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Parallel processingwith ProCAST 2005

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Success Story Courage Competition: an exemplary mastery of performance

FY2004 Sales up 19% to EUR 58,3M in line

with expectations

corporate

Special Report on Germany

25 years dedicated to virtual engineering

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Germanyspecial projects

As industry now embraces a new paradigm called

Simulation-Based-Design, more favorable to innovation

and overall more effective and less expensive than our

traditional trial and error methodology, physical prototypes

are now being progressively replaced, not only because

they are cost, time and energy consuming, but because

they cannot always be used, and in some situations, they

cannot even exist!

The realistic account of the physics of materials and of the

fabrication processes which determine them is a critical

factor to ensuring the reliability of virtual simulation.

A fine example of the extent of these major changes is

reflected in the activity our subsidiary in Germany, ESI

GmbH which celebrates the quarter century anniversary of

its opening in 1979, moving from the inception of crash

techniques with Volkswagen in the early eighties, to today’s

most advanced simulation technology such as FPM for

OOP decision process for Airbag.

More recently, the acquisition of VA, EASi, CFD and

Casting technologies, has enabled our German team to

widen its skills and knowledge, through dedicated

business units, like the new SPM team whose mission is to

serve the EASI customer base and support the SPM/EASi

Process solutions, and new technologies such as Casting

for Virtual Manufacturing.

Simulation-Based-Design is no longer a futuristic

methodology for early adopters, but along with Virtual

Manufacturing (VM), it is at the very core of our VTOS

solutions, it means to predict product performance

“as built” and not only “as designed” and this is the

perspective of our team in Germany for example to work

with our customers to reach new levels in productivity

and innovation

contents

ditorial

Vincent ChaillouPresident and Chief Operating Officer,Products Operations, ESI Group

PAMTALK is issued quarterlyby ESI GroupExecutive Editor: Vincent ChaillouEditor-in-Chief: Danièle Burdin-Dumont

Stéphanie Austin

ESI Group MarketingPARC D’AFFAIRES SILIC99 RUE DES SOLETS - BP 8011294513 Rungis Cedex - FRANCE Tel: +33 (0) 1 41 73 58 00Fax: +33 (0) 1 46 87 72 [email protected]

Design: Agence TETRAKTYS

ISSN 1635-866XImpression : RIVET PRESSE EDITION - 24, rue Claude-Henri Gorceix

87280 LIMOGESDépôt légal : Avril 05

S U C C E S S S T O R YCourage Competition: an exemplary mastery of performanceCORUS and ESI Group partnership

P R O D U C T N E W SVisual-Crash for PAM; the first brick of ESI Group’s new openintegrated environmentEASI-Process3 questions to Velayudham Ganesan, Business Development Manager

S P E C I A L R E P O R T25 years dedicated to virtual engineeringPAM-STAMP 2G helps Kirchhoff Automotive design car modules ‘right first time”

C A S T I N GParallel processing with ProCAST 2005PAM-QUIKCAST 2005 speeds up casting process evaluationSolidification course 2005ESI Group’s casting solutions gain ground in South America

E V E N T SOfficial inauguration of ESI Group’s Software Product Development Center in Bangalore, India

C O R P O R AT ENew sales activities and distribution of EASi-CRASH products in Germany by ESI GmbHFY2004 Sales up 19% to EUR 58,3M in line with expectations. What’s new at www.esi-group.com?

All PAM and SYS products are trademarks of ESI Group. All otherproducts, names and companies referenced are trademarks orregistered trademarks of their respective owners. All text and imagesincluded in the articles are the copyright of the companies presentingtheir applications and simulations tasks.

Photo credits: Corus, Courage Competition, Dana S.H Foundiciones,Kirchhoff Automotive, Montupet, Rimstock, ESI Group.

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success story4 www.esi-group.com

In the rush for ever-enhancedreliability and performance PAM-CRASH and SYSPLY help theFrench racing team optimize designand safety while reducing lead-times

CourageCompetition: an exemplarymastery ofperformance

Courage C65 won 2004 LMES 1,000 kms championship with three victories, category LMP2

PAM-CRASH validation of the C60 frontal crash

(total mass: 1,000 kg,initial speed: 14 m/s,

difference betweenexperiments andsimulation: less

than 5%)

Tim e i s a d r a s t i cconstraint for racing carbuilders who only have sixmonths to produce a new

model compared tothree years for standardvehicles. In addition,development cycles arepunctuated bychampionships, whichreduces available timeand a race car is madeup of 3,000 differentparts often modifiedover a season. All thiscombined with

compliance to severe regulations andextreme safety criteria, give anoverview of how designing winningcars is a real challenge!

The challenge of endurance racing

To provide the highest levels ofperformance and technical reliability

Courage Competition has toconcentrate its efforts on:

■ minimizing time dedicated tofeasibility studies and tests on theracing tracks,

■ mastering all availableCAD/CAM/CAE technologiesadopted by the major racing teams,

■ quickly evaluating the mostprofitable solutions applicable tosmall series (prototypesmanufacturing),

■ deciding quickly on the right designin less than six months,

■ taking into account mechanical partsin-service lifetime and fatigue.

Finally, new regulations in favor ofengine power limitation imposeCourage Competition to performseveral design modifications of theexternal shapes and the undertray untilreaching the expected structuralweight reduction. Consequently,Courage is making extensive use ofcomposite materials and is relyingmore and more on virtual simulation.

Teaming for competitiveness

Courage Competition has a permanentstrategic objective to control the car's development from initial design to production. The companymanufactures half of the compositebody parts in its Le Mans workshops.In this respect, the independent Frenchcar manufacturer has deployed themost promising technologies to carryout development tasks while beingready to face new championshipchallenges.

A few years ago, Courage Competitioninitiated the CATIA V5 CAD/CAMsolution in partnership with HP. Afterimplementing this solution, CourageCompetition is now focusing on bothcrash-tests and composite materialstructure design. The company intendsto reduce the number of expensivephysical prototype trials by using ESIGroup’s simulation solutions: PAM-CRASH for virtual crash test andSYSPLY for composite designsimulation. In 2003, again incollaboration with HP, the first phase

SUCCESS STORY PRODUCT NEWS SPECIAL REPORT EVENTS CORPORATECASTING

Up to now we have successfully validated withPAM-CRASH the results of a frontal crash on thecar’s survival body as well as other homologatingcrash tests on composite materials structures

‘ ‘ ‘ ‘

Yves Courage, President and founder, Courage Competition

Alain de Rouvraycongratulating

Nicolas Perrin andYves Courage

success story 5www.esi-group.com

■ As founder, Yves Courage's first entry into Le Mans dates back to1977. But Courage Competition made its debut in enduranceracing at the 24 Hours in 1982.

