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Patran 2008 r2
Release Guide
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P3*2008R2*Z*Z*Z*DC-REL
Contents
Patran Release Guide
Patran Release
Guide,
Email 12
3 Marc Preference
Multi-Physics Support 28
Marc Results 30
Initial Contact 31
4 General Enhancements
Right Mouse Button (RMB) 34
Model Display Options 35
Node, Element or Geometric Entity Options 35
CONTENTS v
SimXpert Integration 49
MSC Sinda Preference 50
Laminate Modeler 51
Import Layup File… 51
Save As… 51
Create LM_Layup Add 51
Layup Definition Spreadsheet 52
Create LM_Layup Laminate 53
Create Results Failure Calc 54
Show LM_Ply Graphics 55
Delete LM_Layup Select 55
Import Plies File 55
Import Results ESAComp xml 56
Verify Laminate 56
Customer Requests 57
61
CAD Access
InterOp R18 SP1/SP3
The Spatial InterOp, Parasolid based translators, have been updated to the R18 SP1 and SP3 revisions.
This gives CAD access support based on the table in Supported CAD Access, 7. MSC makes periodic
updates to CAD access and are available through download patches at:
http://www.mscsoftware.com/support/software_updates/#patran
Note that MSC has converted to the new Connect API version of the Spatial InterOp translators. The
legacy Spatial InterOP translators can be installed and run in conjunction with the Connect API version
if necessary. After installing 2008r2, the user can download the old legacy InterOp translators from the
above web site that are compatible with 2008r2. Instructions to do this are included with the download.
When this is done, both the new Connect API and the old legacy versions of the InterOp translators are
accessible from the Patran user interface.
Parasolid 19
Parasolid import now supports up to version 19. The Patran Parasolid kernel is based on Parasolid 19.
Catia V5 R18
Support for Catia V5 R18 is available through the Parasolid import method using the Spatial InterOp
translators.
NX 5 / NX 6
Support for NX 5 is available on most platforms and NX 6 on Windows is now available.
1
SOLs 400 and 700 are only available in MD Nastran and must be submitted using Patran running in
MD mode.
Chapter 1: Patran 2008 r2 at a Glance 3
Key Highlights
Results Access
Exterior acoustics results via the OP2 file and optimization results via the XDB file are now supported.
See Nastran Results, 24.
Marc Support
New Physics Types
New physics types are added to the Coupled analysis type in an on-going effort to support Marc’s
multiphysics capabilities. See Multi-Physics Support, 28.
4 Patran Release Guide
Key Highlights
Results Access
Output requests now include the ability to select layers of composites. See Marc Results, 30.
Initial Contact. It is now possible to define an initial contact table in the model definition section. See
Initial Contact, 31.
General Enhancements
Right Mouse Button (RMB) (Patran 2008 r2)
The menus accessible via the RMB have been enhanced and the ability to customize has been added. This
is described in detail in Right Mouse Button (RMB), 34.
SimManager Integration
Logon, publish, and retrieve Patran databases and related analysis files through this SimManager
client/server access. See SimManager Integration, 47 for details.
SimXpert Integration
Spawn SimXpert directly from Patran and transfer finite element model data to SimXpert. See SimXpert
Integration, 49 for details.
Laminate Modeler
A number of enhancements have been add to the Laminate Modeler as detailed in Laminate Modeler, 51.
Utilities
Please review the Utilities/ What is New menu to see additions/updates made to the utilities.
For a complete description of these configurations, see Required Hardware & Software Configurations
(Ch. 5) in the Patran Installation and Operations Guide.
Chapter 1: Patran 2008 r2 at a Glance 7
Supported CAD Access
† The p3_ProE and p3_ProENGINEER executables are built using Pro/ENGINEER version 2000i and therefore will
not work with earlier versions of Pro/ENGINEER. p3_ProE and p3_ProENGINEER Access allows reading of
.geo geometry transfer files generated from other OS installs of Pro/ENGINEER Access. See more notes below.
‡ UG NX supports only 64 bit machines for HP and SUN Platforms.
**Only Parasolid (transmit file) import is supported in this release. Parasolid transmit files generated on other OS
platforms can be imported on LINUX.
