What is NASTRAN ?

In chennai and aeronautics circuit, I have heard lot about NASTRAN and catia, pro E. People recommend this to all aeronautical engineers and I have even seen it mentioned in many foreign university syllabus for BE and ME in aerospace. And moreover every job listing I saw on aeronautics demanded NASTRAN know-how. So I began my investigation as to what is NASTRAN and guess what I got a very good link It really explains the basics. Do check out.

And yes for those who have read Mr. John D Anderson's book will find that he has touched many of the basics of NASTRAN in his books... so read on and be enlightened!!!


NASTRAN, the NASA Structural Analysis System, is a powerful general purpose finite element analysis (FEA) program for use in computer-aided engineering. NASTRAN is a standard in the structural analysis field, providing the engineer with a wide range of modeling and analysis capabilities. Development of NASTRAN was initiated in the mid-1960's by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration to provide an FEA capability for its aerospace research projects. Over the years, NASA has actively maintained and improved NASTRAN such that it remains a state-of-the-art structural analysis system.


NASTRAN applications include almost every kind of structure and construction. Structural and modeling elements are provided for the specific representation of the more common types of structural building blocks including rods, beams, shear panels, plates, and shells of revolution. More general types of building blocks can be treated by combining these simple elements or by using the "general" element capability. The substructuring capability allows different sections of a structure to be modeled jointly after having already been modeled separately.

NASTRAN permits the effects of control systems, aerodynamic transfer functions, and other nonstructural features to be incorporated into the solution of the structural problem. Among other analysis capabilities, NASTRAN can handle:
static response to concentrated and distributed loads, thermal expansion, and enforced deformations,dynamic response to transient and steady-state sinusoidal loads, and random excitation, complex eigenvalue determination for vibration analysis, dynamic stability analysis, and elastic stability analysis.


NASTRAN also has a limited capability for the solution of nonlinear problems, including piecewise linear analysis of nonlinear static response and transient analysis of nonlinear dynamic response. Users may develop their own analysis capabilities by using the Direct Matrix Abstraction Programming (DMAP) language to direct NASTRAN in the solution of general matrix problems.

Two types of NASTRAN licenses are available for some destination platforms. Source Code licenses, which are available for all supported platforms, include the source code, executables, demonstration problems and a four-volume set of documentation which includes the Programmer's Manual. Executable Code Only licenses are also available.
source:: http://www.openchannelfoundation.org/projects/NASTRAN/

Related links
Where can i learn NASTRAN and CATIA
What is catia?
Solidworks CAD video tutorials
Catia vs Solidworks
EDST launches catiaa and enovia training center

Static Analysis | Dynamic Analysis | Unit Testing | Code Analysis Discussion

Since I've joined LDRA Technologies Pvt. Ltd as Technical Marketing Assistant hence I recieved few queries like :
What LDRA does ? and what its focus is ?
What is the role of LDRA tool suite ?
How these tools can help you in achieving zero defect software ?
and so on ....
Henceforth the answer is here ....

Whenever a company develops any software application on which people’s lives depend than it becomes very necessary for the developers to achieve zero-defect software. In order to achieve it, we use static analysis, dynamic analysis, unit testing etc.

Readers of this post might be interested in knowing what do I mean by static analysis, dynamic analysis and related terminologies. I'm sure by reading below linked articles you'll be able to understand the meaning of such terminologies.

@ AeSI Students : Even if you look at Job Description of recent recruitments, so you'll find few terms like basic knowledge of DO-178B including Level A, knowledge/experience on LDRA tools etc. Henceforth I strongly recommend below mentioned articles to be read by all Avionics students and recent graduates.

http://electronicdesign.com/content/topic/code-analysis-discussion-with-ldra/catpath/embedded

http://vita-technologies.com/articles/do-178c-arrive-drive-safety-critical-software/

http://www.ldra.com/index.php/en/solutions/by-industry/aerospace

http://digital.mil-embedded.com/mar2012/mar2012/11/0#&pageSet=11

If you would like more information concerning the LDRA tool suite else if you want to know how such tools can perform static and dynamic analysis or unit testing than please take a moment to complete the following form. (Click Here)

All the best !