■ For more than 20 years Courage prototypes have been competingwith the biggest names in international car racing always obtainingexcellent scores at the final ranking.

consisted of validating technicalparameters by accurately reproducingreal, measured data.

“Up to now we have successfullyvalidated with PAM-CRASH the resultsof a frontal crash on the survival bodyas well as other homologating crashtests on composite materialsstructures,” says Yves Courage.“Another significant result concerns thedesign of the C65 flat bottom; usingSYSPLY we achieved a compositematerials structure 25% lighter andalmost two times stiffer than theprevious one. The virtual simulation ofcrash-tests and composite part designare now fully integrated within thedevelopment process of any newfamily of cars, in order to reduce thenumber of prototypes by one third”adds the President and founder.

SYSPLY analysis of the Courage C65 cockpit

The Courage C65 body has undergoneseveral endurance racinghomologating tests as specified byACO (Automobile Club de l’Ouest), theleading automobile club in France,creator and organizer of the Le Mans24-hour race. The tests consist incomplying to a series of criteria with aminimal weight. “The frontal crash andthe analysis of loads and pressures onthe roll bar have shown goodagreement with experimentalmeasurements,” explains Nicolas


Perrin, race engineer, responsible forResearch & Development and FEMAnalysis, Courage Competition.“SYSPLY allows to identify quickly theareas where gains of weight or stiffnesscan be achieved and this is of decisiveimportance for the design of the futurechassis,” states N. Perrin.

SYSPLY also helps to determine theshape, the alignment and the placing ofcarbon fabric which covers over 80%of a Courage model, mainly the body,the chassis, the aerofoil or theundertray. A direct link with CADenables several geometries to beimported from Catia for further designanalyses using SYSPLY. During thedesigning sequence SYSPLY assiststhe user in choosing the necessarynumber of layers, the alignment offibers and the draping sequences. Allthis implies considerable time andcosts savings.

“Future work will be directed towardssimulation of lateral crash to ensure anincreased protection of the driver,among other analyses, such as fractureand fatigue”, concludes Yves Courage.

In 2004, Courage Competition was thefirst and only competitor to launch theirC65 racing cars, meeting newregulation and security rules of LMP2prototype category. The team is stilllooking to expand its technologicalleadership and innovation capacitythrough virtual simulation.The results obtained are quite significant

and allow Courage Competition toconsider a broadest customer base inEurope and in the USA with the rapidacceptance of its commercial product inthe LMP2 category and to enter again inthe top endurance category, the LMP1prototype, finally realizing the ultimatefounder’s dream: win the Le Mans 24-hour race!

SYSPLY optimization of the C65 flat bottom

Without SYSPLY With SYSPLY

Technical data Courage C65

■ Configuration: two seater withopen roof, central rear engine,propulsion

■ Chassis: carbon fiber,honeycomb aluminum

■ Body: carbon, kevlar,honeycomb with aeronauticalfixations

■ Suspension: doublewishbones, dynamic spring-shock absorber

■ Engine: AER 4 cyl., 2.0 LTurbo, 2.5 BAR

■ Power: around 530hp, maxspeed at 7500 rpm

■ Transmission: HewlandCourage TLS 6 speedsequential gearbox

■ Wheels: BBS 18’’ rims■ Brakes: Brembo caliper,

carbon discs and pads■ Tank capacity: 90 Liters■ Weight without driver: 750 Kg

About Courage Competition

Using SYSPLY for the design of theC65 flat bottom, weachieved a structure25% lighter and almosttwo times stiffer

‘ ‘ ‘ ‘

Yves Courage, President and founder,Courage Competition

SYSPLY analysis of the C65 cockpit forthe homologating test. Model with 41801 elements to study displacements,materials orientation, loads and pressureon the roll bar.

success story6 www.esi-group.com


Integration of the Corus-Vegter model into PAM-STAMP 2G softwareimproves reliability and cost benefits

CORUS and ESI Group partnership

Corus, the internationalmetal’s producer, and ESIGroup have announced theintegration of the Corus-

Vegter model, a new advanced materialsimulation model, into the PAM-STAMP2G software package. Through Corusand ESI Group expertise, automotive

designers and engineers will be able tosignificantly improve accuracy offormability analysis predictions andpress stamping evaluations.

Formability analysis tools are currentlyused to predict material behavior tosimulate what happens when sheetmaterial is stamped into a three-dimensional part, such as a body panel.However, as carmakers increasinglyuse advanced high strength steels andaluminum alloys, existing materialsimulation tools – largely based on datafrom mild strength steels and featuringrelatively simple modelsare becomingmore and more inadequate for the latestsimulation requirements, especiallypanel quality and tolerance control.

Corus has developed the Corus-Vegtermodel, which consists of an improvedyield locus description and an improvedstrain hardening description. Itincorporates Corus’ advancedunderstanding of sheet metal behaviorduring deformation. This developmentis a response to the need from theglobal automotive industry for a modelthat can accurately predict the behaviorof more modern and widely usedmaterials.

Easy to use, the Vegter model featuresthe latest data, including high strengthsteels and aluminum. Not only does itimprove the performance of stampingoperations but it also provides apowerful tool to help manufacturersspeed up the proving process, thereforereducing the costs of new productdevelopment. The ability to moreaccurately predict behavior will alsolead to improved part reliability on newvehicle models.

“New material grades present constantchallenges to improve final part qualityassessment and tolerance control.Through the cooperation with Corus,ESI Group has developed within PAM-STAMP 2G state-of-the-art materialtechnology modeling to meet thedemand for high quality materialmodels”, said Dr Fouad El Khaldi,Product Operations Manager, ESIGroup.

Validation using the RenaultModus inner read door

Validated on standard test pieces aswell as on an actual automotivecomponent, the model allowsengineers and designers to predict yieldbehavior more accurately undercomplex stress states.

To demonstrate the increased accuracyof the Corus-Vegter material modelcompared to standard models, Renaultand Corus chose the rear inner door ofthe Renault Modus as a test case. Thestrains resulting from the first draw were

measured using the PHASTmeasurement system. To build thesimulation, Corus used a laser scanneron-site at Renault to obtain the actualgeometry of the tools used by Renault.The simulation was performed withthree material models: the standardHill’48 model, the Hill’90 model and theCorus-Vegter model.

The Corus-Vegter model correctlypredicts the risk of rupture of the mostcritical area of the part.

The thinning, strain distribution andblank edge movement (draw-in) aspredicted by the Corus-Vegter modelwere closer to reality than thepredictions obtained from the Hill’48and Hill’90 model.

Another advantage of this model is thevery little extra CPU time which isneeded for this increase in accuracy.