The following steps are necessary for customers to use the Patran Pro/ENGINEER translator with
Pro/ENGINEER after January 10, 2004:
• PTC Important System Notice - Timeout http://www.ptc.com/go/timeout/
• PTC Technical Resource http://www.ptc.com/go/timeout/technical_resource.htm
8 Patran Release Guide
Supported CAD Access
The Pro/ENGINEER Wildfire 2.0 release introduced the following platform changes:
• HP-UX and SUNS supports 64-bit only. Patran translator compatible with pre-Pro/ENGINEER
Wildfire 2.0 and Pro/ENGINEER Wildfire 2.0 release. If running Pro/ENGINEER Wildfire 2.0,
the HP-UX and/or SUNS platform must be a 64-bit capable machine to run the Patran translator
If you have concerns about an analysis, we suggest that you contact us at an early stage.
You can reach technical support services on the web, by telephone, or e-mail:
Web
Go to the MSC.Software website at www.mscsoftware.com, and click on Support. Here, you can find
a wide variety of support resources including application examples, technical application notes, available
training courses, and documentation updates at the MSC.Software Training, Technical Support, and
Documentation web page.
Chapter 1: Patran 2008 r2 at a Glance 11
Technical Support
Email
Send a detailed description of the problem to the email address below that corresponds to the product you
are using. You should receive an acknowledgement that your message was received, followed by an
email from one of our Technical Support Engineers.
A.
B.
C.
4 Patran Release Guide
Optimization (SOL 200) Enhancements
Topology job showing original and optimized (non-smoothed) geometry determined using multiple
design domain regions to preserve the connection and bolt holes, and a combined objective of minimizing
compliance / maximizing frequency and a mass target constraint
Topography optimization job showing the shape change from a flat plate to maximize the first frequency.
Topometry optimization job: A real complex example car body is used here to demonstrate topometry
optimization for graphical postprocessing. This example also shows that SOL 200 is able to deal with
very large optimization problems. The objective is to minimize structural compliance and keep weight
unchanged. SOL 200 produces an element thickness distribution file *.des that can be used by Patran to
view topometry optimization results.
For more details on the usage of this new functionality, please see Toptomize (p. 462) in the Patran
Interface to MD Nastran Preference Guide.
Chapter 2: MD Nastran MSC Nastran Preference 5
Optimization (SOL 200) Enhancements
Optimization Parameters.
Objective Function Modification: This toggle is available on the Advanced Optimization Parameters
form under the Analysis (Action=Optimize) application when submitting the job. Turning this toggle
ON indicates to MD Nastran SOL 200 to modify the objective function such that it reports back in the
summary (F06 file) the relative change instead of the absolute change. For example if only one part of
the model is being optimized and it changes by 0.2 lbs, then that is what is reported rather than saying
the over all structural weight went from 100005.0 to 100004.8 lbs. This is written to the DOPTPRM
(OBJMOD) entry.
optimization. The variable relations are also selected as part of a Design Study in order to activate them
for any particular optimization.
General (DLINK):
A number of design variables are linked by the DLINK card in MD Nastran. The dependent design
variable is selected on the main form and the subordinate form is for selecting the independent design
variables and associating a coefficient to each. The following simple, general equation is used to define
the relationship between the selected design variables:
DDVID = C0 + CMULT *(C1*IDV1 + C2*IDV2 + … + Cn*IDVn)
• Note that Edge contact can be specified at the contact body level also.
Contact Table.
The following improvement have been made to the contact table such that the following can be specified
per body pair:
• Braking Glue (BKGL) Parameters - defines the threshold at which a glued node separates
• Edge Contact - controllable at the body pair level as well as per body and globally
14 Patran Release Guide
Implicit Nonlinear (SOL 400) Enhancements
• Moment Carrying Glue - can be turned on/off per body pair for those bodies that are defined as
glued. This works in conjunction with the toggle to retain gaps.
Chapter 2: MD Nastran MSC Nastran Preference 15
Implicit Nonlinear (SOL 400) Enhancements
Initial Contact
The initial contact table can now be defined for both the Nastran and Marc Preferences under the Contact
Parameters form.
Solution Controls.
More options to control the load incrementation have been opened up in the graphical interface. For
example, the ability to specify automatic switching between displacement and residual force
convergence criteria. Most items on the MD Nastran entries below are now accessible.
• Load Increment Parameters form (NLAUTO)
• Nonlinear Static and Transient Analysis Controls (NLPARM/TSTEPNL)
• Additional Load Increment Parameters (NLADAPT)
Thermal Analysis.