7 things to take note while learning an analysis program

I used ansys back in NAL, I tried nastran in my free time and now I am
working on a in house fem software. So I thought let me enumerate some
points I noted while dealing with these analysis softwares.

1. Understand and be comfortable with the fact that GUI is not
important.

Most of the GUIof analysis programs suck.

And it doesn't matter because in the long run, the solver is the one
where most of the analysis results should come from.

2. Everything can run though batch.
As I said GUI is just an addin, for efficiency and automation,
knowing how to run the softwares to run in batch is important. This is
where you should spend your maximum time while learning. Learn how to
complete an analysis with ASCII text files.

3. Understanding the underlying principles is more important than the
technique.

How to create model, appling boundary are crutial but knowing why
those boundary conditions are needed is more important. Knowing which
element to use is more important that how to add elements.

4. Use small models.
Big complex model look sexy. Working with them provide a sense of
accomtplishment, but if you want to truly learn the priciples of
underlying theory and application then use small models. They are easy
to modify, easy to solve and most importantly easy to try out
different combinations. Basics come not from analying a big 3 million
nodes landing gear model but playing and tinkering with small cube.

5. Experiment with the core functionality of the software not the
models. As I said earlier, models are just models. You are learning
analysis here, so keep learning that, models are just a way to learn
the different features.

6. Keep the end goal in mind.
Don't forget you are learning to do analysis. It's about designing
products. You are learning it to design safe, reliable designs. So
learn with that thing in mind. Also remember automation, the better
you are with it, the more efficient analyst you will become.

7. Verify all your results.
It's a software. Your job is not just to setup experiments, and
present the results. An analyst job begins after the run. It's the
interpretation of the results that matter. Verifying what you got
after the run is what you should teach yourself.

These were some of the things I remember and will suggest to anyone
learning analysis softwares like ansys, nastran , ls dyna etc.

Useful info for stress analysis field from manish

Are you a member of AeSIAA ? There recently Mr. Manish shared this good information about learning a stress analysis tool. I am reposting his information here hoping AeSI graduate desirious of learning this tool can use it.

dear friends.
i am working in NAL as contract engineer,from last 6 months i was searching a person who can guide me  in Stress Analysis  field, i am working on Hypermesh, Nastran, and FEMAP, and trying hard to understand Crush analysis in Lsdyna, finally i got a person who is scientist in CABS, and running a institute in murgeshpalys, just opposite to  solarpuria complex.
he has  good knowledge in crush analysis, and the fee is 3000rs.
bird impact,air bag, crush, dummy.....etc analysis and some more problems he is taking and going to take....at final he will be finishing  nearly 25 type of  different problems.... if any  one  who wants to join with me is well come, my 4 classes  r over, and his class for implicit Vs explicit was nice, and reflects his  good fundamentals. his number is 09480261320 name Mr. Kartik.
fees may   differ so u can give my referance.
see u
manish didwania

 

Thanks Manish!!

If you have such information please feel free to inform us in the comments it might help someone.

Related: My ten hours with ANSYS

How I learnt ANSYS, NASTRAN or Solidworks?

Last week at my office I was given an entirely new fem tool to work on. I have already have experience on working on ANSYS and Nastran but this tool that I was assigned to work on was entirely new and it was the first time that I have seen that tool. So I applied all the techniques that I applied learning ANSYS and Nastran to get a head start into this tool.

As expected since the tool is in-house it has its own conventions and was out of sync with the other fem or analysis tools I have worked on. Moving , panning and zooming the models were all different, laying out of the GUI was different. In fact now as I write this I thing the layout of the tool was much better than hyper mesh, which uses radically different GUI…  anyways since this is the software I had to work on for a couple of months now so I decided to dig in.

