Dassault Systemes and Mechanical Dynamics, Inc. Announce a CAA V5 Development Partnership Agreement

Integration of Dynamic Designer into the CATIA V5 environment

 

Paris, (France), June 18, 2001 – Dassault Systemes (Nasdaq: DASTY; Euronext Paris: #13065, DSY.PA) and Mechanical Dynamics, Inc. (Nasdaq: MDII) announced today the signing of a Component Application Architecture (CAA) V5 development partnership. Through this agreement, Mechanical Dynamics will develop and market a line of Functional Virtual Prototyping (FVP) software under the name of  “Dynamic Designer On CAA V5” integrating the market leading ADAMS functional simulation engine within the CATIA V5 modelling environment. Customers will benefit from the integration of their business processes in a single environment, from concept design up to performance testing and evaluation. <br/>

 

 

As engineering organizations face increasing time-to-market pressures, the creation and functional testing of hardware prototypes represent a significant bottleneck in the development cycle.  Yet, the requirement for more complete testing of product functional performance prior to production is increasing rapidly.  Because of these challenges, more and more global manufacturing leaders are turning to virtual prototyping and simulation to virtually examine not only the "form" and "fit" of a product, but also its "function" to realize a complete digital product definition.   <br/>

 

 

The CATIA V5 DMU Kinematics Simulator offers motion simulation capabilities handling digital mockups of all sizes. In addition, CATIA V5 Analysis Solution provides simple to advanced Generative Stress and Vibration analysis of components, assemblies and mechanisms enabling fast design - analysis loops and optimization. These functionalities operate entirely and identically on both Windows NT and UNIX platforms. <br/>

 

 

Through this integration, Dynamic Designer On CAA V5 extends CATIA V5 DMU Kinematics Simulator to handle dynamic systems and generates loading conditions for CATIA V5 Generative Structural Analysis. Dassault Systemes and Mechanical Dynamics now enable CATIA V5 users to take full control of the virtual prototype simulation process, allowing designers and engineers to predict the complete functional performance of their products, directly from within their familiar CATIA V5 environment. <br/>

 

 

The Dynamic Designer On CAA V5 product line will include a range of modules that will provide general functional simulation and accurate prediction of product motion and loads  for the aerospace, general machinery, and ground vehicle markets.  This new product line will also include vertical applications that embody Mechanical Dynamics’ proprietary Functional Digital Vehicle technology for chassis, engine, driveline, body, and full vehicle performance simulation. The Functional Digital Vehicle modules will be targeted toward the automotive, truck, bus, and off-highway industries where both CATIA and ADAMS have an extensive user base. <br/>

 

 

Dr.-Ing. Edmund Donges, General Manager CA Methods and Processes in Chassis Engineering of BMW, encouraged this latest development partnership and stated “Geometrical virtual prototyping and increasingly important functional virtual prototyping are the most promising approaches for reducing time and cost of chassis development at BMW.  We therefore strongly support the partnership between Dassault Systemes and Mechanical Dynamics because it will provide the potential for an increasing number of designers, development engineers, and analysts to apply virtual development tools in an integrated environment."

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Dr. Sudhakar Medepalli, supervisor, Chassis Analysis, DaimlerChrysler's Chassis Group added "These two companies have been long-time valued suppliers of technology to us.  We're pleased to see them work together to bring innovative solutions to our product development challenges." <br/>

 

 

 

 

"CATIA V5 provides a robust, parametric design environment for Functional Virtual Prototyping," said Robert R. Ryan, President of Mechanical Dynamics, Inc.  "It is perfectly suited to serve as a framework for our Functional Digital Vehicle simulation products.   We're excited by the customer interest in this partnership and we're committed to bringing the leading functional simulation products to market integrated with CATIA V5."  

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Dominique Florack Executive Vice-President, Research & Development Dassault Systemes, adds “We are more than pleased to welcome Mechanical Dynamics, a worldwide leader in the dynamic simulation field, within our CAA V5 community.  Reproducing virtually the product functional performance with generic up to highly specialized simulations through the product lifecycle, in one single environment, represents a real breakthrough, allowing customers to build always more reliable products and to streamline their business processes.  Through this strong development partnership we are sharing the same goal to offer a consistent portfolio to simulate the behavior of the products in operation, with the same commitment to serve the needs of all customers worldwide”.

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