NX Nastran 4 New Features

Proprietary & Restricted Rights Notice

© 2007 UGS Corp. All Rights Reserved. This software and related documentation are proprietary
to UGS Corp.
NASTRAN is a registered trademark of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. NX
Nastran is an enhanced proprietary version developed and maintained by UGS Corp.
MSC is a registered trademark of MSC.Software Corporation. MSC.Nastran and MSC.Patran
are trademarks of MSC.Software Corporation.
All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

2 NX Nastran 4 New Features

Summary of NX Nastran Release 4

This release includes important new capabilities that further extend the breadth and enhance
the performance of NX Nastran. These capabilities include:
• Improvements to Advanced Nonlinear Solutions

• Surface Contact for SOL 101

• Enhancements for Analyzing Composites

• PBEND/CBEND Enhancements

• Modal Dynamics Improvements

• Treatment of Superelement Boundary Elements

• Addition of Rotor Dynamics Capability

• HDMP Improvements

• Eigenvalue Solution Performance Improvements

• 64-Bit Memory Upgrade

• Variable Little/Big Endian for OUTPUT2 and OUTPUT4 files

• Miscellaneous Enhancements

NX Nastran 4 New Features 3

Chapter

1 Improvements to Advanced
Nonlinear Solutions

Introducing the new Advanced Nonlinear Explicit Solver SOL 701

The new SOL 701 Explicit solution is useful for impact-type problems that have shorter time
duration. The inputs for a SOL 701 solution are similar to those used in SOL 601, except for a
few parameters, particularly those on the NXSTRAT bulk entry.
For detailed descriptions of the Advanced Nonlinear Implicit (SOL 601) and Explicit (SOL 701)
Solvers, see the Advanced Nonlinear Theory and Modeling Guide.

General Enhancements to the Advanced Nonlinear Solution Capabilities

The following enhancements apply to SOL 601 and the new SOL 701.
• Improvements to the Nonlinear Material capabilities:
– Using the new MATHE bulk data entry, you can now enter Hyperelastic (rubber-like)
material model inputs. The models available for use on the MATHE include the
Generalized Mooney-Rivlin, Arruda-Boyce, HyperFoam and Ogden.

– You can enter stress-strain data directly on the MATHP. A curve fit using the Generalized
Mooney-Rivlin material model will be done during the solution from the values entered
on the TABI and TABD tables.

• You can now define nonlinear springs using the CBUSH1D/PBUSH1D bulk data entries.

• You can enter material coordinate systems directly on CQUADi and CTRIi element
definitions by using a coordinate system ID in the MCID field.

• You can create new coordinate systems relative to existing ones using the RID field on the
CORD2C, CORD2R, and CORD2S bulk data entries.

• The Advanced Nonlinear solvers will now take into account the half thickness of shell
elements when contact conditions are defined. To turn this option on, set the field OFFTYPE
equal to 2 on the contact set parameters bulk entry BCTPARA.

• As the CQUAD4 now supports incompatible modes by default, it will now have a more
realistic (softer) in-plane bending stiffness when used with an Advanced Nonlinear analysis.
Specify ICMODE = 0 on the NXSTRAT entry to turn the incompatible modes off.

• The CQUAD4 element formulation has been improved for large strain analysis. Good
accuracy can now be obtained with the CQUAD4 without using very small time steps.

NX Nastran 4 New Features 1-1

Chapter 1 Improvements to Advanced Nonlinear Solutions

• The conversion of the CQUAD8 to a 9-grid shell element is now supported through the use of
the ELCV parameter on the NXSTRAT bulk entry.

• The output of gasket and contact results is now available in the .f06 file.

1-2 NX Nastran 4 New Features

Chapter

2 Surface Contact for SOL 101

NX Nastran now provides a surface to surface contact capability that you can use with the
SOL 101 linear statics solution. Including contact conditions in your bulk data deck allows the
SOL 101 solution to search and detect when element faces come into contact. The software
then creates contact elements, thus preventing the faces from penetrating and allowing finite
sliding with optional friction effects.

The solver uses pre-defined regions of element free faces to detect contact conditions in the
model. From each element free face, it projects a normal, then checks to see if any of the normals
intersect with other element free faces. A contact element is created during the solution if:
• NX Nastran finds an intersection between element faces, and

• the distance between the two faces is equal to or less than a distance that you specify.

For more information on linear contact, see “Surface Contact for SOL 101” in the NX Nastran
User’s Guide.
Note: The term “contact element” is used to describe a transient element created by the solver to
detect and analyze contact. You cannot create a contact element, and it is not documented in
the NX Nastran Element Library.