Before even touching the software, I took up the help notes and tutorials that were made available to me. I went of reading them, not line by line but reading through and stopping only were it mentions overall details. skipped anything explaining details. Took up all the tutorial and other materials that I had and scanned it. The main aim here was no bother about the specifics, but to get the big picture of the software, I learnt, the fem tool can be used for mechanical, thermal, vibration etc calculations. I leant about basic menu structure, what domain control is and how to set up mesh control. all of them by just reading through. I got a feel of the menu where each commands might be.

The next stage was to actually open the software itself and familiarize myself with the menus. Due to my previous exercise i remembered some phases for menu, dug them up.

After this took went to the open command and opened an actual model and tried rotation it…. tilting and checking it.

After having had a feel of the tool, getting a general sense of the menus, I called  up my colleague who was already working on the program. I asked him to just give me user demo and do a small analysis.

Well the guy began and due to his eagerness he started explaining me minute things, some more in details, since my aim was to get a general feel and not  to learn the details I asked him to just carry on the analysis without explaining. he went on while I sat behind and saw, and only interupted him at places where a menu command looked interesting or unfamiliar. This allowed me see how he began the analysis, what were the general conventions that any book or tutorial can’t mention and people working on the tool usually pick up.

After this tour, I stopped the work on the tool and took a 2 hrs break not touching the tool or any material regarding the tool. This allows the brain to refine the information that you already have provided it. It allows it the time to soak in the necessary info and identify the gaps that are still there.

So after the break I took one tutorial and began following it from step and low and behold within 25 mins I had completed the exercise with the same colored contour maps that are so common in fem software's. If I hadn’t done the previous one hour information soak and the required rest, this time to completion would have been higher and I would have stuck at many places..

After the results I didn’t stop there although the tutorial ended there. The exercise was over but the detailing following of excise prompted and introduced me to new menu items that I wanted to check so I went into the explorative mode and began exploring different results options that were there. Drawing graphs, seeing different contour maps, mapping streamlines, getting vectors of heat flow and many such. This exploration again expanded the knowledge and helped me in getting more of the next tutorial  that I will do on my next meeting with this tool.

So what’s the take away from this whole exercise, if you want to learn a analysis or design software quickly then I guess this experience of mine will be great for you. Its not the first time I have applied this techniques but have used it to learn ANSYS, solidworks , Nastran, and VB. so take whatever you like and apply it in your own learning. good luck!!

Related : My 10 hours with ANSYS

A useful tip that accelerated my design and analysis software learning

In this post I will tell you about one simple useful technique that i have successfully used in learning 3 CAD software's, two analysis software and many other computer languages. The technique that has enabled me to accelerate my learning of design and analysis software at NAL. This is the same technique that I use now as I play with Photoshop.

The concept is simple. Cranking. Cranking means just getting in the software and get started and getting the brain to produce something. you don’t need to have a clear goal or product to build but all you are doing is trying out the tools and just making your fingers move.

Now when I was in NAL after the initial euphoria about the software I was learning, it always happened that I lost the spark and no matter what I do. I was stuck. I felt dis-interested in the software.

so this is is an effective technique if you are learning any CAD or analysis program,m. Its a technique that you can apply to get started and to create that you want. Not only will you learn a thing or two new but also enjoy and see how your brain is producing results when you just cranked it up..

This is like the warning of the jet engine that happens when its still on the runway.. It doesn't do anything useful but allows the pilot to check all the system and at the signal of the air traffic controller  ... and the throttled is pushed... the engine roars to its power and pushes everyone up..

Same way this techniques of just sitting and opening up catia, or nastran and begin drawing designing or meshing anything that takes your fancy will help you learn more than 100 tutorials that you might have done..

As you progress. Think what is going on but keep the mouse moving, explore, try this menu, that menu, this option that option and see the tasks that you have never done. All this will not a waste as you will discover some gems in the quest and even if the final thing that you came out isn't what you waned but then your mind will be more ready to produce a thing that you want...

try it!!!

What you should do in Section-B (Avionics) which you don’t know.