“The validation of the Corus-Vegtermodel in PAM-STAMP 2G on anindustrial part shows how collaborationbetween Car Manufacturer, SteelManufacturer and Software Suppliercan contribute to the continuousimprovement of the quality of simulationresults” said Mr. M. El Mouatassim,CAE and stamping feasibility teamleader and BIW engineering, Renault.

To conclude, we can say that the Vegtermodel is a good example of how Corus,in partnership with ESI Group, providesthe engineering tools that enableautomotive customers to design moreconfidently and to optimize processesin advance of expensive prototype ortooling build.

Corus, Europe’s third largeststeel manufacturer, isachieving recognition in theautomotive industry as an“intelligent supplier ofmaterial”. Corus providesinnovative solutions toconstruction, automotive,packaging, mechanicalengineering and othermarkets worldwide.

Corus’ expertise is drawnfrom an intimate knowledgeof contemporary vehicleperformance requirements,manufacturing-feasible ideas,and material properties.

About Corus

Conventional material modelpredicts fracture incorrectly

PAM-STAMP 2Gsimulation with Corusmaterial model predictsfeasible production

Real-life productpressed without

complications

product news 7www.esi-group.com


ESI Group integrates EASI’s renowned technologyinto its state-of-the-art solvers

Visual-Crash for PAM, the first brick of ESI Group's new open integratedenvironment

Visual-Crash for PAM(VCP) marks a decisive steptowards ESI Group's newopen integrated environment,

now available for PAM-CRASH solution.ESI Group leverages the acquisition ofEASI by integrating the company'srenowned technology into its virtualengineering solution, known as theVirtual Try-Out Space. This strategypaves the way to a unique openenvironment where competitivesimulation software can be coupledwith ESI Group's state-of-the-artsolvers. First delivered for PAM-CRASHusers, this open environment allowsthem to address any crash and safetyrelated simulations as it effectivelyreplaces the most competitiveenvironment solutions.

VCP combines PAM-CRASH formerenvironment solution with EASi'stechnology. The embedded data modeloffers a very versatile environmentwhere new applications and interfaceswith tier solutions are easilyimplemented.

“Visual-Crash for PAM allows PAM-CRASH users to focus and rely on highquality digital models, from start tofinish. As reliable simulationmethodologies are emerging for multi-disciplinary simulation, robustsimulation-based design processes arenow available, embedding proprietary

'know-how' and 'best practice' “saidVincent Chaillou, President and COO,Product Operations, ESI Group.

From data input to visualization, VCPseamless environment provides PAM-CRASH users with fast iteration andrapid model revision process. Theenvironment offers a quick modelbrowsing, advanced meshingcapabilities and rapid graphicalassembly of system models. VCPallows graphical creation, modificationand deletion of contacts, materials,constraint control cards and all crashentities.

Visual-process associated to VCPbrings a compelling advantage to PAM-CRASH users helping automatecumbersome and repetitive tasks, andeasy coupling with third parties’applications. Using VCP's multi-window, multi-models, multi-application environment with visualverification, PAM-CRASH users easilyaddress the coupling of finite elementand rigid-body models, a requisite insafety simulation.

Leveraging this state-of-the-artenvironment, a visualization andplotting solution helps analyze PAM-CRASH result data within a uniforminterface. The viewer performsautomated task and generatescustomized reports therefore increasingengineer productivity.

ESI Group demonstrated at EuroPAM’04 the powerful capabilities of itsOpen Virtual Try-Out Space Solution (VTOS), a proven engineeringsimulation environment, on Microsoft's new 64-bit Windows operatingsystem. PAM-CRASH is the first crash simulation solution on the marketto be ported to 64-bit Windows 64, before the future release of othermajor CAE software from ESI Group.

The Open VTOS prototype demonstration at EuroPAM 2004 includesseveral pre-ported product components such as PAM-CRASH solvers inSMP and DMP modes, as well as the new graphical framework for bothWindows 64-bit Itanium Processor Family (IPF) and 64-bit ExtendedSystems (Intel Xeon with Extended Memory 64-bit technology).“ESI Group believes that Windows 64-bit will become one of the majoroperating systems for CAE applications as it delivers a highly competitiveprice/performance ratio within a consistent global simulation chain,” saysVincent Chaillou, President and COO, Product Operations, ESI Group.

Microsoft's 64-bit operating system offers a cost-effective approach torunning typical CAE applications, which usually require large memoryresources, in excess of 2-Gbytes. The new 64-bit systems runningWindows XP professional x64 Edition allow, through a dual 32/64-bitoffer, for mass market applications and continuous PLM engineering.

Microsoft plans to introduce Windows XP professional x64 Edition andWindows Server 2003 x64 during the first half of 2005. Both operatingsystems are currently available in beta versions.Visual-Crash for PAM Environment is available on PC platforms (Windows 2000, XP

Professional), UNIX workstations (HP-UX, SunOS, SGI, IBM) and Linux-hardwarevendors supported platforms.

Porting open Virtual Try-OutSpace on Microsoft 64-BitWindows

Availability

product news www.esi-group.com8

EASi-Process“Process Builder” contains a set ofsoftware modules and object librariesfor various CAE tasks, which the usercan add to. Each task is representedby a process block. Each block isprovided with a knowledge advisorythat captures the expertise ofexperienced users. The desired reportlayout format is envisaged andimplemented in the “Generate Report”task block.

Runtime Application

A user friendly and intuitive graphicalinterface (mainly called as EASi-Process) is used to execute theprocess templates. It is dedicated toCAE users that perform day to daytasks which have been automatedthrough a process template.

The process executor can beintegrated within the EASi-CRASHDYNA environment for quickinteraction and model setup.

This process automation, based onEASi-Process, provides intuitiveenvironment, ideal for new users andnon-specialists. It allows to shortentime per design iteration and decreaseexpertise requirement to preparemodels and process results,

The landmark technology of EASi-Process integrated with EASi-CRASHDYNA allows analysis processes to beimplemented with automationtechniques in a company towardsenterprise wide standardization. Italleviates CAE engineers fromdrudgery involved in conductingrepetitive processes and frees them totruly spend their time in value addedengineering for product development.Accuracy and consistency of reportsare assured and the immediate benefitrealized is extreme productivity.

An unmatched software for creating,

automating, and customizing

CAE processes in CAE model building

and analysis.