NX Nastran 4 New Features 2-1

Chapter

3 Enhancements for Analyzing

Composites

New enhancements are included in this release to expand the capabilities of composites.

Addition of the SMEAR and SMCORE options on the PCOMP

When a structure is made of various material layers stacked together, creating what is known as
a composite or laminate, the PCOMP bulk entry is used to define its properties. The options in
the LAM field of the PCOMP entry define how a laminate input will be interpreted during the
solve. The previously available options were:
• MEM - which computes only the membrane terms of each laminate layer.

• BEND - which computes only the bending terms of each laminate layer.

In this release of NX Nastran 4, two additional LAM options are:

• The SMEAR option approximates the composite solution by treating the bending calculation
as if it is uniform through the entire composite thickness. The membrane and bending
coupling effects between the laminate layers are ignored when using this option. The result
is analogous to ‘smearing’ the calculations between all composite layers.

• The SMCORE option allows for a skin and core combination where the calculations at
the skin are smeared with no membrane and bending coupling between the layers. The
calculations for the core inertial terms with this option are treated exactly, and the core
stiffness terms are ignored.

These four options for the LAM field are particularly useful early in a design stage when it is safe
to assume that the stacking sequence effects are not considered as significant as other general
design variables, and thus can be approximated.

Temperature-Dependent Composites
In previous releases, the laminate properties for a composite material were calculated once at
the beginning of the analysis using the reference temperature with no gradient through the
thickness. The thermal strain was calculated using a secant method with the coefficient of
thermal expansion at the initial and load temperatures. For a nonlinear analysis where the

NX Nastran 4 New Features 3-1

Chapter 3 Enhancements for Analyzing Composites

temperature could change significantly through the thickness, a more realistic method was

needed.
In NX Nastran 4, the laminate properties can be updated with the temperature-dependent
material properties of the individual plies by taking into account the temperature at the
grid points and the thermal gradient at those locations when specified. A new parameter,
COMPMATT, has been created to control whether the temperature-dependent properties
for the plies are updated for each load step. The default for COMPMATT is NO, indicating
that the temperature-dependent properties for the plies will be computed only at the
reference temperature given on the PCOMP Bulk entry. If the parameter is set to YES, the
temperature-dependent properties for the plies are updated and smeared at the current
temperature for each load step. These enhancements apply only to nonlinear analysis solution
106, and CQUAD4/CTRIA3 elements.
In addition, temperature dependence for shell orthotropic materials is now required to
compute the laminate material properties. A new MATT8 card has been created to support
temperature-dependent orthotropic properties.

3-2 NX Nastran 4 New Features

Chapter

4 PBEND/CBEND
Enhancements

The PBEND/CBEND element has been updated in this release with the following more current
standards and practices:
• The ASME standard, Nuclear code case N-319-3 (January 17, 2000 approval date), which
defines flexibility factors in both the in-plane and out-of-plane directions for pressurized
pipe systems. You must set the FSI option on the PBEND entry to 4 in order to activate
this new ASME code.

• Options to analyze miter bend flexibility and stress intensification factors defined for both
a “closely spaced miter bend” and a “widely spaced miter bend”. The equations and case
information are included in the CBEND element section of the NX Nastran Element Library
Reference Manual.
You must use two additional fields on the PBEND entry when using these new miter bend
configurations: miter spacing at centerline ‘SACL’ and a one-half angle between adjacent
miter axis ‘ALPHA’ (as shown below).

Set the FSI option on the PBEND entry to 5 in order to active this new ASME code. An elbow
bend will be assumed if ‘ALPHA’ is not defined (blank). If ‘ALPHA’ is defined and ‘SACL’ is
not defined, then the widely spaced miter bend is used. When both ‘SACL’ and ‘ALPHA’ are
defined, the closely spaced miter bend will be used if the spacing at the center line is less
than RM*(1 + tan(ALPHA)), where RM is the mean cross-sectional radius of the curved pipe.

• A new ‘FLANGE’ option on the PBEND entry now lets you define flanges on one or both ends
by setting the ‘FLANGE’ option to 1 or 2. The default value of zero indicates no flanges
are present. The ‘FLANGE’ option is only supported for ASME code B31.1-2001 for elbow
and closely spaced miter bends.

NX Nastran 4 New Features 4-1

Chapter 4 PBEND/CBEND Enhancements

• User-definable flexibility and stress intensification factors will now be handled by setting
the FSI option to 6, and will be added to the PBEND entry. The flexibility factors are:
‘Kx’ = torsional factor; ‘Ky’ = out-of-plane factor; and ‘Kz’ = in-plane factor. The stress
intensification factors are: ‘Sy’ = out-of-plane factor and ‘Sz’ = in-plane factor. The values of
Kx, Ky, Kz, Sy, and Sz all must be ≥ to 1.0.