SOL 400 thermal analysis is now supported under the MD Nastran Thermal preference for unchained
heat transfer analysis. Supported solution types are Steady State and Transient Heat Transfer analysis.
16 Patran Release Guide
Implicit Nonlinear (SOL 400) Enhancements
This includes specifying heat transfer contact bodies and the ability to control thermal properties per
body pair using the contact table.
Analysis Chaining.
This is the ability to create multiple subcases (load steps), select them in the order in which they should
be run and the analyses are chained together, meaning that the results from the last increment of the
Chapter 2: MD Nastran MSC Nastran Preference 17
Implicit Nonlinear (SOL 400) Enhancements
previous load step become the starting point for the next load step. An example is a modal or a buckling
stiffening problem where a static linear or nonlinear analysis is performed first and then the modal or
buckling step. The following analysis types are available to be chained:
• Linear and Nonlinear Static Analysis
• Normal Modes Analysis
• Buckling Analysis
• Transient Dynamic Analysis
• Direct Complex Eigenvalue
• Modal Complex Eigenvalue
• Body Approach
18 Patran Release Guide
Explicit Nonlinear (SOL 700) Enhancements
• Rod penetration
This translates into support of the following MD Nastran SOL 700 entries which can be defined in the
following application areas of Patran:
Loads/BCs
• AIRBAG/BCSEG – Defines an airbag; Loads/BC object is an Airbag; BCSEG entries are
created from the defined application region of the airbag
• BCGRID – Defines contact grids; available as a new Contact boundary condition option
• BCPROP – Defines contact based on element properties; available as a new Contact boundary
condition option
• BCBOX - Another way of defining a contact body; available under Box Definition; all elements
inside the defined box are part of the contact body
• SPCD2 – Imposed nodal motion
Chapter 2: MD Nastran MSC Nastran Preference 21
Explicit Nonlinear (SOL 700) Enhancements
• GRIA – Grid point in a bag reference geometry; defined when creating an airbag
• TICEUL1, TICREG, TICVAL, SPHERE – Eulerian initial conditions
• MESH – Defines a mesh; this is done as a boundary condition under the Loads/BCs application
• FLOWDEF – Eulerian flow boundary; defined as a boundary condition under the Loads/BCs
application
• COUPLE, COUOPT – General Euler-Lagrange coupling surface; defined in the Loads/BC as a
Coupling LBC
• TICD – Transient analysis initial conditions; defined as a boundary condition in Loads/BCs
application
• HYDSTAT - Hydrostatic Preset of Density in Euler Elements; defined in the Loads/BCs
application as Hydrostatic Preset
Materials
• EOSGAM – Eulerian Gas; defined under Materials application,
• MATDUEL – Eulerian material properties; defined under the Materials application
• EOSPOL – Polynomial equation of state; defined in the Materials application as a Eulerian-Solid
• MATDERO – Erosion material; defined under Materials application as Erosion model
• MATRIG – Rigid body properties; defined under the Materials application as a Rigid
constitutive model for an Isotropic(SOL700) material
• EOSGRUN – Gruneisen equation of state; defined under Materials application
• MATD020 – Rigid material
• MATD014 – Soil and foam with failure
Element Properties
• PEULER1 - SOL 700 eulerian solid properties; defined under the Element Properties application
• PSHELL1 – SOL 700 shell element properties; defined under the Element Properties application
• CSPH, PSPH – Defines an SPH particle; done as a 0D element property under the Element
Properties application
Analysis
• PRESTRS – To perform a pre-stress run and determine the pre-stress state, which is used as
initial conditions; activated in the Analysis application under Solution Parameters
• DYDEFAUL – SOL 700 defaults settings; defined in the Analysis application under Solution
Parameters
• SPHDEF – SPH analysis controls; set under the Analysis application under Solution Parameters
• Meshing - Because of lack of numerical grid, SPH processor requires some conditions in setting
initial particle masses and coordinates. The particle mesh needs to be regular, i.e., all particles of
given neighborhood need to have same mass. As a consequence, the particles of the same
material which has same initial density need to have same volume. To preserve this they need to
be distributed on a uniform mesh. When meshing a cylinder it is better to use regular mesh to
guarantee stability and convergence of the method. To get a regular mesh, this is done under the
FEM application: Create/Mesh/Regular
Chapter 2: MD Nastran MSC Nastran Preference 23
Nastran Thermal-Structural Chaining
This only works for SOL 101 presently. The model shown is a computer chip with temperature fringe
due to heating and convection and resulting (exaggerated) structural deformation.