I came across many situations where AeSI recent graduates have to walk together with the engineering graduates of Electronics background in order to get selected in an interview. I know it is damn difficult but not impossible. The fact remains the same that many Avionics engineers are working as an Embedded Software/Hardware engineer. Henceforth it is very much essential to learn the basics of various safety, security and mission critical standards, software and hardware. Unfortunately it is not a module of your Section-B syllabus however by spending few hours a week; one can certainly assure that he gets a job after completing his engineering degree.

Case study: I have recently joined a company where it is very much essential to know the basics of reliability, availability, maintainability and safety. I certainly wasn’t aware about these terminologies hence I have started taking advantage of social media. I have downloaded certain videos from YouTube on reliability basics and then I have downloaded couple of white papers about various methods of reliability predictions. No doubt, I wasn’t able to grab all things in one time but I certainly have learned new things. One should always remember that learning is an ongoing process.

I strongly recommend you to learn the basics of following modules before you start job hunting:

-     

1. Requirements Engineering: Learn the basics of requirements engineering.
2. Design, Modeling and Simulation basics: You can learn many things at Mathworks website.
3. You have C, C++ as a module in Microprocessor & Software Engineering subject of Section-A. However getting is the right answer can never make you a good programmer. It is very much essential that you should know the art of writing software code. MISRA – C, C++ can help you in doing the same. There are various technical FAQ and discussion threads available on official website of MISRA.
4. Basics of Software Testing. Specially modules like static analysis, unit testing, code coverage.
5. Basics of In Circuit Emulators and hardware debuggers.
6. Reliability Prediction standards such as MIL-HDBK-217, NPRD 95, etc.  How organizations predict reliability and do impact analysis. Google modules like Fault Tree Analysis, Reliability Block Diagrams, Failure Mode Effect Analysis, etc.
7. Hardware Debuggers
8. Basics of compilers, IDE, RTOS, middleware, etc.

I know that being a student, it is very difficult to learn these many things but if you know at least the basics so I am sure that nobody can stop you in getting a good job.

Start asking “W” questions like

What is it?

Why is it used?

What are the methods?

Which companies are the best in each area?

How the knowledge of it can help me in my career?

& many more. 

Happy Learning! Please let us know if you require any additional support or information from our side. You may mail your queries as a comment below. 

Cheers!

Read the ANSYS Advantage magazine for free

In my last post titled tools for aerospace industry' i listed tools that are used by an aerospace engineer. One of the tools that i mentioned was ANSYS. I had some experience with ANSYS in NAL and at IISC while doing the FEM course. Read my experience with ANSYS in the post titled my 10 hours with ANSYS.



Well this post is about ansys, but is also related to one of the previous post regarding reading aerospace magazine online. Here's one resource where you can do the same with ansys. This is a great resource for anyone interested in simulation and analysis with ANSYS. Its an online magazine published by ANSYS itself and i think its great fro all budding aerospace engineers from aesi.

Wish i had known about this in my aesi day, then i would have gravitated towards analysis side of my career rather than the software side.

Anyway the magazine is titled ANSYS Advantage and can be read online here and if you want to read it offline then here's the link to download the full version as PDF.

Unlike aerospace America, Ansys Advantage is quarterly magazine and has only 4 issues per year but definitely worth a read for anyone interested in analysis field and simulation.

The latest issue of ANSYS Advantage features articles on how Speedo’s new full-body swimsuit was designed using simulation technology in pursuit of gold medals and world records, how simulation tools help to increase megayacht sailing performance, and how a toilet discharge valve is optimized to reduce household water consumption and maintain performance. A special spotlight section explains the five key principles that guide the development of simulation products and technology at ANSYS.

So you see aerospace is not the only domain ansys is being use, perhaps in the upcoming 2008 Beijing Olympics someone might be using a swim suited that was designed after analysis in ANSYS. who knows.

Talking about Beijing Olympics reminds me about one of another tool of aerospace that is used to build the Olympics stadium in china.

If you know of other online reading resources then do tell me in comments. Happy reading folks.

Design-Analysis softwares or programming language should an AeSI graduate choose?

Recently Rohan had this question for me. He is in section B(aero mech), doing it from G.I.E.