For more information, see the PBEND/CBEND bulk entries in the NX Nastran Quick Reference
Guide, and in the NX Nastran Element Library Reference Manual.

4-2 NX Nastran 4 New Features

Chapter

5 Modal Dynamics Improvements

Improvements have been made to the residual vector capability, and new modal energy output
options are available for SOL 111.

Residual Vector Enhancements

In version 4.0, the residual vector capability includes mass-related vectors when coupled mass
is requested, which is done by setting the parameter COUPMASS greater than 0. By default,
the parameter COUPMASS is set to -1, indicating that the solution will use the lumped mass
matrices.
Because residual vector generation has been shown to be more accurate than the mode
acceleration method, residual vector generation now occurs automatically when there is enforced
motion present, unless you have specifically requested mode acceleration via the PARAM,
MODACC entry.

Output of Modal Energy for SOL 111

You can now request modal kinetic and strain energy for a modal frequency response solution
(SOL 111). The new case control entry MODALE has been created to request the output of these
results in either SORT1 or SORT2 formats. These modal energy results now show how the
energy of each normal mode contributes to a dynamic response calculation.
The Modal Strain Energy Output is computed using:

The Modal Kinetic Energy Output is computed using:

NX Nastran 4 New Features 5-1

Chapter

6 Treatment of Superelement
Boundary Elements

Previously, elements whose grid points were all external boundary points of a superelement (SE,
would contribute their stiffness, mass, damping, and grid-point weight to the residual structure
(RS) rather than the SE. In version 4.0, a new AUTOSEEL parameter allows you to include these
elements in the SE. Set AUTOSEEL = YES for these elements to automatically be assigned to
the SE. The default is AUTOSEEL = NO, meaning the elements are assigned to the RS.
In instances where an external grid exists on more than one SE, this new automatic assignment
of elements becomes ambiguous. In such cases, you must explicitly select the SE these elements
will belong to using the SEELT bulk data entry. This only applies to traditional super element
definitions; partitioned super element definitions using the “BEGIN SUPER” capability are not
affected, since elements are already assigned to specific super elements.

NX Nastran 4 New Features 6-1

Chapter

7 Addition of Rotor Dynamics

Capability

A new Rotor Dynamics capability has been added to NX NASTRAN 4 for the analysis of
structures with rotating parts such as aircraft engines and automobiles.
This new capability, which is incorporated into the modal complex solution SOL 110, generates
centrifugal and gyroscopic matrices in addition to the existing mass, damping, and stiffness
matrices. Rotor Dynamics also includes internal and external damping matrices for rotor
stability.
You can use Rotor Dynamics to analyze a broad spectrum of rotating parts, such as:
• Turbines

• Generators

• Automotive wheels and drive train

• Pumps

With NX Nastran Rotor Dynamics, you can:

• analyze single or multiple rotors in either a fixed or rotating reference system

• solve unsymmetrical models

• execute both a synchronous and asynchronous analysis.

Rotor parameters are defined using a new bulk data entry ROTORD, which is selected with the
new case control entry RMETHOD.
You can write frequency and rotor speed results data from a Rotor Dynamics analysis into a
Microsoft Excel file, then use it to create Campbell’s diagrams. These diagrams, which are plots
of the eigenfrequencies over rotor speeds, help determine the points where resonance occurs,
and the subsequent design changes needed to avoid these conditions at rotor operating speeds.
Convert Campbell’s diagram from a fixed coordinate reference to one that rotates to find whirl
modes (asynchronous complex modes), along with the directions of the whirling motions.
For more information on using this new capability, see the NX Nastran Rotor Dynamics User’s
Guide.

NX Nastran 4 New Features 7-1

Chapter

8 HDMP Improvements

Improvements have been made to the pre-solution and post-solution phases of the Hierarchic
Domain Parallel Normal Modes (HDMP) via Lanczos technology. The new GPARTN module is
required to take advantage of the enhancements. This module is a change to the HDMP data
flow. The SEQP module geometry partitioning is skipped and the GPARTN module is executed
under the following conditions:
• setting the new optional “gpart” keyword to 1, and

• setting either the new keywords “fsegs” and “gdom”, or the previous keywords “dmp” and
“nclust”.

In addition, two new command line keywords have been introduced to make HDMP submittal
easier.