24 Patran Release Guide
Nastran Results
The following datablocks are now supported via the OP2 file for exterior acoustics analysis:
• OARPWR1- Acoustic power
• OAIG1- Acoustic Intensity
• OUGFP1- Field point Mesh
• OVGFP1 - Field point velocity
Chapter 2: MD Nastran MSC Nastran Preference 25
Nastran Results
XDB File
Topology element density results can now be imported via the XDB file under Tools / Design Study ->
Post-Process… Shown is the element density as imported via the XDB file for a topology optimization
job.
26 Patran Release Guide
Nastran Results
Chapter 3: Marc Preference Patran Release Guide
Marc Preference
3
J Multi-Physics Support 28
J Marc Results 30
J
Initial Contact 31
28 Patran Release Guide
Multi-Physics Support
The physics selection is done under the Analysis application from the Step Select form as shown below.
Chapter 3: Marc Preference 29
Multi-Physics Support
1. Set Results Output Format to 2007 (POST Code rev13) in Translation Parameters form
2. In Step Create form, go to Output Requests
3. In Output Requests form go to Element Results
4. In Element Results go to Layers form.
The default is not to specify any layers. Options are all layers, top/bottom/middle, layers only or a list of
layers.
Chapter 3: Marc Preference 31
Initial Contact
General Enhancements
4
J Right Mouse Button (RMB) 34
J New GUI Skins 39
J
Native 64 Bit Port 43
J
Automatic Feature Recognition 44
J
Batch Image Rendering 46
J
SimManager Integration 47
J
SimXpert Integration 49
J
MSC Sinda Preference 50
J Laminate Modeler 51
J
Customer Requests 57
34 Patran Release Guide
Right Mouse Button (RMB)
Note: The right mouse button menu is completely customizable so you can add your favorite
viewport or display function to the menu. The customization procedure is described below.
Chapter 4: General Enhancements 35
Right Mouse Button (RMB)
Some of the options available from the right mouse button apply to individual entities, such as the
transform, modify, show or sweep options.
Consider the case of adding a menu-item to set the color of all selected geometric entities. Let us name
the menu-item as AsmSetColor. Let us also specify the callback function as asm_set_color_cb, the
condition function as asm_set_color_cond, and the label as “Set Color.” Once selected the icon will take
the user to the same application menu form he or she is used to seeing, thus there is no learning curve
required.
• There are 2 types of xml files. One containing the information regarding the menu layout and the
callback of menu-items. The other contains the “resource” related information for the menus and
menu-items.
• The file containing the definition (p3_user_menu.xml) starts with the tag <RMBMAP>. The one
containing the resource information (p3_user_menu_res.xml) starts with the tag
<RMBRESOURCEMAP>. These 2 files are kept in the Patran installation directory
($P3_HOME) by default, but can be anywhere in the PCL path and are read after all other
default menu-definition files, which also reside in the $P3_HOME/rmb_menu directory. The
menu-items defined in these files appear at the bottom of the menu.
• Add the following definition in p3_user_menu.xml within the <RMBMAP> tags:
<MENU>
<NAME>NoEntityMenu</NAME>
<ADDMENUITEM>AsmSetColor</ADDMENUITEM>
</MENU>
<MENUITEM>
<NAME>AsmSetColor</NAME>
<CALLBACK>asm_set_color_cb</CALLBACK>
<CONDITION>asm_set_color_cond</CONDITION>
</MENUITEM>
• Add the following in p3_user_menu_res.xml within the <RMBRESOURCEMAP> tags:
<MENUITEM>
<NAME>AsmSetColor</NAME>
<LABEL>Set Color</LABEL>
</MENUITEM>
• Implement the callback function in any .pcl file (note the function input arguments):
FUNCTION asm_set_color_cb( sel_entities, entity_type )
STRING sel_entities[]
STRING entity_type[]
38 Patran Release Guide
Right Mouse Button (RMB)
dump sel_entities
dump entity_type
END FUNCTION
• Implement the condition function in any .pcl file (note the function input arguments):
FUNCTION asm_set_color_cond( sel_entities, entity_type )
STRING sel_entities[]
STRING entity_type[]
RETURN TRUE
END FUNCTION /* Activate this menu item */
• Run Patran. Load the PCL file containing the callback and condition function definition
using !!input command in the Patran command window. Thus if you put the functions in the
text file test_rmb.pcl, you would type
!!input test_rmb.pcl
Once the functions are input (compiled), click on the RMB in the viewport to see that “Set
Color” was added at the bottom:
A slightly more complex example can be performed by replacing the name NoEntityMenu in the
<NAME>NoEntityMenu</NAME> line of the p3_user_menu.xml file with ASM_MENU. If you do this
and carry through with the rest of the example, you will find that the “Set Color” option will only appear
at the bottom of the RMB menu after you have selected multiple types of geometry.