Today’s vehicle systemsand subsystems areengineered using establishedCAE processes to optimize

their design for Stiffness anddurability, Noise and vibration, Crashworthiness and Occupant safety,Sealing etc. European or US Federalstandards, such as FMVSS 201 (Headimpact), 208 (Frontal Crash), are veryfrequently carried out in engineeringsimulations using various pre-processors and post-processors.These generally include creation ofbaseline CAD data, preparation of FEmodels, formulation of the analysisproblem in the appropriate solverlanguage, submission to solverprogram to obtain analysis solution,post-processing of the results andfinally writing a report. Each of theseprocesses itself could comprise ofcomplex sub-processes and mayeven include exchanging databetween different solvers. The timeconsuming tasks, from simulationmodel preparation to reportgeneration, can be carried out in anautomated environment resulting inproductivity and enterprise benefits.

The key aspect of building an EASi-Process template is to first understandthe CAE process itself. The processflow template must be derived fromthe experienced user’s best andstandardized practice to distinguish allinputs and outputs and recognize thefunction of each task includingbreaking up complex process tasksinto simpler sub-processes.

EASi-Process is a softwareenvironment that enables automationof CAE process simulation. It isdeveloped as a complete solution tothis problem and is the first integratedenvironment for creating, automatingand standardizing CAE processes.EASi-CRASH DYNA is a premier preand post-processor for LS-DYNAwithin which the EASi-Process can beintegrated to select and run thepredefined templates of the CAEprocess. This can also be performedby EASi-CRASH MADYMO, EASi-CRASH RADIOSS as well as in theNVH and durability domain.

Buildtime Environment

“Process Builder” is a graphicalinterface developed within the EASi-VISTA architecture and dedicated toexperienced customers that desire todevelop and maintain by themselvestheir libraries of process templates.

SUCCESS STORY SPECIAL REPORT PRODUCT NEWS EVENTS CORPORATECASTING

product news 9www.esi-group.com

PAMTALK: Can you tell me about EASi-PROCESS ?

Velayudham Ganesan: EASi-PROCESSis an advanced CAE environment tocapture and standardize the corporatebest practices.

This solution not onlyautomates regulatorytest simulationprocedures such asFMVSS, IIHS, ECE-Rfor crash and safety,but also structuralassessment such as NVHand durability.

Process templates are provided inEASi-CRASH environment or VisualEnvironment to accelerate modelbuilding and simulation tasks. Typicalgains lead users to spend a fewminutes in setting up a model whenthey spend several days withtraditional methods.

The engineers get huge benefits interms of productivity, standardization;can spend more time on engineeringwhile modeling and simulation is donein a fast-methodology using EASi-PROCESS.

3questions to...Velayudham Ganesan,

Business Development ManagerNorth America and Asia

PAMTALK: For which application is EASi-PROCESS the best solution?

Velayudham Ganesan: Automotivecrash & safety analyses with LS-DYNA, PAM-CRASH, MADYMO,RADIOSS, NVH and durabilityanalyses with NASTRAN are currentlysupported best in EASi-PROCESS.

Pre-defined templates FMVSS201,581, 208, ECE-R21, EPVS-

Body Static Analysis, areavailable to name a

few.

EASi-PROCESS forCAE automation is

also suitable forcertain simulation

procedures in Aeroindustries.

PAMTALK: What are the specificrequirements of theseindustries?

Velayudham Ganesan: Theseindustries need standardizedprocesses to execute the CAEsimulation and analysis for repetitivetasks with consistency, accuracy andproductivity.

Our automated procedure enables toexecute the standardized processresulting in an increase inproductivity. Furthermore, models areinsured to be built using corporatemethodology while eliminating users’errors.

New users andnon-specialistslong for an easyto use, intuitiveenv i ronment ,wh ich needsless t r a i n i ngeffort.

Also, there is a decrease in expertiserequirements to prepare models andprocess results having standardp rocedures imp lemented i nenvironment.

This also enables corporate know-how protection when subcontractinghas to be performed.

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SUCCESS STORY SPECIAL REPORT PRODUCT NEWS EVENTS CORPORATECASTING

special report10 www.esi-group.com

Special reporton Germany

“25 years dedicatedto virtual engineering”

PAMTALK: Is thepredominance of theautomotive industry stillinfluencing your currentactivities?

Stefan Rudolph: ESI GmbH is largelyfocused on the automotive industry butis also supporting its customers in theaerospace, chemistry, foundry, or heavyindustries. We are partnering withresearch centers, Fraunhoffer Institutesand most of universities in Germany.Today the office is heavily involved inresearch work at both European andGerman levels. Most of this workconcerns improved material failuremodeling, welding, sheet metal andcomposites forming, composites failureanalysis and dummy developments.Finally, ESI GmbH is actively developingspecific new options in collaborationwith ESI Group. For example, in

addition to the joint work on the H-Model, BMW Group has recentlyordered a “virtual seat comfort testing”joint study devoted to the assessmentand adaptation to its requirements. Ourresearch work in advanced compositesand plastics processes has alsoopened new areas in food industry,consumer appliances, carpetthermoforming, etc.

PAMTALK: Could youtell us more about yourprojects for the comingyears?

Stefan Rudolph: In the current contextof global economy, our customers areunder pressure to reduce costs andtime-to-market, while increasingproductivity. ESI GmbH has a vital roleto play by offering reliable and fastsolutions, able not only to fulfillregulations but to help improveperformances, comfort, aeroacoustics,and enhance the product quality. Weare thus promoting 2G and 3G solutionsin response to manufacturers’ needs toachieve synergies between the varioustypes of tests involved in productdesign and manufacturing. Throughmulti-trade value chains such as PAM-CRASH / PAM-STAMP coupling orPAM-STAMP / SYSWELD chaining,German industry leaders will benefitfrom powerful, yet easy-to-usesolutions enabling to solve even biggerproblems. Simulation-Based.Design isthe major challenge for the Germanindustry too!

PAMTALK: ESI GmbHcelebrated its 25thanniversary this year,what were the key stepsand major achievements?

Stefan Rudolph: ESI GmbH wasfounded in 1979 as the first ESIsubsidiary. Initially the office wasestablished to undertake consultancystudies mainly for the nuclear powerindustry in Germany, as well as for thecivil and military fields. With the declineof the nuclear industry a great effort wasmade to enter the important Germancar market in the mid 1980's. In thispurpose, we undertook specificdevelopments in both metal stampingand crash analysis fields in closecollaboration with industrial partners.Consequently, from about 1985 ESIGmbH played a major role inindustrializing crashworthinesssimulation and helping to establish newproducts and markets in Japan, theUSA and elsewhere.

Starting from 1988 ESI GmbH was alsoactively involved in safety and restraintsystems’ extensive testing andvalidation studies with German industry.We carried out the first dummy specificdevelopments up to new EuroSIDdummies appeared in the early nineties.We have also been working on a new,more detailed model, in collaborationwith FAT (ForschungsvereinigungAutomobiltechnik) working group, aconsortium supported by the Germancar manufacturers.

