3D Visualization and

Collaboration Tools

for

CAE Workflow

Tor Helge Hansen, Ceetron ASStein Inge Dale, Ceetron AS

Armin Sager, Ceetron GmbH

Ketil Aamnes, DNV Software

Ceetron History

• ViewTech ASA. Established in 1995 as a spin-of from SINTEF, Scandinavia’s largest independent research organization.

• Founded by Dr. Ketil Aamnes and Dr. Tor Helge Hansen

• Experts in the field of 3D visualization and animation of results from technical analysis. Product development, sales and consulting services.

• Ceetron established. ViewTech merged with Dynamic Imaging in July 2000.

• Offices in Trondheim, Tønsberg Norway and Stuttgart, Germany

Company Profile

• Mission Statement– Understanding By Visualization

• Business Idea– Ceetron is a software company offering advanced 3D visualization

products and solutions for customers within energy, marine and automotive industries.

• Key application areas– Pre/Post processing and result interpretation

– Presentation, communication and data sharing

– Integrated simulation environments

• Company Values– Leading edge technology and know-how

– Customer satisfaction and after sales support

– Responsible and dedicated professionals

1500+ Companies using Ceetron Technology

The pain of growing data volumes

Challenges in

Collaborative Engineering Solutions

3D-Visualization in CAE Workflow

Engineering

Results

Interpretation and

Post-processing

Distribution

Collaboration

Reporting

.vtf, .vtfx, .bmp, .jpg, .png, .tif, .gif, .eps, .avi, .mpg, .html

Simulator

CAE tools

GLview Inova

GLview 3D

Plugin

GLview

Express

.vtf, .vtfx .vtf, .vtfx

ABAQUS

ANSYS

I-DEAS

LS-DYNA

MSC.Marc

MSC.Nastran

NE/Nastran

NX Nastran

PAMCRASH

RADIOSS

CGNS

FLUENT

FLOW3D

Adobe

Acrobat

3d-pdf

Native CAE specific formats (.op2, .odb, .rst, .fil, ++) Iterative

process

GLview Express:

Free stand-alone viewer.

GLview 3D Plug-In: Free viewer.

PowerPoint, Internet Explorer

Analysis results

Supported CAE

systems:

• ANSYS

• ABAQUS

• I-DEAS

• MSC.Nastran

• MSC.Marc

• LS-DYNA

• RADIOSS

• Fluent

• CGNS

Result

presentation &

communication

GLview Inova: Post-processor

Result

interpretation

Ceetron 3D visualization concept

GLview VTFx

file format

Maybach (Customer)

CDP Bharat Forge (Part Producer)

Transvalor, Forging Software Vendor

User Case - Automotive

Case – Maybach Steel Knuckle

Case – Maybach Steel Knuckle – cont.

Initial Part

Final Part

Case – Maybach Steel Knuckle – cont.

How can we deal with it ?

The pain of growing data volumes

Data Reduction Techniques

Native result file 1 GB

VTFx result file (full model) 50 MB

VTF (surface) 25 MB

Selection of results, steps, parts or sets

Removal of interior data; user defined sets

GZIP type file compression

Result based reduction of surface nodes

Reduction of floating point accuracy

VTF (compressed) 15 MB

VTF (reduced data) 5 MB

VTF (reduced accuracy) 1 MBIn development

Casting Anomaly Analysis

Location of anomalies

The current transmission hub

casting has a recurring

anomaly that resembles a

rippled surface near the in-

gates on the cope castings

Casting Anomaly Analysis – Results

Ceramic Foam Filter

Original Gating

New Gating

Casting Anomaly Analysis – Size Reduction

Case Original Size [MB]

Time Steps[Count]

VTFx Size [MB]

Original Gating 1500 98 20

New Gating 1900 305 27

Size Reduction(Combined Data Selection and Data Reduction)

~ 75

Evaluate multiple models

The Final Step - Electronic Reporting

Add situation →

• Snapshot

• Model

summary

• 2D Plot(s)

• Key result

variables

← Get situation

Load back to

modify or add

GLview Reporter

Repository for

storing of situations.

Perstistent storage.

Export situations to PDF with

Interactive 3D model only

requiring Acrobat Reader!

Export situations to a compact

standaloneVTFx file for use in

GLview Express and 3D Plugin

The pain of growing data volumes – Our solution

• 3D-Visualization gains in importance in CAE workflows due to

increased complexity in simulations and constantly growing

data sets.

• The aim is to provide the CAE User Community with

easy-to-use and powerful 3D-Visualization tools that integrate

seamlessly into the CAE workflow and provide data selection

and data reduction features.

• Combined with semi-automated production of reports, the

time needed for communication of engineering results can be

significantly reduced, yet securing the quality of the decision

process – a great benefit for teams that collaborate globally.

Thank you for your attention

Custom Solutions