The above examples show how users can add functionality to the RMB. The XML files that control the
default RMB menu are in the Patran installation directory under the rmb_menu subdirectory. Users can
examine these files to see how the submenu structures are set up if they wish to create their own. Users
can also modify these files to change the default behavior of the RMB, or even change the functions
called by the call backs.
New and more complex call back functions can be created by the user, however, these call back functions
must all have argument lists that follow the same format. Specifically they must use the format and
arguments identical to those of the example: two string variables as arguments. This means that there are
no limits on what the call back functions do as long as the argument list is matched.
Chapter 4: General Enhancements 39
New GUI Skins
Overview
A pre-release capability has been added to Patran’s graphical user interface (GUI) for the Windows
platform. Additional options are available to streamline user interaction. These options are available
using the -skin command line argument:
%patran -skin <skin>
where the available skins are:
office2007 (default)
xproyale
xpluna
le5
vista
xptunes
The database content is independent of which GUI skin option is used, including the legacy Patran skin
(no -skin option used) and so it is acceptable to switch skins on the same database between Patran
sessions.
1This
is a pre-release capability. If you encounter problems, please revert back to the legacy Patran skin and
report problems to your MSC representative so they can be corrected. This capability is only available on
Windows.
40 Patran Release Guide
New GUI Skins
Click on the
Application Ribbon
Icon to Bring up the
Application Form
Future plans are to support all Patran supported platforms with native 64 bit ports.
1This is a pre-release capability on Windows only. If you encounter problems, please report problems to your
MSC representative so they can be corrected. MSC advises against using this port for production work until
it is officially released. This port is made available as pre-release to facilitate testing and gather feed back to
MSC.
44 Patran Release Guide
Automatic Feature Recognition
Edited hole/feature.
1. Select Solid
1. Expand Feature Tree
1. Select “Holes”
1. Right-mouse-click: Recognize - Automatic (tree-
widget expands with recognized features)
1. Select feature (Hole 9, say)
1. Right-mouse-click: Edit
1. Make changes as required.
Chapter 4: General Enhancements 45
Automatic Feature Recognition
The Parasolid Kernel will fail to edit or delete a feature if there is a topological dependency on other
geometry. Multiple features can be deleted as long as all dependent features have also been selected for
deletion in the same operation.
The propagation controls get passed to the feature recognition API to control the type of recognition. In
other words, if you select the “Chain” option for Blends and do interactive recognition then it will do the
recognition and then perform chaining so finally you will get “Blend Chains”. Each “Blend Chain” may
be a combination of several individual Blends. To recognize each blend individually you can select the
“Single” option.
For automatic recognition these propagation control options are not used. For automatic recognition
these options have been set to default values of Hole:Single, Chamfer:Chain, Blend:Chain.
These options are valid for interactive recognition only and respective values get passed through the
second argument in the API.
status = ifr_recognize_blends_list(entity_list, propagation, @
topology, entity_type, number_of_features)
“Recognize – Automatic:” works with Geometric Entity as “Solid” only.
“Recognize – Interactive:” works with Geometric Entity as “Face” or “Edge” only.
“Recognize – Automatic” does not need any input other that “Solid ID” in which the features need to be
recognized. All other inputs are defaulted. It is available to provide user a convenience only. It will
recognize the features in the whole solid. Recognizing features in the whole solid may not always be
useful as there may actually only be the need of recognizing features in one particular region of the solid.
In this case simply select the faces/edges where the need to recognize the features exists and use
“Recognize – Interactive.”
“Recognize – Interactive” does not work with “Solid” geometric entities. Change the Geometric Entity
option to “Face” or “Edge” and select the faces or edges in the vicinity where the features are to be
recognized. If you select all the faces of solid, this is equivalent to automatic recognition with additional
propagation controls besides the default values. “Edge” Geometric Entity is available for holes only.