Improved pre-solution phase

This improvement enables the execution of response analysis (SOL 111, 112) in a DMP fashion.
Specifically, this allows the mode computation part to be executed as in SOL 103.
This improved pre-solution phase also allows the partitioning of models with virtual mass
(MFLUID) or when coupled matrices (acoustics) are applied. It should also perform better on
models with extremely large number of MPCs (spot weld models).
Example of HDMP performance running a modal frequency response solution (SOL 111)
in NX Nastran 4
• NX Nastran V4, SOL 111

• New GPARTN module used

• IBM p630 server 4 (1.5 GHz) CPUs

• 800 excitation frequencies

• 80 modes in frequency range

• ~710,000 grids, ~760,000 elements

• ~4.2 mill total, ~3.6 mill free DOF

• Serial Execution: ~760 minutes, ~210MW, ~30GB

• HDMP with 4 CPUs: ~200 minutes, ~170MW, ~19GB

NX Nastran 4 New Features 8-1

Chapter 8 HDMP Improvements

Improved post-solution phase

Previously, the eigenvectors were distributed after the READ module in the geometric domain
method. In version 4, they are gathered up by a newly created GMERGE module. This enables
the use of frequency domain distributed modal calculations and serial data recovery operations
in connection with the distributed eigenvalue analysis techniques in modal response solutions.

New HDMP keywords

The new keywords “fsegs” and “gdoms” have been created to simplify HDMP submittal, and can
be used in place of the “dmp” and “nclust” keywords.
fsegs : Specifies the number of frequency segments for an HDMP analysis. It must be defined
in conjunction with the “gdoms”: keyword. The value must be an integer greater than 1. It is
equivalent to the”numseg” and “nclust” keywords.
gdoms : Specifies the number of geometry domains for an HDMP analysis. It must be defined in
conjunction with the “fsegs” keyword. The value must be an integer greater than 1.
The product of “fsegs” x “gdoms” will be the same value as the “dmparallel” keyword.

8-2 NX Nastran 4 New Features

Chapter

9 Eigenvalue Solution
Performance Improvements

The performance of real eigenvalue analysis solutions has been improved in this release.
The improvement:
• reduces the cost of the orthogonalization process

• is applicable in SOL 103, 110, 111, 112, and 200

These new performance improvements are controlled by the system cell 417, named ’redorth’.
They are switched on by the statement: nastran redorth=1 or nastran system(417)=1. The
default is 0 (reduced-orthogonalization option turned off).
Performance improvements are seen only in sparse models like car bodies. It is not effective
in dense, engine-type eigenvalue problems.
Example of Lanczos performance improvement in NX Nastran 4 using a car body model
• NX Nastran V4, SOL 103

• IBM p650 Power4+ (1.5 GHz) CPU

• ~380,000 grids, ~375,000 elements

• ~2.3 mill total DOF

• 0-200 Hz frequency range

• ~900 modes via Lanczos

• ~230 MW memory, ~60 GB disk

• NX Nastran 3: ~400 minutes of elapsed time

• NX Nastran 4: ~330 minutes of elapsed time

NX Nastran 4 New Features 9-1

Chapter

10 64-bit Memory Upgrade

With finite element model sizes becoming larger, the need for increased memory allocation has
become more important. In response to this need, new NX Nastran executables are available
for AIX and HP-UX Itanium, which are compiled with a 64-bit integer size instead of 32-bits.
The 32-bit integer executable can allocate up to 8 Gb of memory, while the new executable
compiled with a 64-bit integer size can allocate approximately 20 million terabytes. Practically
speaking, there are no machines currently supporting more than half a terabyte, thus the
amount of memory these new executables can allocate is only limited by the amount of memory
installed on the machine.
With the addition of the 64-bit integer executable type, there are now three different executables
available for Nastran:
• 32-bit word size and 32-bit memory pointer size, designated ILP-32. Integers are 32-bits
and floating point uses two 32-bit words.

• 32-bit word size and 64-bit memory pointer size, designated LP-64. Integers are 32-bits
and floating point uses two 32-bit words.

• 64-bit word size and 64-bit memory pointer size, designated ILP-64. Integers are 64-bits and
floating point uses one 64-bit word.

The table below lists system configurations and supported executable types:

Hardware - OS ILP-32 LP-64 ILP-64

HP9000 - HP-UX X
Intel - Linux X
Intel - Windows X
IBM RS/6000 - AIX (64-bit) X X
Sun SPARC - Solaris X
SGI - IRIX 64 X
X86_64 - Linux (AMD Opteron/EM64T) X
Intel Itanium - HP-UX X X
Intel Itanium - Linux X
SGI Altix - SGI Propack X

When the ILP-32 and LP-64 executables are used, the bytes_per_word is 4, but when the
new ILP-64 executable is used, the bytes_per_word is 8. This difference is important
to remember when you are specifying memory with the “memory” keyword. See the
“memory” keyword in the NX Nastran Quick Reference Guide for more information.