Interview with Stefan RudolphManaging Director, ESI GmbH


ESI GmbHheadquarters in Eschborn, nearFrankfurt/Main

special reportwww.esi-group.com 11

PAM-STAMP 2G helps Kirchhoff Automotive design car modules ‘right first time’


Through PAM-STAMP 2G simulation of the entire stamping process,Kirchhoff Automotive achieves its objectives for productivity and high quality.

The Kirchhoff Group is a global player in the automotive components industryand is also a producer of high performance tools and waste managementvehicles. The Group, established in 1785, is owned and managed by theKirchhoff family.

With more than 2,000 employees and a turnover about 250 Million €Kirchhoff operates manufacturing facilities around the world - five in Germanyand others in Ireland, Hungary, Spain, Portugal, Poland, Mexico and Brazil. Itscustomers include the major automotive companies and it is an accreditedTier 1 supplier to Ford, GM, VW/Audi and Daimler Chrysler.

About Kirchhoff Group

Because of ever shorterdevelopment times, KirchhoffAutomotive has to do a solidplanning of its production

processes. For more than 100 yearsthe company has been developing,manufacturing and supplying metalstructures for the automotive industryand has grown to an internationalsupplier providing complete carmodules. “For an exact implementationof tool planning we rely on PAM-STAMP 2G and PAM-AUTOSTAMP'shighly effective system to performaccurate deep drawing simulations,”says Mr. Raimund Teipel, simulationsmanager, Kirchhoff Automotive.

PAM-AUTOSTAMP deepdrawing process assessment

Kirchhoff Automotive produces chassisand structural parts for cars and trucksas well as a wide variety of deep drawnpressed panels for cars. Deep drawingconsists of stretching sheet metalblanks around a punch, which aredrawn into a die cavity to achieve thedesired final shape.

Kirchhoff Automotive makes extensiveuse of PAM-AUTOSTAMP, a 'physicsbased' software for the accurateprediction of deep drawing processes.PAM-AUTOSTAMP's ease-of-usesimplifies the modeling processallowing the simulation of each stage,from the effects of gravity on the blankto trimming and flanging.

Checking wrinkles at each stage of thestamping process is very important toensure part quality and safety, whichare major requirements from Kirchhoff.

Using PAM-AUTOSTAMP Kirchhoff canthus evaluate and predict stresses,strains, fractures and geometricalimperfections that may occur duringthe deep drawing operation. The useris guided through the final validation ofthe forming process, tolerances andoverall quality control, helping to avoidcostly and time-consumingdownstream problems.

On-line decision-making on formability issues

Kirchhoff takes advantage of PAM-AUTOSTAMP’s detailed results forvalidating formability issues andpredicting subtle issues such as slip-lines and cosmetic surface defects. Kirchoff also models drawbeads veryaccurately, even considering theopening effect they have on ablankholder, delivering betterprediction of required press forces.

PAM-STAMP 2G containsa wide range of materialmodels. These modelsare supported by acomprehensive materialdatabase, which includes manyaluminum alloys and high strengthsteels, becoming increasingly commonin au tomot i ve componen tmanufacturing.

In this way, Kirchhoff Automotive isable to design the 'right first time'tooling and to optimize the process.“Furthermore we use PAM-STAMP 2Gin early development phases of a carfrom design to production ofassemblies. This procedure generatessignificant cost and time reductions,”adds Mr. Raimund Teipel, simulationsmanager, Kirchhoff Automotive.

For the future, Kirchhoff Automotiveplans to expand its developmentdepartment and to increase itsstructural analysis and crash simulationactivities. The company is nowconsidering the benefit of using PAM-CRASH in addition to PAM-STAMP tohave an easy way to map the results ofproduction analysis to crash analysis.

Deep drawn metalstructures meetingKirchhoff’s qualityand safetystandards

PAM-STAMP 2Gthinning and rupture

risk prediction

casting www.esi-group.com12

Schematic representationof the DistributedMemory Parallelprocessing principle

Parallel processingwith ProCAST 2005 The new version of the ProCAST solution features parallel

processing in order to drastically reduce turn around times.

Cutting costs andreducing time to market aretwo of the most pressingissues in the foundry

industry today. Casting processsimulation helps achieve these goalsand is now widely used throughout theindustry for process design, improvedyield and better casting quality. Whilesimplified solutions can be efficientlyused to quickly evaluate mold filling andsolidification, the accurate prediction ofcomplex flows and metallurgicalphenomena still requires significantcomputation times. To tackle this issueand drastically reduce turn aroundtimes without any loss of accuracy andfunctionality, parallel processing wasintroduced in the ProCAST 2005release.

DMP vs. SMP

Different technologies are currentlyavailable for parallel processing.Symmetric Multi Processing (oftenreferred to as Shared Memory Parallel

processing) is one of them. With SMP,specific programming directives areadded in the software to allowcomputations to be distributed onseveral processors, all processorssharing the same memory addresses.SMP technology is only available onspecific hardware platforms and limitedin terms of the maximum number ofprocessors. In practice, it does notprovide significant speed ups beyond 8processors.

Distributed Memory Parallel (DMP)processing is an alternative in whicheach processor accesses its ownmemory. A Message Passing Interface(MPI) is however required to distributeand share data between the differentprocessors. With DMP, it is possible todesign parallel applications that scaleto a greater number of processors atthe expense of substantialprogramming efforts. Because of itsversatility and potential for very highperformance, the DMP technology wasimplemented in the ProCAST solvers.

Domain decomposition

To distribute the work on the differentprocessors, the Finite Element meshneeds to be partitioned in as manysub-domains as there are processors.This functionality is automaticallyactivated in ProCAST and calleddomain decomposition. To beefficient, the decomposition needs toprovide a balanced repartition of theworkload (load balancing) and aminimal interface between thedifferent partitions so as to minimizethe necessary exchange of databetween the different processors.

Example of domain partitioning for a 8 processors thermal simulation

Model courtesy of Rimstock


casting 13www.esi-group.com

A V A I L A B I L I T Y

The ProCAST 2005 parallel version is

currently available on Linux clusters

(Redhat 7.3 and Entreprise server),

as well as UNIX multi-processor

platforms from IBM and SGI.

ProCAST 2005 DMP – Scalability for filling simulationSpeed up factor relative to a single processor run

ProCAST 2005 DMP – Scalability for a thermal only simulationSpeed up factor relative to a single processor run

Model courtesy of Rimstock


Inter-operability and repeatability

Full inter-operability is provided withProCAST 2005: computations can berestarted on a different number ofprocessors than what was initiallyused. The repeatability (ability toreproduce identical resultsirrespective of the number ofprocessors) has also been carefullychecked. It should however be notedthat, because floating point operationsare performed in a different orderdepending on the number ofprocessors, the accumulation ofrounding off errors can lead to smallresult discrepancies.