46 Patran Release Guide
Batch Image Rendering
This works for JPEG, MPEG, BMP, PNG and TIFF graphics file formats.
1Customer
Request (CR) 40421
Chapter 4: General Enhancements 47
SimManager Integration
The following variables need to be set or are asked to be set during installation in order to communicate
with the SimManager server. For more information on this, the user is directed to the SimManager
documentation.
SM_RICH_CLIENT_CONFIG_FILE <location of SmRichClt.properties file>
SM_RICH_CLIENT_IC_HOST <host_name>
SM_RICH_CLIENT_IC_PORT <port number>
SM_RICH_CLIENT_IC_PROTOCOL http
SM_RICH_CLIENT_IC_WEBCONTEXT SimManager_R3
SM_RICH_CLIENT_ROOT <path>
Client access to a SimManager server via Patran is only supported on Windows machines. For more
information on settings these environment variables, please see Patran Environment Variables (p. 48) in
the Patran Installation and Operations Guide.
Chapter 4: General Enhancements 49
SimXpert Integration
This Preference is only available on Windows. MSC Sinda solves problems using resistance-capacitance
network approach, coupled with fast finite difference numerical methods and including power
FORTRAN programming. Very Powerful!
Chapter 4: General Enhancements 51
Laminate Modeler
Save As…
Saves the Layup model to the selected Layup file AND updates the current file name. This is convenient
when investigating multiple configurations.
Laminate LM_Layup command. Now, the user can set detailed options directly on the first form,
increasing efficiency and promoting the use of the most appropriate orientation option.
For many problems, best practice is to use coordinate systems to define both the Reference Directions of
plies, and the orientation of the generated laminate materials. This maximizes correlation between ply
and property definition, and means that the coordinate system is written to the analysis input deck and
directly available to the solver.
Simulayt's Composites Link will transfer this information bi-directionally to ensure that designers and
analysts can communicate effectively.
The symmetry of the current Layup sequence is now reported as a label instead of the previous option
menu to emphasize that this is a result of the Layup sequence defined and not an option that can be set
by the user.
The global plies are added to the LM_Layup in increasing order of GPlyId. Please note that while this
follows recommended practice for the use of global ply identifiers, there is no guarantee that the order
on each element will be consistent and so this should be checked carefully.
The flexibility of the new Add-In failure criterion system will allow the creation of high performance
failure criterion able to model multiple failure criteria in a single compound criterion. And, as the
criterion's interface is well defined, these same criteria could be used consistently in other calculation
environments, such as a spreadsheet for initial calculations.
Chapter 4: General Enhancements 55
Laminate Modeler
Verify Laminate
This new command allows the user to verify that the laminate created satisfies general rules that reflect
the requirements of the aerospace industry, such as symmetry, balance, taper ratio and so on. The user
selects the element to be verified, a "main" direction (such as the trailing edge of a wing) and thickness
and angle tolerances required for some tests. The required test is then selected and applied. Elements
which fail the selected tests are highlighted in the viewport using the relevant color, and a spreadsheet
listing all failed elements and the test they have failed is displayed. The results of a symmetry check on
a vertical tail plane model are shown as an example below.
Chapter 4: General Enhancements 57
Customer Requests
CR # Description
1-68705473 File / Open Recent - Allows you to select from a list of recently accessed database files.
The number of files visible is controlled by settings.pcl file environment variable:
pref_env_set_integer("max_num_recent_files",num_files)
The list of recent files is found in a file called .Patran.RecentFiles located in the
users’ home directory. On Windows, this is determined by the HOMEDRIVE and
HOMEPATH variables, e.g., “C:” and “\” = C:\.Patran.RecentFiles. On UNIX,
the environment variable HOME must be set, e.g., /home/user.
1-66889951 Preselection Highlighting Entity Offset - A defect was corrected where if a group of nodes
and/or elements was erased that caused a fit view to occur (Preferences->Graphics->Auto
Extend), then pre-selection highlighting would display nodes offset from their true
position.
1-64306194 OEFIT OP2 Datablock - A defect was corrected where failure indices from composite
failure analysis were not being processed correctly when reading the OEFIT datablock
from a Nastran OP2 file.