His query

"
Sir, can u plz spare some time to tell us(i n my friends) whether we should go for learning softwares(catia proE..) or improve programming language(c, c++).
thanks sr.
"

So what should he do?

Should he learn analysis or design softwares or learn programming languages?

What's your call?

I would say do both. Design and analysis softwares are part of an engineers life. You can't bypass them. In the start they are the skills sets that can fetch you a job.

But knowing programming in any language is a life skill. It will make your life easier. As you pick programming skills, you will be able to automate stuff and tasks.

As an aesi graduate, I don't want you to push you towards software engineering if you aren't passionate about it, but learning and knowing a language will definitely give you an edge.

This all depends on your choice, and inclination.

During my AeSI days, and training period, I was more inclined towards programming but never missed an opportunity to pick up solidworks, ansys, etc.

The choice is yours!!

So it's your turn, tell us Design-Analysis softwares or programming language - which one should an AeSI graduate choose?

Accelerate your tool learning by ten times.

Working on a tool is easy. Once you learn it, you are done. You just
have to follow the steps.

But this isn't correct. True learning begins after this stage.

Once you feel confident about the tool that you learnt, stop what you
doing and start thinking of the individual steps.

Yes slow down. Once you are comfortable with the tool, slow down and
think of each step.

Why you are doing this particular step? What is the limitation of this
step? When will it be not feasible to apply this step? What other
steps you can take?

To give a concerete example, when you are doing an analysis in Ls-
dyna. Stop and think why the analysis is not being done in ansys?

Stop and ponder what can be the implications of doing this analysis in
some other software?

When choosing an element for your analysis, dig deep and probe why you
are using this particular element?, what is it's advantage and
limitations? Is there any better element to use?

Slowing down and finding the answers to these questions will
accelerate your tools learning by ten fold!

Are you using any other strategies. Do let us know in the comments.

Ls-dyna Analysis tutorials

Well this one will be a short post.

If you are into analysis and by any chance use LS-Dyna analysis
software tool, then I have a site to recommend to you all.

It's www.dynaexamples.com !!

Yes as the name suggest there are numerous downloadable ls-dyna
examples on this website.

Even if you are not into Ls-dyna, but are in analysis, I suggest you
take a tour of this website. You will comeout by learning something
useful.

That's it, if you know about other sites that might be helpful to
other users of this blog, please do name it in comments.

Cheers

More tool specific advice can be searched via this link http://my-aesi.blogspot.com/search?q=tutorial

Stress Analyst Requirements and 3 point checklist.

If you match this requirements, send your resumes to the following email. sukhbinder.singh+myaesi@gmail.com


Before you send your resume, please run through this 3 point checklist.
1. Is your resume in presentable form. No modification needed what so ever.
2. Is your profile matching with the requirement?
3. Are you serious about this job?

If you have responded no to any of this question, your CV is already rejected, if not, shoot your CV now.

Experience       :  3yrs – 10yrs

Qualification    :  B.E / M.E in Mechanical/Aerospace Engineering

Location           :  Bangalore

Position            :  Stress Analyst
Job Code           :  HC/JC/3035/12

 

Job Description :

 

-       Experience in aerospace industry, with good structural stress analysis experience, preferably with airframe structures

-       Good awareness on Airframe/ Nacelle components and programs including an understanding of basic load conditions and load paths.

-       Performs structural analysis of a complex nature using conventional hand calculation and/ or computational analysis on Metallics and/ or Composites

-       Strong application of engineering principles and theories in structural analysis

-       Experience/ Exposure to composites (Laminates and Sandwich Panels)

-       Very good knowledge of NASTRAN/PATRAN and Hypermesh

-       Working knowledge of Catia V5

-       Highly proficient in MS Office Tools

-       Good analytical and problem-solving skills

-       Effective communication and interpersonal skills

MATLAB

Hi folks

Last friday while tweaking with c program, i made this
filecataloger program. This program basically catalogs all the files
in my system and as i learned after using it, there were lots of gem
files that i had in my computer but long forgotten.

