Hexagon Announces Market-Aligned Strategy for CAE

Hexagon’s Manufacturing Intelligence division has announced the new structure and growth plans for CAE at its first simulation-focused conference, HxGN Live Design & Engineering 2021.

Hexagon has been steadily building its CAE portfolio since it acquired MSC Software in 2017, supporting its customers to push the boundaries of design and engineering and address production challenges earlier in product development through industry-leading simulation capabilities and smart manufacturing solutions that utilize the breadth of Hexagon and partner ecosystem technologies.

Hexagon’s CAE offering is now defined as eight ‘Centers of Excellence’ (CoE), which group its portfolio of leading CAE tools by customer-defined goals, each focusing on one type of physics while enabling greater interoperability of workflows within common collaboration platform technology to enable multi-physics, generative design with data management and unique end-to-end solutions combining virtual and real data. Each CoE is led by an entrepreneurially-minded specialist, to ensure their customers’ needs are met at every stage and includes the discipline of product development, product marketing and process planning.

Assaker also revealed that one of Hexagon’s key focuses for cross-discipline development is Artificial Intelligence (AI), providing solutions in each CoE that are both physics- and data-based. Hexagon is applying AI to improve accuracy, leverage data and enable problem solving in seconds rather than days, by building on its capabilities in Finite Element and Finite Volume Analysis and other numerical simulation without compromising fidelity.

Helping its customers engineer parts that perform as intended when manufactured is in Hexagon’s DNA. Hexagon will continue to help customers move beyond how a part will perform in theory, and to exploit its connection to market-leading metrology and production software to introduce high-value solutions in smart manufacturing. Democratizing the use of CAE is implicit to this – making predictive insights available not just to designers, but to take simulation from engineering to the shop floor and the boardroom with new user experiences.

Nearly all of the Hexagon D&E tools will also be available through one licensing system to further lower barriers to entry; MSCOne, which includes partner software, and a new Innovate portal, which forms one simple destination for new and experienced engineers and designers alike to learn about Hexagon’s software, CAE topics and training.

The new Centers of Excellence include:

  • Autonomous solutions, to simulate more scenarios and make next generation advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS) and autonomous driving a reality as soon as possible, centered around the open Virtual Test Drive (VTD) platform.
  • Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD), for complex multi-physics fluid dynamics for everything from construction to aero-elasticity and MedTech, using Cradle CFD.
  • Acoustics, the staple of automotive manufacturers and suppliers, aerospace and defense companies, and consumer product manufacturers, using Actran.
  • Structures, combining modernized high-productivity user experiences with greater accuracy and performance, from MSC Nastran to Marc and MSC Apex.
  • Manufacturing and costing, leading virtual manufacturing for complex production operations such as metal forming, joining, welding and additive manufacturing solutions, from generative design to manufacture, building on FTi FormingSuite to Simufact products and MSC Apex Generative Design.
  • System dynamics, applying unparalleled insight to movement, from supporting electric vehicle powertrain and rotating machinery design to predicting durability and noise, vibration, and harshness (NVH), with the Adams and Romax portfolios.
  • Integrated Computational Materials Engineering (ICME), using the best available technology to design and make efficient use of materials, predicting the manufactured product’s performance, from polymer composites to metals, using Digimat and MaterialCenter.
  • Applied solutions, using Hexagon and its partners’ technologies to solve real design manufacturing problems, for everything from wind turbines to electric vehicle powertrains.

To view a selection of talks from the HxGN Live Design & Engineering 2021, please see: https://events.hexagon.com/hxgnlive-designandengineering/agenda

About Hexagon

Hexagon is a global sensor, software and autonomous solutions provider. Hexagon’s Manufacturing Intelligence division provides solutions that utilise data from design and engineering, production and metrology to make manufacturing smarter.

For more information, visit hexagonmi.com.

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