1-66078121 Long Result Case Names - Result case names that exceeded 80 characters would result in
a PCL traceback if filtered. The character limit has been increased to 256 to avoid this.
1-15765121 “$” Allowed in Group Names - Groups with “$” symbols in the name now function
properly when editing Global Subcase Output.
1-16900917 15 Noded CPENTA Results - Results for 15-noded CPENTA elements can now be
accessed via XDB files.
1-19052381 Material Stiffness Matrix Terms - The C44, C55 and C66 terms are now ordered correctly
when converting 3D Orthotropic materials to 3D Anisotropic for MAT9 entries.
1-19730217 Jobname and Results Case Name Conflict - In cases where an existing jobname is active
but an XDB file is attached with subcases not associated to the active job, the results cases
were picking up the jobname instead of the actual subcase name as defined in the Nastran
job. A new settings.pcl variable has been implemented to control this.
pref_env_set_integer("RESULTS_TITLE_CHECK_LEVEL",level)
CR # Description
1-19730217 0 - Default behavior: not set or zero or >3 - if results (XDB) file name and jobname do not
match for Nastran Preference only, results case names do not get associated to load case
names of the existing jobname
1 - user is prompted for default behavior (NO) or to use previous behavior, which is to put
the loadcase names associated to the current jobname into the result case names (NOT
RECOMMENDED - but the use can do it if he wants)
2 - users is notified that jobname and results file name differ and given the choice to
continue or not. Continuing will give the default behavior.
3 - user is warned that the jobname and results file name differ but the default behavior still
occurs
In all cases, if the jobname and the XDB filename are the same, then the functionality
remains the same as the default behavior. Values of 1, 2, or 3 only have effect if the
jobname and the XDB file name differ.
1-19960526 DB Import Changes Poisson’s Ratio Value - This corrected an incorrect rounding of
material data occurring occasionally on import into another database, which slightly
changing the property value.
1-23657326 Some Result Layers missing from XDB Attachment - XDB attachments were only
recognizing layers of the first results cases even though subsequent result cases had more
layers.
1-50872269 TET10 Stress Data using GAUSS on PSOLID - Incorrect fringe plots have been corrected
when the GAUSS field on the PSOLID entry is activated during a Nastran run and results
accessed from Patran via the XDB file.
1-32732851 MBOLTUS Import Support - MBOLTUS entries in the Nastran input deck are now
imported as Overclosure MPCs
1-52553651 Residual Vector Computation - In the Nastran preference, on the solution parameters form,
the Residual Vector Computation toggle now writes RESVEC=YES or RESVEC=NO if
the parameter is present in the database for that job no matter what. Previously only
RESVEC=NO was being written because RESVEC=YES is the default for most SOL
sequences. But for SOL 103, no RESVEC entry defaults into RESVEC=COMPONENT
where the desired default is RESVEC=YES or BOTH. So now RESVEC=YES is written
if the toggle is ON.
1-64846211 Large Listbox Capability - There are number of places in the Element Properties,
LoadsBCs, Materials, and Fields applications as well as Groups and Regions where the
large listbox capability has been enabled without having to invoke Patran with the “-l”
option for large listbox capability. A small icon appears next to the listbox that can be
expanded to a large listbox.
1-18201068 PLOAD4 Import - Importing Nastran files with PLOAD4 pressures that vary spatially now
import correctly and a proper spatial field is created for each load set.
Chapter 4: General Enhancements 59
Customer Requests
CR # Description
1-40919043 Significant Digit Control - More control for writing significant digits is given when writing
Nastran input decks. Individual control is now given under the Translation Parameter form
for grids, coordinate frames, MPCs, LBCs, materials and properties.
1-45336797 Mesh in Wrong Location after Surface Transformation - After transforming parasolid
surfaces to new locations using Group/Transform, subsequent meshes were being placed
in the wrong physical location using the Hybrid or Sheet Body meshers.
1-40918941 MPCs & Tools/List/Create - The ability to create lists of nodes associated to MPCs has
been implemented under the Tools/List/Create utility.
1-67076271 Fastener Results in Multiple XDB files - An issue where fastener results were not
accessible if multiple XDB files were attached has been corrected.
1-70170481 Significant Digits in Envelope Plots - It is now possible to control the number of significant
digits in envelope plots under the Tools / MSC.Explore utility.