Scalability

The performance of the parallel solverdepends not only on the size of themodel and type of application but isalso very much dependent on thehardware configuration. In particular,significant differences have beennoted between Gigabit Ethernet andMyrinet interconnect.

Scalability results reported here wereobtained on a Linux cluster withGigabit Ethernet interconnect andshow that speed-ups ranging from 5to 6 can be obtained for both fillingand solidification on 8 processorsplatforms. Much better scalability hasbeen recently obtained with Myrinetinterconnect for up to 16 processors.

Continuous efforts are being devotedto the fine tuning of the software toimprove the scalability andperformance.

Future outlookand product roadmap

The ProCAST 2005 parallel versioncurrently includes the main softwarefunctionalities to simulate mold fillingand solidification with radiation. Otherspecific software features such as lostfoam, non-Newtonian flows and

advanced solidification modulesincluding micro-porosity and CAFEmodules are however not available forparallel processing at this stage.

The stress solver is currently beingfinalized and will be released laterduring 2005 to allow for parallel fullycoup led the rmo-mechan ica lsimulations.

casting www.esi-group.com

PAM-QUIKCAST 2005 speeds upcasting process evaluation

14

PAM-CAST has evolvedto a new solution for castingprocess evaluation. PAM-QUIKCAST 2005, the new

Finite Difference casting softwarepackage features dramatic reductionsin volume meshing and overallprocessing times.

With an intuitive user interface, anenhanced mesh generator, andimproved filling and solidificationsolvers PAM-QUIKCAST 2005 allowsfor shorter process evaluation and fastiterations between different molddesigns.

New mesh generatorperformance

A key factor to obtain accurate resultswith Finite Difference solvers is theapplication of local volume andsurface correction factors. Thesecorrection factors are necessary inorder to compute exact volumes butalso to apply proper heat transfer andboundary conditions on the externalsurfaces of the different volumesdescribing the casting process. Thecomputation of surface correctionfactors is by far the most timeconsuming part. To reduce meshingtimes, a new and efficient algorithmwas implemented to calculate surface

corrections. While providing the samelevel of accuracy as before, meshingtimes are now reduced to just a fewminutes for even the most complexgeometries.

Improved CPU times

The filling and solidification solverswere also improved in order to shortensimulation times. A proper tuning ofinternal solver parameters andspecific software optimizations onWindows platforms result in a overalltime reduction of a factor 2. Thisimprovement is particularly visible onmold cycling and solidificationsimulations.

The above tab le i l l us t ra tesperformances, as compared to theprevious PAM-CAST release, of thenew solvers on a large low pressuredie casting application. CPU timesindicated here were obtained on astandard Windows platform.

New product features

A specific new option has been addedto import not only geometry or grid

information but also processconditions from a previous model.This new feature can be used toquickly re-define all processparameters from one model to theother irrespective of any geometrymodifications.

The thermal interpolation menu hasalso been improved to allow forvarious types of temperatureinterpolations. In particular, end offilling temperatures interpolation to aProCAST Finite Element model ispossible to complement the standardfilling and solidification calculationwith a thermo-mechanical analysis.

Two new parameters have beenadded to the definition of the thirdstage pressure effect: a solid fractioncut-off value and the time at which thepressure is released. The “third stage”pressure effect only affects macro-porosity calculations and can be usedto account for additional materialfeeding during solidification in highpressure die casting as well as lowpressure die casting applications. Thesolid fraction cut-off value can beused to define the extend of the liquidnetwork and tuned to account forvarious pressure levels.

AVAILABILITY

PAM-QUIKCAST

2005 is available

on Windows 2000

and XP platforms,

as well as UNIX

workstations from

HP-Compaq, IBM,

SGI and Sun.

From PAM-CAST to PAM-QUIKCAST, a new and rebuilt version providing asignificant reduction of turn around times

PAM-CAST74 mns

21 h 18 mns

9 h 25 mns

4 h 51 mns

Meshing CPU time

CPU time for 5 thermal cycles

Mold filling

Final solidification

PAM-QUIKCAST5 mns

7 h 59 mns

6 h 52 mns

2 h 07 mns

Low pressure die casting simulation of a cylinder head.

Courtesy: Montupet


castingwww.esi-group.com 15

PAM-QUIKCAST 2005 user interface

Les Diablerets, Switzerland - May 22-27, 2005

PAM-QUIKCAST 2005 offers numerousnew pre-processing functionalitiesincluding:

■ Shortcuts to mesh quality checks,■ Simplified mesh editing tools,■ Undo option for manual merging

operations,■ New volume domain selection filter,■ Automatic Finite Difference grid

creation,■ Study versions management tools

(add, change, delete options),■ Information on surface areas,

volumes and weights,■ Possibility to define and execute

several calculations in a batchprocess.

PAM-QUIKCAST 2005 offers numerousnew post-processing functionalitiesincluding:

■ Graphics display of distanceinformation,

■ Possibility to refer to a color scale,■ New sectioning algorithm without

“stair” effect,■ Curve display of averaged quantities

for multiple element selections,■ Result files management tools

(extraction, concatenation of post-processing files),

■ New raster file output in jpeg format,■ Solidification output frequency

defined as a function of solidificationrate,

■ Possibility to switch from one studyversion to the other without re-loading the model.

F or the fourteenth consecutiveyear, Calcom ESI, the ESIGroup casting business unit,

is organizing a solidification coursein collaboration with the SwissFederal Institute of Technology ofLausanne (EPFL). During oneweek, courses and exercises willbe presented by renownedlecturers from Swiss, French,Austrian and the US universities.

Dedicated to metallurgists andfoundry engineers, this course isorientated towards the applicationof solidification theories toindustrial casting processes. Themacroscopic aspects of theprocesses (transfer phenomena)

are addressed together with theformation of microstructures anddefects (microscopic phenomena).Connection between macroscopicand microscopic aspects, such asthe prediction of microstructuresand defects as a function ofprocess parameters, will also be emphasized. Exercises,discussions, films and computerdemonstrations are organized inorder to apply, practice andvisualize the contents of thelectures. Due to the limited numberof participants (maximum 40),interaction between theparticipants and the sevenlecturers will allow an optimumtransfer of knowledge.

Finally, private or groupdiscussions can take place duringsocial hours and evenings in orderto treat more specific problemswhich the participants mayencounter.

Since its first edition in 1992, thecourse has gathered 417

participants coming from 161companies distributed in 25countries representing all 5continents.

