being used.

Figure 10(a): Configured CAE structure in Teamcenter..

Figure 10(b): ANSA common model.

The preparation of the solver common model is achieved by utilizing two integral parts of
ANSA: ANSA data management and ANSA task manager. ANSA DM lies in the background and
provides all the required auxiliary and library items, while ANSA task manager reflects all
distinct modelling actions that must be followed for the preparation of the solver common
model. These task templates are also stored in ANSA DM. In figure , ANSA loads the
common model exported from Teamcenter, assigns the solver common model task and
executes its actions. The result is communicated back to Teamcenter for storage.

Figure 11: The solver common model in ANSA exported to Teamcenter.

In a fashion similar to the above discussion, the solver common model can be exported from
Teamcenter for the purpose of preparing a solver input deck. All that is now missing is the
application of the specific loadcases that need to be analyzed. A loadcase contains all solver
definitions that make the model suitable for the investigation of a standardized or companyspecific loading scenario. ANSA task manager, having ANSA DM always in the background, will
apply the desired loadcase(s) and proceed to the output of a ready-to-run file that can be
submitted for solution (figure ).
The described approach to the build-up of solver input files exploits all benefits of the integral
functionality of ANSA task manager. All actions leading to the final output can be defined by
CAE experts and, executed in a stepwise fashion, can be repeated by inexperienced users and
help capture and diffuse knowledge among members of the same group. Moreover, task
templates are repeatable, can be used with different sets of data and can easily accommodate
changes in model parameters. Finally, with all items under the control of the task manager, the
identification of inter-dependencies among modelling actions and the subsequent resolution of
conflicts safeguards model integrity.

Figure 12(a): Export of ANSA solver common model.

Figure 12(b): Application of the loadcase.

Conclusion

The Teamcenter-ANSA integration brings the worlds of PLM and CAE closer and satisfies the
need for faster, efficient CAE workflows, so as to actually impact product development.
The integration framework requires minimum configuration for the two applications. Data
exchange is facilitated through a common working space and a single PLM XML file describing
the product/analysis structure and the content of the exchanged data. At the beginning of the
process, the data and the PLM XML file are exported by Teamcenter. ANSA then imports the
PLM XML file and performs the required pre-processing actions on the product data. In turn, a
PLM XML file is exported by ANSA and subsequently used by Teamcenter to bring the
modified data back, update the analysis information and store the results in-context of the
product data.
A major advantage of the PLM XML approach is that no interface utility (translator) is required
to establish the communication between Teamcenter and ANSA. As a result, the two
applications can be released and maintained independently of each other.
The Teamcenter-ANSA interaction use cases currently include CAD data translation and
subsequent batch meshing, the build-up of sub-assemblies and the build-up of a complete vehicle
assembly. In combination with ANSA DM and ANSA task manager, a next level of integration
will cover the build-up of a ready-to-run input solver file.
It is expected that the collaboration between Siemens PLM Software and BETA CAE Systems
S.A. will result in an out-of-the-box solution for the CAE engineer, as it combines the
capabilities of Teamcenter and ANSA in a simple and straightforward manner.

About BETA CAE Systems S.A.
BETA CAE Systems S.A., headquartered in Thessaloniki, Greece, is a private engineering
software company committed to the development of best-in-class pre- and post- processing
solutions for multidisciplinary CAE applications. The BETA CAE Systems flagship product suite,
comprised of the ANSA pre-processor and μETA post-processor, holds a worldwide leading
position in the CAE software. This product suite sets the standard in CAE pre-processing and
post-processing in many sectors, including automotive, railway, aerospace, motor sports,
chemical processes, energy, electronics, heavy machinery, power tools and biochemical. For more
information on the company, its products and services, visit www.beta-cae.gr

About Siemens PLM Software
Siemens PLM Software, a business unit of the Siemens Industry
Automation Division, is a leading global provider of product
lifecycle management (PLM) software and services with
6.7 million licensed seats and 63,000 customers worldwide.
Headquartered in Plano, Texas, Siemens PLM Software works
collaboratively with companies to deliver open solutions that
help them turn more ideas into successful products. For more
information on Siemens PLM Software products and services,
visit www.siemens.com/plm.

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Software Inc. All rights reserved. Siemens and the
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Example of Full Model Build-Up
Process in Collaboration
with External Suppliers
Zoran PETROVIC Siemens Industry Software GmbH & Co. KG, Germany
Giannis CHARALAMBIDIS, Stylianos SEITANIS BETA CAE Systems S.A., Greece

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