In this webinar, Eric Gustafson shows some of the new functionality included in FEMAP 11.3.

1. 5/22/2012
Page 1
Femap V11.3 What’s New
E. Gustafson
Structural Design and Analysis (Structures.aero)
5-10-16

2. 5/22/2012
Page 2
SDA Femap Symposium

3. 5/22/2012
Page 3Page 3
Femap Release Schedule
• Regular release schedule
– v11.3 April 2016
– v11.2 March 2015
– v11.1 November 2013
– v11: January 2013
– v10.3.1: January 2012
– v10.3: October 2011
– v10.2: October 2010
– v10.1.1: January 2010
– v10.1: August 2009
– v10: December 2008

4. 5/22/2012
Page 4Page 4
How do I get it?
http://download.industrysoftware.automation.siemens.com
Head to this link, you will need a
Siemens webkey account (reach out
to us if you have any trouble with
this)
• Then node-locked users need to
get new dongle codes and then
update the dongle with them.
• Network license users need to
pull a new license and update
their server.
• Head to the SDA Licensing FAQ
site to see more steps
http://structures.aero/licensing-faqs/

5. 5/22/2012
Page 5Page 5
Femap 11.3 What’s New
New functionality and updates
Preprocessing Meshing
Solver
Support
Post-
processing
Performance

6. 5/22/2012
Page 6Page 6
Preprocessing
Draw/Erase Toolbar
– New toolbar for draw/erase
• Fast access to mesh and geometry on/off
• Choose entities to draw or erase
• Toggle back and forth
• Choose by element, property, material
• Grow/shrink selection
• Mesh only, geometry only, or linked
• Create Femap group from draw/erase data
• Load Femap group into draw/erase data
– Couple of notes
• Entities must already be visible
• Reference entities are also removed i.e.
curves and points for surfaces, all three of
those for solids, etc

7. 5/22/2012
Page 7Page 7
Preprocessing
New View Rotation Options
– Default option still “Rotate about View Center”
– Similar to v11.2.x – first two items toggle between view
center and rotation center
– New option – choose between rotating about the “view
axes” (screen) or the “model axes” (global csys)
– New option – “Rotate about Coordinate System” – simply
pick a Femap csys
– “Rotate around vector” same as v11.2.x “rotate around
rotation axis”
Femap v11.2.x

8. 5/22/2012
Page 8
Preprocessing
Rotate Around Cursor
New “Dynamic rotate about
cursor location” option maintains
the location of the click location
on the model
Prior versions – Dynamic
rotation can move model out of
view depending on view center
Starting click and rotate location
– Accessed via File /
Preferences / User Interface
OR add a toolbar icon
– Model rotates about the
closest entity on screen
– Model never swings out of
view!

9. 5/22/2012
Page 9Page 9
Preprocessing
Zoom Around Cursor
Accessed via File / Preferences / User
Interface OR add a toolbar icon
Original
behavior
Now

10. 5/22/2012
Page 10Page 10
Preprocessing
Roll Through Mode
• Roll-Thru: move “inside” the
model
– With Roll-Thru off (and in all previous
versions of Femap) you cannot move
through your model, you just zoom
closer and closer
– Roll-Thru moves the viewer’s eye to a
certain depth in the screen direction,
everything behind that is clipped
– Zoom in enough and you’re
inside, and can turn around
and see what was behind you

11. 5/22/2012
Page 11
Object
Preprocessing
Roll Through Mode
Nothing
clipped
Object
Eye location moved by
Shift+Atl+Scroll Wheel,
or moving 3D mouse
Half of object
clipped
Object
View
rotated 180°
Other half of
object clipped

12. 5/22/2012
Page 12
Preprocessing
Roll Through Mode
Imagine trying to peer into at a hollow
structure. Prior to v11.3, this required steps
like selective removal of entities from view, or
manually setting a clipping plane
In view Obstructed
d

13. 5/22/2012
Page 13
Preprocessing
Roll Through Mode
Zoom will make the part
large in view, but doesn’t
bring the “eye” closer
In view Obstructed
d