Registration form, full programand further details are availableon www.calcom.ch

Solidification course 2005

Solidification course, annual event held in the heart of the Swiss Alps

a wide range of processessuch as gravity die casting,low and high pressure diecasting including semi-solid materials. The newversion completes ESIGroup's casting portfoliowhich includes ProCAST,and CALCOSOFT, for fastand efficient modeling ofcontinuous castingprocesses.

Central section of a wheel

Liquid fraction just after releasing the pressure

Liquid fraction before releasingthe pressure

The time at which the pressure isreleased is particularly useful for lowpressure die casting processes. Whenthe calculation reaches this time, allthe metal connected to the inletthrough a liquid network is removedfrom the calculation as illustrated inthe opposite example of a wheel lowpressure die casting.

Based on a structured Finite Volumetechnology, PAM-QUIKCAST simulates

New pre-processing features New post-processing features


casting www.esi-group.com16

ESI Group’s castingsolutions gain groundin South America

Four new customers choose ESI Group’scasting simulation software

From left to right: Alfredo Naucevich (INTI),Dr Raúl Abelardo Mingo (INTI),

Eduardo S. Brignone (Brignone & Asociados),Dr Marco Gremaud (Calcom ESI),

Arthur Camanho (ESI Group South America)

Fo u r e s t a b l i s h e dindustries and institutes haverecently shown theirconfidence in ESI Group to

meet their casting simulation needs.

The company is present through oneregional technical support office andthree agents located respectively inBrazil, Argentina and Venezuela. Basedin Sao Paolo, ESI Group South Americahas started to market the castingsimulation software range across majorSouth American countries in January2003.

Instituto Nacional deTecnología Industrial

A scientific and educationalcollaboration agreement between INTIand ESI Group was finalized inSeptember 2004, with the help of ESIGroup's Argentinean agent, Brignone &Asociados. The scope of theagreement is to share technologybetween ESI Group and INTI, topresent common publications intechnical congresses and to sharesoftware enhancement.

In this context, INTI-Mecánica (Centrode Investigación y Desarrollo enMecánica), an operative unit of INTI,

based in Buenos Aires, will now usePAM-QUIKCAST to support theArgentinean industry willing tomodernize its production tools.

Teksid do Brasil

Teksid do Brasil Ltda, one of the biggestiron foundries selected PAM-QUIKCAST as its casting simulationsoftware. Always searching forexcellence, Teksid do Brasil aims tobetter serve its customers, amongstwhom Fiat, DC, Renault, VW, to namea few. After careful analysis of existingsoftware on the market, Teksid do Brasilcame to the conclusion that PAM-QUIKCAST is an efficient tool withrespect to their needs. PAM-QUIKCASTwill be used for the simulation ofmedium and large grey and nodular ironcastings, such as differential cases,exhaust manifolds, flywheels, steeringknuckles, front suspension arms,crankshafts, cylinder blocksfor cars, cylinder blocks forindustrial vehicles, cylinderheads for industrialvehicles, front brake discs,rear brake drums, rearsuspension arms.

Acotecnica

Loca ted i n theneighborhood of SaoPaolo, Brazil, Acotecnica isa high-tech foundryproducing 900 tons peryear of casting, amongstwhich 170 tons of vacuum

casting. Acotecnica has just adoptedProCAST to model investment casting,due to its unique capacities and top-class references in the field.

Dana S.H Fundiciones

Finally Dana S.H Fundiciones locatedin Venezuela is now equipped withProCAST to support its state-of-the-arttechnology, allowing the company topotentially produce up to 50,000 tonsper year that makes it the largestductile iron casting company in LatinAmerica. Having considered availablecasting simulation software, Dana isconvinced that ProCAST simulationresults are the only one which matchexperimental results. For ProCAST use,Dana S.H Fundiciones will receivesupport from ESI Group’s agent, ATGroup located in Caracas, Venezuela.

Flowability test model

Courtesy of Dana S.H Foundiciones

Teksid do Brazil greyand nodular ironcastings for theautomotive industry


June 20-22 IDDRG 2005Innovations in Deep Drawing New trends in industries:

Besançon, Francefrom simulations to applications

June 29-July 2nd 6th China Int’l Exhibition of Die Casting, Casting and Industrial Furnace Guangzhou (China)

May 25-26 5th European LS-DYNA Users conference Birmingham (UK)

June 14-16 SAE Digital Human Modeling for Design and Engineering Iowa City, IA (USA)

May 1-5 SAMPE New Horizons for Materials and Processing Technology Long Beach, CA (USA)

May 16-19 SAE Noise & Vibration Conference Traverse City, MI (USA)

April 16-19 CASTEXPOFirst joint exposition of the American Foundry Society

St Louis, MO (USA)and the North American Die Casting Association.

April 18-21 NOVEM Noise & Vibration Conference St Raphaël (France)

events18 www.esi-group.com

Information and registration on www.esi-group.com

Date Event Place

April 5-7 MICAD 200524th international Exhibitions for CAD/CAM, Tools and methodologies

Paris (France)for product design, manufacture and lifecycle management

April 5-7 JEC 2005 Composites Show Paris (France)

April 11-14 SAE World Congress SAE 2005 World Congress celebrates the Society's centennial Detroit, MI (USA)

ESI Group participates in the following events:


ES I G r o u p p l a n sto invest $5 million on itsIndian development centerand to ramp it up to over 90

engineers over the next couple of years.This was the key announcement madeby Alain de Rouvray, Chairman andChief Executive Officer, ESI Group,during the press conference held inBangalore.

The company formallyinaugurated its Indiansubsidiary on December 1st,2004. The wholly-ownedIndian subsidiary wascreated in February 2004,following the acquisition ofEASi USA's MechanicalC o m p u t e r A i d e dE n g i n e e r i n g ( M C A E )

intellectual property rightsin September 2003. A suiteo f i n d u s t r y - p r o v e nsimulation environments forcrashworthiness, safety, NVH,durability and process analyses hasthus been added to ESI Group's MCAEportfolio.

ESI Software India Pvt Ltd will be a trulysoftware product developmentcompany dedicated to marketrequirements collection, productdefinition, design, implementation,validation and shipping. The nature ofwork represents the high end of thevalue chain encompassing all aspectsof software product development.

Currently, the Indian subsidiary isfocusing on the development of theOpen VTOS based on EASi-VISTA, an

object-oriented development platformfor CAD/CAE. This technology hasbeen developed in India during over thelast 10 years. “Open VTOS technologywill significantly reduce thedevelopment of environments forcomputer aided analysis of engineeringsystems with complex graphicalinterface,” says Nagesh L. Bysani,Managing Director, ESI Software India.

