About this release

BETA CAE Systems is thrilled to announce the release of the major version v25.0.0 of its product line for ANSA, EPILYSIS, META, KOMVOS, as well as RETOMO, FATIQ, and ANSERS.

Marking a new era with its revamped User Interface in ANSA & META, this brand-new release offers an uplifted user experience, aiming to further acceleration of your processes through intuitive, simplified workflows with a procedural approach and a combination of standard and user-defined functionality with multi-level customization capabilities.

Do not miss:

• The pioneering AI Assistant, an AI-powered direct query service, aiming to assist users of BETA Software Products to find solutions for proactive use and more efficient processes.
• The new user experience through the redesigned User Interface in ANSA & META, boosting productivity and empowering even non-expert users.
• The significant speed improvements in volume mesh generators for CFD simulations.
• The new Oil Canning tool for the evaluation of the durability of a panel area from pre- to post-processing.
• The significant performance improvements for SOL 200 in EPILYSIS.
• The enhanced Machine Learning capabilities in KOMVOS.
• The promising developments in FATIQ, with regard to calculation methods, solvers, and FKM guideline.
• The advanced flexibility in querying data through pagination in ANSERS.

 

VIDEOS HIGHLIGHTS DOCUMENTATION COMPATIBILITY DOWNLOAD

 

Videos - Latest developments in BETA’s product line

New version Highlights

Unleashing the power of AI Assistant in your everyday tasks

AI-Assistant is an AI-powered service that provides direct access to BETA documentation and YouTube videos of BETA channel and to source code generation using BETA Python APIs.

Its knowledge base comprises of the entire documentation of BETA portfolio, such as User Guides, tutorials, papers, videos, and Knowledge Base articles. This indicates that you may ask direct questions and it will provide you with direct answers, subject to the context on demand. You will also receive links to the knowledge base resources, which you may access and further utilize.

In addition, AI-Assistant offers a new experience for automating complex tasks through scripting using the rich BETA Python API with code generation. By describing the functionality in a direct query, the AI-Assistant will generate a Python script, helping users by reducing the need for deep programming knowledge and by speeding up research into the vast number of implemented functions in the BETA Python API.

AI-Assistant is developed using the latest technologies to provide accurate results in a short period of time. It is a web-based application using Large Language Models (LLM). The knowledge base and LLM are hosted in our premises, and therefore there are no links to any cloud providers or external applications or services.

Privacy and confidentiality are among the top priorities for our company. No personal details when making use of our service are recorded and no data are shared with third parties or services.

A game-changing experience with the new User Interface in ANSA & META

The redesign of ANSA & META elevates user experience through a unified environment, with direct access to main browsing tools such as Database and Model browser, lists such as Properties and Sets, and Managers such as Batch Mesh and Connections.

The introduction of Ribbon tabs enhances the user experience by making main functions more accessible and organized, whereas Analysis Ribbons offer a workflow-oriented, procedural approach, grouping relevant discipline-oriented functionality together.

At the same time, workflows are simplified with the new entities’ selection feature, by applying direct functionality through context menu.

Furthermore, creating your own Ribbon by combining existing and user-defined functionality adds value to the customization level and elevates the overall performance.

Focusing on META redesigned user experience, a Database Browser and a Model Browser have been added in a manner similar to ANSA, reflecting the aforementioned unified approach from pre- to post-processing. Furthermore, all lists have been unified, along with list views and list filters that are now homogenized in both ANSA and META.

This innovative approach flattens the learning curve and provides direct access and handy interaction to even non-expert users. Thanks to its intuitive workflows, it boosts productivity by simplifying common tasks, thus efficiently streamlining any simulation process.

Leveraging pre-processing tasks in ANSA

Along with the revamped, unified approach in tasks’ workflow and execution from pre- to post-processing, both ANSA & META come with enriched functionality and upgraded performance.

Starting with ANSA, the introduction of the new Sketch 2D ribbon is one of the breakthroughs in this version, supporting the parametrical design of 2D sketch entities and the assignment of design constraints.

Significant enhancements have also taken place in hexablock airfoil and turbomachinery, as well as in hextreme meshing, along with significant speed improvements in volume mesh generators.