14. 5/22/2012
Page 14
Preprocessing
Roll Through Mode
Roll thru will move the “eye”
so that you can peer inside at
features hidden by some
obstructing entities
In viewClipped

15. 5/22/2012
Page 15
Roll Through Demo
Great for peering into
internal features of
semi-monocoque
construction

16. 5/22/2012
Page 16Page 16
Preprocessing
Touch Gestures
Graphics Window Gesture Action
One finger drag Dynamic model rotate
Two finger drag Dynamic model pan
Two finger pinch Zoom out
Two finger spread Zoom in
Move one finger around another Rotate around screen z-axis
Touch gestures are available in Graphics and Messages Windows, Entity Editor, Meshing and Postprocessing
Toolboxes, Data Table, Connection Editor, Model Info Tree and Status Bar

17. 5/22/2012
Page 17Page 17
Preprocessing
Connection Manager
– New connection editor
• Easier management and access to connections
• Direct editing
• Sorting
• Filters

18. 5/22/2012
Page 18
Preprocessing
Element picking – Add Connected

19. 5/22/2012
Page 19
Preprocessing
Element picking – Add All Connected

20. 5/22/2012
Page 20Page 20
Preprocessing
Pick Visible
• New method for front picking
– Turn on/off in File / Preferences / Graphics
– Much faster than database access
• Uses OpenGL (basic and performance)
to keep track of which ID is front
• If an entity is not represented by a pixel,
it will not be picked, i.e. blocked by
something else, or so small it did not
make a single pixel
• Works in single pick, box, circle,
polygon, etc.

21. 5/22/2012
Page 21Page 21
Preprocessing
Streamlined Element Face Picking
– Face picking automatically loads currently
displayed elements as possible entities to pick
from
– Adjacent faces is now the default
– With front picking turned on, only front faces
can be selected, so any face based selection can
be made with a single double-click
– Combined with draw/erase toolbar, enables
faster creation of connections (glue, contact)

22. 5/22/2012
Page 22
Preprocessing
Beam Modeling Enhancements
• Immediate feedback of basic cross
section information
• Can see the reference graphic
immediately

23. 5/22/2012
Page 23Page 23
Preprocessing
Properties
Only Connection Regions are available when creating a
Connector
Intelligent Entity
Availability
Only Properties which are
appropriate for current
Element type are available
Unique property icons for properties

24. 5/22/2012
Page 24Page 24
Preprocessing
Renumber All
New renumber all dialog

25. 5/22/2012
Page 25Page 25
Preprocessing
API Program File Libraries
– Custom Tools
• Library of API programs delivered with the software
– User Tools
• Reference for your own corporate-wide API program library

26. 5/22/2012
Page 26Page 26
Preprocessing
Miscellaneous
– Plane to Plane method now available when using commands on the Modify,
Align… menu. Similar to Between Coordinate Systems method, with specified
plane defining X and Y axes, plane normal defining Z axis.
– Loads
• For the specified type(s) in the active Load Set, All Load Sets, or any number of
selected Load Sets, can now...
– modify the color
– modify the layer
– scale the values
– change the function ID
– delete loads
• Updated Modify, Update Other, Load Phase and Delete, Model, Load - Body
commands to allow selection of any number of Load Sets.
– Constraints
• Added ability to of specified type(s) in the active Constraint Set, all Constraint
Sets, or any number of selected Constraint Sets.
– modify the color
– modify the layer
– delete constraints

27. 5/22/2012
Page 27Page 27
Femap 11.3 What’s New
Preprocessing Meshing
Solver
Support
Post-
processing
Performance

28. 5/22/2012
Page 28Page 28
Meshing
Quad Meshing Improvements
– Max Quads
• Goal: all quad mesh through triangle removal
• Will allow triangles when required
• With an odd number of edges there will always be one triangle
– Example: default mesh contains 39 triangles – with Max Quads it’s just 1
Default mesh Max Quads mesh

29. 5/22/2012
Page 29Page 29
Meshing
Quad Meshing Improvements
• Max Quads combined with Quad Layers provides maximum mesh customization and flexibility
Recall that quad layers can be used to have Femap
try to place a specified amount of quads at the
boundary curves

30. 5/22/2012
Page 30Page 30
Meshing
Quad Meshing Improvements
Internal element growth now
available with quad meshes
Recall the Mesh Growth
factor is simply a factor that is
multiplied by the average size
of the elements around the
perimeter of the surface. This
value is used as the target
size of all the elements in the
interior of the surface.
Factor = high
Factor = low

31. 5/22/2012
Page 31Page 31
Meshing
Mesh Smoothing Improvements
New smoothing algorithm for highly
curved surfaces
Great for the sharp radius on wing
leading edges.