1-19671064 SPOINT Import - SPOINTS associated with beam definitions of warping degrees-of-
freedom from the Nastran input deck are now imported to retains those definitions in the
beam element properties.
1-18657123 Nodes/Grid Projection in Radial Direction - Nodes and grids can now be projected onto a
surface in the radial direction when a cylindrical system is referenced. Spherical systems
are also supported and all other component directions.
1-9146004 Nodes Left Behind After Group/Transform - Nodes referenced as GO points for defining
beam orientations were not transformed during a Group/Transform operation. Now if
nodes in a group are referenced in properties, fields or MPC's, then during the transform
operation such nodes are copied.
1-25240879 SOL 600 TEMPD Support - Nastran case control TEMP(LOAD), TEMP(INIT), and bulk
data TEMPD entries now supported for SOL 600.
1-59220230 Torsional Constant J of Cross Cross-sections - The calculation of the torsional constant J
of a cross-type cross-section does not have a closed form solution. The beam section library
now calculates J and the shear stiffness factors of this standard cross section by using the
routines for calculating these properties for arbitrary beams cross sections.
1-17613229 Turn Spectrum Off with Constant Contours - When creating a contour plot, the user can set
the attributes to 'Constant', displaying all contour lines in a single color. Other results tools
automatically turn off the spectrum and hide the option from the user, but the contour
leaves the spectrum in place with its varying colors. The user no longer must manually turn
off the spectrum to see a correct plot.
1-70358907 Automatic Spectrum Update - When a new spectrum is selected from the
Display/Spectrums form, the spectrum is applied immediately without having to recreate
the results plot.
1-43797130 Imprinted Parasolid Geometry - It is now possible to mesh imprinted Parasolid geometry.
60 Patran Release Guide
Customer Requests
CR # Description
28974 Deletion of Multiple Load Cases - The ability to delete multiple load cases in one operation
has been implemented.
1-75970050 Large listbox capability has been implemented for portions of the Tools / Design Study /
1-77244825 Preprocessing application.
1-54421399 In the FEM application, when equivalencing nodes you can now do the boundary verify
operation on the same form rather than having to change the Action / Object to Verify /
Boundaries
1-77359861 Direct Text Input for the MSC Nastran Preference now allows you to specify if you want
the text input at the start or the end of the specified section of the input file.
1-78080878 Correction to Shear Area Factor K for tube cross sections.
1-50781738 Correction of assembly meshes of some parasolid models that were incorrectly offset.
1-62817224 RSPINR entry for Nastran rotor dynamics has been updated to support both Nastran 2007
and pre 2007 formats.
1-67083505 Connector elements are now erased in a deformation plot if the user requests the
undeformed shape to be hidden.
MSC.Fatigue Quick Start Guide
Index
Patran Release Guide
Numerics K
64 Bit Port, 4, 43 Key Highlights, 2
P A L
atr ACIS, 7 Laminate Modeler, 5, 51
an AIX, 6 LINUX, 6
R Automatic Feature Recognition, 2, 44
el M
ea B Marc, 3, 28
se Batch Image Rendering, 46 MD Nastran Preference, 2, 1
MSC Marc Preference, 3, 28
G MSC Nastran Preference, 2, 1
ui C
CAD Access, 2, 7 MSC Sinda Preference, 4, 50
Catia V5, 2
InterOp, 2 N
Parasolid, 2 Nastran, 2, 1
UG NX, 2 Nonlinear Analysis, 3, 10, 18
CATIA V4, 7
CATIA V5, 7 O
Contact, 4, 31 Operating systems, supported, 6
Customer Requests, 5, 57 Optimization, 2
E P
Enhancements, 2 Parasolid, 7
Platforms, supported, 6
G Pro/ENGINEER, 7
GUI Skins, 4, 39
R
H Red Hat, 6
Hardware, 6 Results, 3, 24, 30
Highlights, 2 Right Mouse Button, 4, 34
HP, 6
S
I SimManager Integration, 4, 47
IBM, 6 SimXpert Integration, 4, 49
I-DEAS, 7 Sinda, 4, 50
Intel, 6 Skins, 4, 39
62 Patran Release Guide
Solaris, 6
Sun, 6
Supported OS levels, 6
Supported platforms, 6
T
Thermal Analysis, 3, 23
Topography, 2
Topology, 2
Topometry, 2
U
Unigraphics, 7
Utilities, 5
W
Wildfire, 7
Windows, 6