One of this file was and information on What MATLAB can do? I
don't know the exact source of the article from where i have saved
this, but then its an usefull info for anyone to know, so i am
posting it in this blog.

Why MATLAB?
Technical professionals worldwide rely on MATLAB to accelerate their
research, compact the time invested in analysis and development,
reduce project costs, and produce effective solutions. The MATLAB
environment encourages creativity and enables you to quickly test and
compare multiple alternatives. As a result, you produce better
solutions.

Users have found that the combination of the intuitive MATLAB
interface, language, and the built-in math and graphics functions make
MATLAB the preferred platform for technical computing compared to C,
Fortran, and other languages and applications.

MATLAB includes tools for:
Data acquisition
Data analysis and exploration
Visualization and image processing
Algorithm prototyping and development
Modeling and simulation
Programming and application development
Overview
MATLAB handles a range of computing tasks in engineering and science,
from data acquisition and analysis to application development. The
MATLAB environment integrates mathematical computing, visualization,
and a powerful technical language. Built-in interfaces let you quickly
access and import data from instruments, files, and external databases
and programs. In addition, MATLAB lets you integrate external routines
written in C, C++, Fortran, and Java with your MATLAB applications.

With a user community more than 500,000 strong spread throughout
industry, government, and academia, MATLAB is the recognized standard
worldwide for technical computing. MATLAB is used in a variety of
application areas, including signal and image processing, control
system design, earth and life sciences, finance and economics, and
instrumentation. The open architecture makes it easy to use MATLAB and
companion products to explore data and create custom tools that
provide early insights and competitive advantages.

Key Features

Numeric computing for quick and accurate results
Graphics to visualize and analyze your data
Interactive language and programming environment
Tools for building custom GUIs
Integrate with external applications comprised of C, C++, Fortran,
Java, COM components and Excel
Support for importing data from files and external devices and for
using low-level file I/O (plus access to databases and additional
hardware via add-on products)
Conversion of MATLAB applications to C and C++ with the Compiler
This broad set of capabilities makes MATLAB an ideal home base for
developing solutions to technical problems.
Trusted Mathematics and Numeric Computing Functions
With more than 600 mathematical, statistical, and engineering
functions, MATLAB gives you immediate access to high-performance
numeric computing. The numerical routines are fast, accurate, and
reliable. These algorithms, developed by experts in mathematics, are
the foundation of the MATLAB language. The core math engines
incorporate the well-respected LAPACK and BLAS linear algebra
subroutine libraries and FFTW signal processing library, embedding the
state-of-the-art in mathematical computation directly into MATLAB.

The math is optimized for matrix and vector operations, so you can use
it in place of low-level languages like C and C++, with equal
performance but less programming. With an extensive collection of
optimized math routines built right in, MATLAB frees engineers and
scientists to focus on their real work, avoiding the time-consuming
tasks of looking for, developing, debugging, and maintaining homegrown
codes.

MATLAB provides many functions for performing mathematical operations
and analyzing data, including functions for working with:
Matrices and linear algebra -matrix arithmetic, linear equations,
eigenvalues, singular values, and matrix factorizations
Polynomials and interpolation -- standard polynomial operations such
as polynomial roots, evaluation, differentiation, curve fitting and
partial fraction expansion Signal processing - digital filters, fast
Fourier transforms (FFTs), and convolution Data analysis and
statistics - descriptive statistics, data pre-processing, regression,
curve fitting, data filtering Function functions -- MATLAB functions
that work with mathematical functions instead of numeric arrays,
including plotting, optimization, zero finding, and numerical
integration (quadrature)
Differential equations - solving differential equation problems
including: initial value problems for ordinary differential equations
(ODEs) and differential-algebraic equations (DAEs), delay differential
equations, boundary value problems for ODEs, and initial-boundary
value problems for systems of parabolic and elliptic partial
differential equations (PDEs)
Sparse matrices - covering both specialized and general mathematical
operations, including iterative methods for sparse linear equations
Add-on toolboxes maximize the mathematical power of MATLAB
Add-on toolboxes - collections of MATLAB functions and interfaces -
allow you to apply even more mathematical computing power to your
technical problems. Available toolboxes address applications requiring
signal processing, optimization, statistics, symbolic math, partial
differential equation solving, curve fitting, and more.