32. 5/22/2012
Page 32Page 32
Meshing
Interactive Mesh Refine
– Interactive update of shell/line mesh
• Auto transition
• Shrink/grow selection
• Drag selection
• Loads/constraints propagated automatically
– Say we wanted to refine the area around
the lug…

33. 5/22/2012
Page 33Page 33
Meshing
Multiple Element Splitting
• Multiple elements (nodes) can now
be selected for splitting in a single
command
• More efficient mesh refinement
process than selecting each pair of
nodes to split between individually

34. 5/22/2012
Page 34Page 34
Meshing
Hard Point Auto Update – Meshing Toolbox
• Mesh hard point auto-update within
meshing toolbox
• Meshing toolbox commands that update
surfaces will now automatically manage
moving mesh hard points to any split
surfaces

35. 5/22/2012
Page 35Page 35
Meshing
Geometry Cleanup – Meshing Toolbox
• Small curves and extraneous points are
inadvertently captured in the mesh
• New feature removal tools to permanently
remove them
• Similar to composite curves and composite
surfaces, but done at a geometric (Parasolid)
level

36. 5/22/2012
Page 36Page 36
Femap 11.3 What’s New
Preprocessing Meshing
Solver
Support
Post-
processing
Performance

37. 5/22/2012
Page 37Page 37
Solver Support
– Abaqus
• Can now Attach to (instead of internalizing) Abaqus ODB results
– Nastran element quality
• More checks available, can get to them by meshing toolbox
– Nastran frequency response enhancements
• Read and write support for all Nastran FREQ entries
• New solution frequency tab in Nastran dynamic analysis form
– Non-zero constraints SPC in constraint set (Nastran/
ansys)
– Grounded springs now available
• Spring/Damper/ DOF Spring to Ground elements (CBUSH/CELAS2)
– Configure multiple solvers within Femap
• Different analysis sets can use a unique solver
– Ansys
• New solution setup dialog and analysis monitor for Ansys
solutions
• CBUSH-like spring elements can be written (also Abaqus) BK

38. 5/22/2012
Page 38Page 38
Solver Support
Nastran Results Enhancements
• Use static subcase IDs – NEW
• Track revisions – NEW

39. 5/22/2012
Page 39Page 39
Femap 11.3 What’s New
Preprocessing Meshing
Solver
Support
Post-
processing
Performance

40. 5/22/2012
Page 40Page 40
Postprocessing
Arrow Plots
• Contour Vector plots have been completely overhauled for v11.3 and have been renamed Contour Arrows

41. 5/22/2012
Page 41Page 41
Postprocessing
Contour Arrow Plots
• Automatic vector selection: the
user specifies a single contour
vector and Femap
automatically selects
appropriate output vectors to
display as well as the correct
orientation for relevant
elements
• On-the-fly results
transformations: nodal, shell
and solid results can now be
displayed in a transformed
orientation without having to
first manually create a set of
transformed results

42. 5/22/2012
Page 42Page 42
Postprocessing
Contour Arrow Plots
• Automatic styling: based on the selected output vector, Femap can automatically
select the arrow styles that are the most appropriate for the type of vector
displayed. These settings can always be overridden by the user
Arrow Heads
Arrow Location Arrow Colors
Moment HeadDouble Head Single Head No Head
Arrow at Tail Arrow at Center Contour Colors View Colors

43. 5/22/2012
Page 43Page 43
Postprocessing
Contour Arrow Plots
Automatic styling
Plate principals
• Double-headed arrows
• Located at center
Plate membrane
• Single-headed arrows
• Located at tip
• Designed to show
directions for positive
shear flow
Beam axial / shear
• Axial shown with
double-ended arrows at
center
• Shear shown with single
headed arrows at tip