NX Nastran 4 New Features 10-1

Chapter 10 64-bit Memory Upgrade

ILP-64 executable file formats

The ILP-32 and LP-64 both write binary output files as 32-bit. However, the new ILP-64 produces
a very different binary file format since all integers and floating point data are written out with a
64-bit precision. Depending on the use of the binary output files from a 64-bit machine, you may
need to convert a 64-bit file’s format back to 32-bit. For example, post-processors currently only
support 32-bit integers, thus the need to convert .op2 files to 32-bit.
Three new parameters have been created to convert binary output files from 64-bit machines
to 32-bit:
• OP2FMT: converts a 64-bit integer .op2 file to 32-bit integer format on an ILP-64 machine.

• OP4FMT: converts a 64-bit integer .op4 file to 32-bit integer format on an ILP-64 machine.

• INP4FMT: allows a 32-bit integer .op4 file to be read with the INPUT4 module on an ILP-64
machine.

In addition to binary file format changes, the .f04 and .f06 output files will have the following
differences when written from ILP-64 machines:
• The matrix trailers and the format of floating point numbers will change, since all matrices
that were double-precision will now show as single-precision.

• The exponent descriptor will be an “E” instead of a “D”.

The new ILP-64 executables have the following limitations:

• You only convert those data blocks that are NDDL defined from 64-bit to 32-bit. See chapter
3 of the NX Nastran DMAP Programmer’s Guide for more information on NDDL.

• All .op2 files written during a solution are in one precision format, that is, they are all
either 32-bit or 64-bit precision .op2 files.

• The INPUT2 files are not converted.

10-2 NX Nastran 4 New Features

Chapter

11 Variable Little/Big Endian

OUTPUT2 and OUTPUT4

The compatibility of binary results files becomes important in cases when you run NX Nastran
on one type of workstation, then transfer your binary files to another for post processing.
Previously, OUTPUT2 and OUTPUT4 files were always formatted differentl, depending on the
workstation type which created them. This difference in formatting is more specifically related to
the byte ordering for numerical data:
• “Big Endian” format indicates that the most significant byte of data is stored at the lowest
address.

• “Little Endian” format indicates that the least significant byte of data is stored at the
lowest address.

In general, Intel and Linux workstations use the Little Endian format, and UNIX use Big
Endian. Running an NX Nastran solution on UNIX for example, then bringing the .op2 results
file to an Intel workstation for post processing, creates an incompatibility. Previously, in order to
convert binary files from one machine to another, you had to convert the files (.op2 files only)
from machine A to a neutral format, and then on machine B, use the “rcout2” utility executable
to convert the neutral files to the desired binary format. This process was tedious and disk-space
intensive.
In NX Nastran 4, the OUTPUT2, OUTPUT4, and INPUT4 modules have been enhanced to allow
you to specify the format of your binary files. You can do this using the ASSIGN statement in the
file management section. The ASSIGN statement has been updated with two new options on the
FORM specifier to control binary file formatting: “LITTLEENDIAN” and “BIGENDIAN”. This
allows the .op2 and .op4 files to be directly imported into a post processor running on the target
machine, thus saving time and disk space.
The “LITTLEENDIAN” and “BIGENDIAN” format options have the following limitation:
• Only datablocks which are NDDL defined are converted from one endian format to the other.

NX Nastran 4 New Features 11-1

Chapter

12 Miscellaneous Enhancements

Linux scripts are now compatible with the BASH shell

In NX Nastran version 4, Linux shell scripts have been rewritten to be compatible with the
default BASH shell. This improvement eliminates the need to obtain alternate shells in order to
work around memory and file size limitations in previous versions of NX Nastran.
These shell scripts are no longer compatible with UNIX shell environments, thus Linux
and UNIX installations can no longer exist under the same nfs/samba server installation.

HP MPI now included with NX Nastran Installation

On Linux platforms, LAM MPI has been replaced by HP MPI, which is included with the NX
Nastran installation. This standarizes the MPI version for Linux, which simplifies the system
requirements for running DMP & HDMP solutions.

New pre-conditioner option for the element iterative solver

A new optional pre-conditioning option for the element iterative solver is now available in
this release. It has been found to produce faster convergence for models which contain large
numbers of elements with poor aspect ratios. To turn this new option on, enter ‘PRIMAL’ in the
PRECOND field on the ITER bulk data card.

NX Nastran 4 New Features 12-1