Similar, noteworthy implementations in structural meshing allow for the creation of FE shells or middle curves on selected plane through extruded cross sections and focusing on the geometry preparation for hexa meshing, macro areas are decomposed in 4-sided macros.

NVHConsole has undergone several worth-mentioning upgrades in the new version. For instance, Panel Thickness and Shape changes have been added to the DOE & Optimization capabilities of NVHConsole. These updates facilitate the user to set up DOE & Optimization studies, including variables for Panel Thickness and Shape changes, in a very easy and handy way. They also lead to fast & accurate DOE & Optimization studies, because of the use of reduced modeling. On top of that, the Fluid-Structure interaction, as a new connector type in NVHConsole, enables the treatment of structure and cavity components separately, leading to higher performance and a simpler and more robust process. It also allows for the use of multiple cavities and multiple Fluid-Structure interaction couplings.

In the Safety domain, we constantly keep integrating into our product line all updated safety protocols available in the market. Towards that direction, US NCAP RFC 2025 is now supported in the Pedestrian tool. Furthermore, a dedicated interface for spine positioning in the HBM Articulation tool has been added, along with RCAR bumper and RCAR structural angled offsets regulations for both front and rear bumpers in Low Speed tool. Not to be missed in Crash analysis, the direct creation of spotwelds with beam FE-Representation, as well as the support of the LS-DYNA numbering schema.

Focusing on Durability, the new Oil Canning tool automatically performs the pre- and post-processing for the oil canning analysis to evaluate the durability of a panel area. Moreover, fracture mechanics for Abaqus is a newly introduced wizard for the definition of enriched feature for crack propagation simulations with XFEM for solid models.

In the field of Composites material modeling, Fill Solid Composites is a new tool, capable of filling the volume of a solid mesh with laminate layers, supporting Simulayt .Layup files and CSV files.

Design and Morphing implementations come with enriched functionality, such as fillet morphing, with parameterization and morphing of fillet radius on shell or solid mesh, morphing contacts in DFM while avoiding intersections by pushing surroundings or freezing the modification and 2D ribs handling with interactive reposition and shape modifications.

The Optimization Studies now support expressions between constraints, while new optimization algorithms support the implementation of the Sequential Quadratic Programming (SQP) algorithm for constrained minimization of a single objective function. Not to be missed, the implementation of new RSM algorithms in the Optimization Tool: Ordinary Least Squares (linear), Extreme Gradient Boosting(XGB), Elastic Net and Multivariant Adaptive Regression Spline (MARS).

Closing with SPH solver implementations, the new version offers adaptive timestep and attached inlets, enhanced volume filling tool, wetting, and force sensors support, along with Python script support.

Significant enhancements and performance improvements in EPILYSIS

Several noteworthy upgrades come with the release of v25.0.0, with regards to external superelement, topometry optimization, AMLS, and SOL 200 performance.

In specific, external superelements can now be calculated also with free-interface and mixed-interface boundary conditions (CSET) and can be output in Matlab/Simulink format. Initial distribution from nodal thickness and linking of symmetrical PIDs can be considered in topometry optimization. Lastly, apart from a significant performance improvement for SOL 200, AMLS reflects a performance increase for large models on medium-sized WS through a new memory strategy for in-core updates reducing disk I/O.

Boosted user productivity in META

The optimized METADB compression rate for displacements and plastic strains in transient simulations is one of the highlights of the new META version and comes along with numerous other implementations.

EuroNCAP 2023 official spreadsheet is now supported in the Pedestrian tool.

Bolts safety prediction according to Eurocode 3, visualization of failure of bolts in 3D model and reports creation with analytical hand calculations are now implemented under the Bolt Assessment tool.

Remarkable improvements have taken place in the Composite tool, such as the reading of results per layer from solver result files and plotting them through the thickness of laminated composites including per-layer solid models.

In the NVH domain, Permas files are supported in Modal/FRF Bar Chart tool and, consequently, it is now possible to review modal energy contribution of parts for Permas analyses. The creation of an Abaqus modal model from measured or calculated eigenvectors has also become a reality in v25.0.0.

Closing, material curves can be plotted for Nastran, Abaqus, and LS-DYNA. Also, geometry and results from MSC DYTRAN .h5 are now supported.

Machine Learning gaining ground in KOMVOS

Among the numerous implementations in v25.0.0, the initial step from CAD to CAE now automatically generates the CAE structure from a CAD structure file.

