ZENTECH INTERNATIONAL LTD

Zentech is an independent UK-based company providing software development and consultancy services to major international companies. Since 1980, Zentech has specialized in applying advanced engineering analytical techniques and developed various software systems. These include software for non-linear dynamic analysis of Riser systems and installation of pipelines for Oil & Gas industries. Software for simulation of 3D crack propagation and assessment of residual fatigue life and for performing forensic engineering studies to determine the cause of failure.

Consultancy services are supported by proprietary and third-party analytical and design tools. Foremost among these is our 3D crack propagation tool, Zencrack, a state-of-the-art fracture mechanics based software for modeling and analyzing 3-dimensional cracks, predicting their behaviour and growth under linear, non-linear, thermo-mechanical fatigue and time –dependent loading, ZenRiser and Pipeline software.    

Using fairly versatile GUI and Zentech’s proprietary ‘crack-block’ methodology in Zencrack software, it is easy to quickly generate 3D focused finite element models of cracked components from User supplied uncracked component (.inp) meshes. Zencrack generates a new input file of the cracked component, runs Abaqus, extracts results from the Abaqus output file and processes them to provide energy release rates and stress intensity factor distributions.  Zencrack also has a inbuilt plug-in capability for Abaqus/CAE. Currently new features are being developed which would allow to insert cracks directly in the geometry of a component and then create an FE mesh of combined tet and hex cracktip collapsed hex elements.

For static or transient loading without crack growth, Zencrack can evaluate and report SIFs, j-integrals and T-stresses along one or more crack fronts. Both linear and non-linear analyses can be undertaken using a range of the available capabilities in Abaqus/Standard such as Contact, Friction, etc. Zencrack is now fully GUI driven both for pre and post processing.

For crack growth analysis, Zencrack predicts the magnitude and direction of 3D crack growth along each crack front and automatically advances each crack through the F.E model. Several options are available for crack growth data definition including a user subroutine capability for complex proprietary material data. A powerful, yet flexible ‘load system’ approach is provided for defining load histories which may include multiple load spectra, complex thermo-mechanical and non-linear loading effects with fatigue and/or time dependent crack growth.