EKK, Inc. Newsletter - Sept/Oct 2002
EKK will be manning a table at the 2002 Nadca expo in Chicago on Sept 30 - Oct 2. Stop by and talk to us in person. We have some great improvements to show off in our mesh generation and our post-processing software (see below). If you are interested in a free impromptu demonstration of our software, we encourage you to bring CAD of a design (preferably STL format) and we can create a mesh and perform a 'quick and dirty' analysis while you wait!
Also, Gerald Backer will be giving a presentation at the expo on Monday the 30th at 3:30 p.m. The subject of his presentation will be process simulation of the Semi-Solid manufacturing process. Stop by and learn about the capabilities of our fluid flow software.
We have recently begun using the name 'CAPCAST' to describe our software package as a whole. Now, instead of referring to KENT, CAP, and WRAFTS, PORO, and FDESign, we say 'CAPCAST's mesh generation software', 'CAPCAST's thermal/solidification software', etc. The tools are the same, just the name has changed!
Just a few months ago we described recent improvements in CAPCAST's mesh generation software (KENT). Now, we have more improvements to report.
Meshing thin-walled castings has always been difficult. With automatic mesh generation, this task has been nearly impossible. Previously, we needed to use our semi-automatic mesh generation software (AMESH) to model castings that were extremely thin - such as this casting, which is a magnesium computer case with regions of 1.5 mm thick. The most recent version of our automatic mesher (2.2.3k) successfully meshed this part. Compare - semi-automatic mesh to automatic mesh. Notice (in the lower left corner of the images) that the automatic version contains just over twice as many nodes and elements than the semi-automatic version, which is decent. There is also a close up of the automatic mesh here - the gates leading to the overflows are only 1.5 mm thick. This version has also been used to successfully mesh a computer case of only 0.45 mm thick! (Unfortunately the 0.45 mm thick case is proprietary and we are not currently able to display it online). The automatic mesh software is available now for our customers to download.
The 2003 version of CAPCAST's post-processing software (CAPOST) contains a number of much anticipated updates.
Dynamic Rendering
Arguably the most important improvement has been the enhancement of the graphics engine in the post-processor. The new post-processor is able to utilize graphics hardware acceleration through OpenGL capable video cards. This allows for dynamic rotation of the model, dynamic panning, and dynamic zoom, similar to most modern 3D CAD software packages.
Discrete Particles
Another significant improvement is enhanced discrete particle display functionality. For quite some time CAPCAST's fluid flow software (WRAFTS) has been able to model discrete particles. This functionality can be used to visualize causes of defects from gas bubbles, oxide inclusions, or eroded grains of sand. Improvements in CAPCAST's post-processor enable the user to better visualize these particles, including viewing by particle type (surface oxides are the purple entities) and tracking particles (note the blue line of particles).1
LOGO
The last improvement to mention is the ability to include your company's logo in the display of the post-processor. Notice this image from above. There are two logos on the screen - the CAPCAST logo and the EKK logo:
1. Note - Windows Media Player 7.1+ is required to view these animations on the windows platform. Or, you can view MNG formats of these animations with the option to view frame-by-frame here using an MNG capable browser - netscape 6+ or mozilla 1.0+, for example.
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