44. 5/22/2012
Page 44Page 44
Postprocessing
Contour Arrow Plots
• Shear / resultant display: arrows can be shown as individual components, resultants or selected axial / shear
components
Total output vectors (i.e. 1..Total Translation) are
automatically paired with the matching components
and shown as resultants
Component output vectors (i.e. 2..T1 Translation)
are automatically paired with the matching
components and shown as individual components

45. 5/22/2012
Page 45Page 45
Postprocessing
Contour Arrow Plots
• Shear / resultant display
CBUSH forces in the element coordinate system
shown as individual components
CBUSH forces in the element coordinate system
shown as shear (Y force / Z force) and axial (X force)

46. 5/22/2012
Page 46Page 46
Postprocessing
Contour Arrow Plots
• Output listing: when doing automatic vector selection,
List / Output / Contoured Results to Data Table command lists Contour Arrow results to the data table as they
appear on screen
• All results remain sortable and entities can be highlighted,
even when resultants or shears are displayed

47. 5/22/2012
Page 47Page 47
Postprocessing
Freebodies
• Glue and contact: support has
been added for glue and
contact results as discrete
freebody contributions
• When you add contact
contribution – FB summations
will now show up in
equilibrium

48. 5/22/2012
Page 48Page 48
Postprocessing
Freebodies
• Freebody listing has been rewritten to consolidate commands and add additional features
v11.2.2
Single Dialog
v11.3

49. 5/22/2012
Page 49Page 49
Postprocessing
Freebodies
• Freebody listing
– Consolidated into a single dialog box
• Interface loads can be sent directly to the
data table
• Clipboard is a new listing destination
option for tab delimited data
• Listing of F06-style GPFO data has been
streamlined
• Dialog remembers previous settings

50. 5/22/2012
Page 50Page 50
Postprocessing
Freebody Listing
• Interface loads in data table
• GPFB to clipboard
• Convenient for pasting to Excel or similar applications
• Same styling a traditional F06 output

51. 5/22/2012
Page 51Page 51
Postprocessing
Freebodies
• Default settings: freebody defaults can be set in Preferences / Results tab

52. 5/22/2012
Page 52Page 52
Postprocessing
Charting Enhancements
• Enhanced support for analysis studies
Specify individual studies for Vector vs. Output Set
and Vector vs. Vector data series
Quickly create new data series directly from the
Model Info Tree. Can be added to existing charts
or new ones can be created

53. 5/22/2012
Page 53Page 53
Femap 11.3 What’s New
Preprocessing Meshing
Solver
Support
Post-
processing
Performance

54. 5/22/2012
Page 54Page 54
Performance
Performance Improvements
• Addressed specific customer issues:
• Nastran XDB Attach: composite element results – 60x
• Femap sets (API feSet object)
• Accessed from your APIs and used internally in Femap are now 30x faster adding and removing IDs
• Expanding pressure loads on shell elements attached to a surfaces 240x faster
• Performance Graphics continues to evolve
– Rigid elements: RBE2, RBE3, and RSPLINE elements are now drawn with PG, including their DOF labels,
independent/dependent symbols and arrows indicating direction
– Contour Style: arrows are now drawn in PG, together with their numerical data
– Deformed Style: arrows are now drawn in PG, together with their numerical data
– Performance Graphics will be temporarily disabled when an unsupported command is used (i.e., Dynamic Cutting Plane,
Dynamic IsoSurface, etc), then be enabled again after exiting the command

55. 5/22/2012
Page 55
Q and A
Eric Gustafson
Senior Aerospace Stress Analyst/
Femap Technical Support
Structural Design and Analysis, Inc
www.structures.aero
46030 Manekin Plaza. Ste 120
Sterling, VA 20166
Phone: (703) 657-0919
Email: eric@structures.aero
New to Femap? Check out the book Learning Femap at
www.learningfea.com
Submit support tickets here:
http://structures.aero/services/#support
Any questions?
$49.99*/ B&W
$99.99*/ Color