Furthermore, significant enhancements in Machine Learning allow for training and improvement of custom predictors (regression, classification), along with Machine Learning training for field results on selected parts, improving training and prediction time for large FE models.

Enhanced calculation methods and assembly applications with FATIQ

The new release comes with upgraded FATIQ features and implementations with regard to calculation methods, seam-welds, solvers, and FKM guideline.

In specific, a new analysis for fatigue life estimation on seam-welds has been implemented, along with the support of multiple seam-weld types for shell modeling.

Furthermore, new seam-welds can be easily defined through Connection Manager and are also automatically recognized from FE-files during import, whereas automated material assignment on seam-welds takes place through sophisticated rules.

Not to be missed, the seamless collaboration of ANSA Connection Manager with FATIQ Connection Manager while importing ANSA connections.

Focusing on FE solver results, Permas and Optistruct FE results for time and frequency domain simulations are now supported.

Closing with FKM Guideline, FATIQ v25.0.0 supports mean stress correction, the influence of surface condition on endurance limit of material curves through the definition of respective factors for surface treatment and roughness as well as the influence of notches to the stress concentration through the definition of Kt- Kf ratio.

Enhanced performance and greater flexibility in data querying with ANSERS

This new release comes with boosted performance and greater flexibility in querying of data through pagination and new options in Datasources.

New connection types to SQL Servers and MS Access are now possible with the capability to query data using BETA Query Language syntax.

Additionally, the version introduces two new panel types, a panel to visualize 3D models and results and a scatter line chart, while the BETA QL Browser panel is extended with a user interface to build filters like other products of the BETA Suite.

Porosity detection in RETOMO

In this version, RETOMO ships with an advanced tool for detecting, visualizing, and analyzing porosity in solids. For each detected pore, several metrics are calculated and presented, while detailed meshes may be exported for further severity investigation.

 

Documentation Transition to HTML format in BETA Product line

In our ongoing efforts to enhance user experience and accessibility, we have transitioned from traditional monolithic PDF documentation to HTML format.

This modern approach offers several key benefits:

• Improved Accessibility: Users can now easily navigate and search through the documentation online, ensuring quick access to the information they need.
• Enhanced User Experience: The documentation is organized in a more intuitive structure, with hyperlinks and cross-references facilitating seamless navigation between related topics.
• Interactive Features: Incorporation of interactive content, such as code examples and videos, providing a more engaging learning experience.
• Easy-to-Translate: This new format will allow for swift and seamless documentation translated in other languages upon demand.

 

Compatibility and Supported Platforms

ANSA files saved by all the first and second point releases of a major version are compatible to each other. New major versions can read files saved by previous ones but not vice versa.

META Project files saved from version 24.1.2 are compatible and can be opened by META version 16.0.0 or later.

Support for Mac OS has been discontinued.

Support for 32-bit platforms has been discontinued for all operating systems.

 

Download

Where to download from

Customers who are served directly by BETA CAE Systems, or its subsidiaries, may download the new software, examples and documentation from their account on our server. They can access their account through the "download" link on our website.
Contact us if you miss your account details. The Downloads menu items give you access to the public downloads.
Customers who are served by a local business agent should contact the local support channel for software distribution details.

What to download

All files required for the installation of this version reside in the folders named "BETA_CAE_Systems_v25.0.0", "KOMVOS_v25.0.0", "RETOMO_v25.0.0", "FATIQ_v25.0.0", and "ANSERS_v25.0.0", and are dated as of July 31, 2024. These files should replace any pre-releases or other files downloaded prior to that date.
The distribution of this version of our pre- and post-processing suite is packaged in one, single, unified installation file, that invokes the respective installer and guides the procedure for the installation of the required components.

For the installation of the software on each platform type, download from the respective folders, the .sh file for Linux or the .msi file for Windows.

In addition to the above, optionally, the META Viewer is available to be downloaded for each supported platform.

The tutorials and the example files reside in the folder named "TUTORIALS". This folder includes a complete package, and one with only the updated files.

The Abaqus libraries required for the post-processing of Abaqus .odb files are included in the installation package and can be optionally unpacked.

Earlier software releases are also available in the sub-directory called "Previous_Versions" or in a folder named after the product and version number.