Overview Capabilities Documentation

Altair Multiscale Designer™

Material Model Development Framework

Multiscale material modeling is a powerful method to gain insights into advanced material behavior. Especially for composite materials, multiscale is an accepted, essential approach for predicting material properties accurately and efficiently for use in structural simulations.

Fully integrated with Altair's simulation products, Multiscale Designer is a comprehensive framework for the development of highly predictive and computationally efficient material models for all material behaviors ranging from homogeneous isotropic to heterogeneous anisotropic. Multiscale Designer reduces the time and cost associated with the development of highly predictive material models with minimal experimental data requirements.

Multiscale Designer's material models can be used with standard industry solvers to improve design optimization of advanced material designs through multiscale structural simulations. Well-defined methodologies are offered for developing material models including continuous fiber-reinforced materials, unidirectional and woven products, and injection molding materials, short and long fiber-reinforced products. In addition, a methodology for modeling lattice structures is also available.

Multiscale Designer's material models can be used in implicit and explicit analyses within the most popular commercially available solvers, and support hardware parallelization on different platforms.

Multiscale Designer Overview Video

Why Multiscale Designer?

Improve the Composite Design Process

By performing the right tests for material characterization, the multiscale approach improves the accuracy of simulations significantly. With the reduced need for physical testing, better designs are generated in less time.

Perform More Reliable Composite Simulations

Utilize our well-established methodology for performing reliable composites simulations. Once a multiscale material model has been developed, its application in simulations is straightforward and requires no specific multiscale expertise.

Get Accurate and Complete Material Data for Simulation

Obtain accurate multiscale material models through a well-defined process. The material models can be used for implicit and explicit finite element analysis with Altair OptiStruct™ and Altair Radioss™, along with well-known third-party solvers.

Key Features

Single and Multiscale Material Models

Our intuitive three step process allows you to develop highly predictive, computationally efficient single or multiscale material models. With minimal experimental data, you can create materials ranging from brittle and/or ductile homogeneous isotropic, to heterogeneous anisotropic.

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Parametric Unit Cell Library and External Unit Cells

Easily create unit cells for continuous, discontinuous, woven, and particle product forms using built-in parametric unit cell library. Create a unit cell in any pre-processor, import into Multiscale Designer using OptiStruct (.fem), Abaqus (.inp), and Nastran (.bdf) formats.

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Virtual Test Lab

Apply any multi or single-scale material model to international ASTM/ISO test specimens from the parametric library of structural models to perform a full simulation of the defined test. Use deterministic or stochastic material models for results including A and B-basis allowables.

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Forward and Inverse Material Model Development Workflows

Utilize known constituent material properties to calculate the homogenized properties (forward approach). Utilize known homogenized material to calculate the constituent material properties (inverse approach).

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Material Databases – Constituent and Multiscale

Constituent material database comprises “typical” properties for metals (ferrous and nonferrous), polymers (thermoplastics and thermosets), and fibers (aramid, carbon, glass, others). The Multiscale material database has multiscale material models validated against NIAR NCAMP/AGATE.

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Multiscale Structural Simulation

Includes plugins to structural simulation solvers enabling multi or single-scale material models to be used on any externally created model. Supports both implicit and explicit solutions for Altair and third-party solvers.

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Deterministic and Stochastic Material Models

Account for real world variations using deterministic (mean value response) and stochastic (probability distribution function response, mean value, and standard deviation) material models.

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Injection Molding Material Models

Offers a full methodology to develop highly predictive and computationally efficient material models for structural simulation of anisotropic reinforced injection and compression molded materials.

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