The inauguration of ESI Software Indiawhich is presently employing a team of36 high level engineers, is laying solidfoundations for the implementation of arealistic and open CAE simulationenvironment strengthening the group'svirtual engineering solutions.

Alain de Rouvray’s addressduring the press conferencegathering ten journalists from Indian and internationalmagazines

ESI Software Indiapremises at

Banashankari II Stage,South Bangalore

Official inauguration of ESI Group’sSoftware Product DevelopmentCenter in Bangalore, IndiaESI Software India will play a key role in developing the Open VTOS, a visual environment platform for ESI Group's 2G and 3G solutions

F ull details about SimulationProcess Management and EASiCAE software portfolio are

available from the products section.

The new visual Environment pagegives a good overview of Visual-Crashfor PAM, Visual-Process, Visual-Viewer and the systems requirements.

The PAM-STAMP 2G section has beenentirely reshaped. The website nowdisplays 8 sections which go overimportant technical data as well askey benefits of the software. PAM-STAMP 2G, PAM-DIEMAKER, PAM-QUIKSTAMP, PAM-AUTOSTAMP,Stamping professional pack andAutomatic Meshing and Filletingbrochures are easily downloadablefrom this website. Also, you will find anew press release on the CORUS-ESIGroup partnership which highlights

the benefits of the newly integratedCorus-Vegter model.

Do not miss the opportunity to bookthe dates of the next ESI Groupconferences and exhibitions.Upcoming PAM events are listed onthe home page; more information willsoon be available.

Finally, the latest issues of ESIGroup's electronic newsletters “Newson-line” and PamTalk are posted atthe bottom of the page for downloador on-line subscription.

Please come and visit the ESI Group homepage frequently to get the latest news.

If you have any suggestions, please do not hesitate to use [email protected] e-mail addressor the contact web page.

F rom March 1st, 2005 ESI Groupis pleased to inform that the

newly founded OPEN VTOS salesand support team at ESI GmbH isrepresented by Mrs. AndreaGittens and Mr. Michael Sommer.

Andrea Gittens is responsible forbusiness development of EASi-CRASH and Visual-CRASHproducts in Germany, Switzerlandand Austria.

Technical support of EASi-CRASH andVisual-CRASH is available throughMichael Sommer.

New sales activities and distribution of EASi-CRASHproducts in Germany by ESI GmbH

ESI Group has made the acquisition of theintellectual property rights of EASi’s CAE softwareand it’s flagship product, EASi-CRASH inSeptember 2003. This acquisition allowed ESIGroup to offer a common user environment aswell as simulation design and control tools for theautomotive industry. EASi-CRASH productsinclude model building, results evaluation againstregulatory requirements and design comparisons.

What’s new at www.esi-group.com?

corporate 19www.esi-group.com

FY2004 Sales up 19% to EUR 58,3M in line with expectations. License sales up 26%.

ESI Group FY2004 sales came to EUR 58.3 million, up 19% fromthe year before. This significant performance was achieveddespite the negative impact of exchange rates. Organic growth

came at 9% at constant exchange rates, significantly up from the 3%recorded from the previous financial year. Accounting for 10% of theGroup’s sales, acquisitions effectively continued to boost overallgrowth.

Licenses growthThe license business turned in strong growth of 29% at constantexchange rates. Organic growth was 12%, helped by an evenly balanced contributionfrom all geographical areas. Renewal rate of license sales remainedat a stably high level, driving a significant increase of the recurrentinstalled base, up 24% from FY2003.

Turnaround of Services to organic growth in H2The trend of the Service business turned around in the second half,helped by a growing order backlog on the back of the two newpluriannual casting projects cofinanced by the European EconomicCommunity and the Swiss Confederation, in addition to the projectssigned in the third quarter in the United States and Europe (regardingVibro-Acoustic and management of simulation processes).

Breakdown of salesThe geographical breakdown of sales is as follows: 18% for America,35% for Asia and 47 % for Europe. Organic growth in Asia generateda 13% increase in sales volumes, demonstrating the relevance of theGroup’s international strategy, inter alia reflected in its newsubsidiaries in China and India. The breaking continued in new sectors such as Electroniccomponents, Energy, Defense, Aerospace, manufacturing industries.Transportation currently accounts for 45% of annual orders.

Alain de ROUVRAY, ESI Group’s Chairman and CEO, concluded:“2004 ushered in a new period of maturity for ESI Group, reflectedfirst in the return to significant organic growth. Despite a persistentlynegative currency effect, ESI Group was able to make the most of animproving economic environment, high recurrent license sales and avery strong position with major customers. The new version of itsPAM-CRASH and PAM-SAFE products remained a growing successwith users, more than ever showing ESI Group’s global leadership inthe safety segment of the transportation market. Helped by theimpact of synergies, the emerging products resulting from the recentacquisitions (VASci and ProCAST) turned in strong, higher-than-average growth. Confirmation of two innovative new projectstweaked the turnaround of the Services business in the second half.Lastly, IBM’s strong interest in virtual simulation and the gradualadoption of our products in new sectors are significant confirmationof the relevance of the Group’s strategy as a multi-disciplinespecialist in virtual simulation and the credibility of our medium andlong-term objectives”.


HP Workstation c8000Extreme UNIX power, whisper quiet

The HP Workstation c8000 is a 64-bit workstation that brings2-way and 4-way computing power to the desktop, supportsthe latest industry-leading AGP 8X graphics and is compatiblewith existing HP-UX application environments.

The HP c8000 is designed to address the most demanding technical workloads in

automotive, aerospace and electronic design enterprises, with four times the processor

and memory I/O bandwidth and 25 percent lower memory latency of previous

generation PA-RISC workstations. It is ideal for handling the complexities of large

model, system assemblies, design analysis and simulations. The HP c8000 also

features breakthrough graphics performance with industry-standard AGP 8X graphics

on a UNIX workstation. No longer are you captive to antiquated, proprietary graphics

cards that trail industry innovation.

For more information, visit www.hp.com/workstations

HP Workstation c8000

2 or 4-way system using dual corePA-8800 processor modules at 900 MHz or 1.0 GHz with 32 MB of L2 cache

HP Scalable Processor Chipset zx1

HP-UX 11i TCOE or HP-UX 11i MTOE

Up to 16 GB PC2100 registeredECC DDR-266

ATI FireGL T2-128p and ATI FireGL X1-256pAGP-8X graphics

© 2004 Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. The information contained herein is subject to change without notice. The only warranties for HP products and services are set forth in the express warrantystatements accompanying such products and services. Nothing herein should be construed as constituting an additional warranty. HP shall not be liable for technical or editorial errors or omissions contained herein.

Screen image courtesy of Dassault Systemes

IntroducingextremeUNIX power

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