Analysis of result june 2005

Someone very eloquently put it " Its cold, its calculating. There is
no grey. Its all black or white". She was talking about maths and
statistics. Well that 's the very thing that's attractive about them.
They give answers. Here are the answers, that i got from the analysis
of the results this time, which as you maybe aware i am in the habit
of doing it for the past semesters.

This analysis is my 6th one, and having the data's for the past years
have given a unique perspective to this analysis, as i have compared
them all together as you will see from the graphs.

For the benefit of all those like me who are more akin to figures and
graphs, i have added like last year the magic of excel graphs. Eye
pleasing and informative at the same time. So without much adieu
lets begin.

Section A

a. In section A, as always principal of flights has the lowest passing
percentage. With 7.36% passing that is 7.36 people passing out of 100
hundred who appeared for the exam.

b. Best performance for the last four semesters is of ED, Which has
46.37% pass out this time.

c. Fluids is the subject with most number of student appearing this
time in any subject of section a.

d. The subjects of Thermo, Maths-II, Solids and fluids had more than
1100 student appearing in each! This probably stems from the backlog
that gets created as the students fail in this subjects in previous
semester.

e. 18.125 out of 100 people who had appeared in any subject of section
A has cleared the subjects. This number is fairly constant for the
last semesters as seen from the trend line of

sec a.

f. Of all the semesters, June 2003 has the lowest pass out percentage
in Section A, highest being December 2002 semester.

g. If you look closely at the data, you will see that this is the
first time that any
subjects pass out in Section A has crossed more than 45% and subject
who broke the record is ED.

Section B

a. In propulsion stream, biggest shocker is VMD result which
previously always hovered along 80% pass out line, but this time it
had Nil passing percentage, with no one passing out of 35 who
appeared.

b. Propulsion two is the top scorer of this semester in propulsion
stream with 84.62% passing percentage. This subjects passing
percentage fairly remained close to this 80% line only dip was in June
2004, when it went below 40%!!

c. Math-III is the second best in prop stream, with close to 60+%
passing percentage and many above 70+ marks!!

d. In propulsion I, the passing percentage has declined from 55+% in
December 2002 to 48% this semester.

e. In all propulsion core subjects, propulsion III is always the one
with lowest pass outs and this perhaps explains the maximum number of
students that appeared for it this time in propulsion stream.

f. Structure one is the highest scorer in aerodynamics stream of
section B, with an all time high of 86.21% pass outs and the marks i
heard were generous, as one of my acquaintance got 93, highest ever
mark i have heard of

g. Vibration also made a good showing with 71.87% passing percentage.
This is highest for vibration in last 6 semesters.

h. Aerodynamics one was a shocker this time, as only 3 out of 52 who
appeared passed. Looking at the data, you Will learn that aeroone has
the distinction of being the subject with highest ever pass outs of
AeSI, which was in dec 2003, got 90.47% passed in this subject.

i. With an average of 56.87%, aerodynamics stream for the first time
has overtaken the passing percentage of propulsion stream, which for
this semester stands at its lowest 43.36%!!

j. Compared to all the passing percentages for last 6 semesters,
propulsion streams results this time were lowest.

Well, if this facts enlightens you, i am sure the graphs that follows
will add more to your understandings, so take a look.

http:\\www.geocities.com\sukh2010\

Someone asked me "why do you do it?" well i do it because it give
answers, nay stupid answer. I do it because i love doing it. Please
don't forget to send your "hate mails" i love receiving them, they
decorate my email!!! :)

enjoy
sukhbinder

ps: The graphics takes sometime to load if your connection is slow, be patient.

FEM workshop

Dear Students,

It is our pleasure to inform you that AeSI Alumni Association and
NAFEMS, an International Association for Engineering Analysis
Community is jointly organizing a two-day workshop on FEM and
Practical stress Analysis for the benefit of engineers involved in FEM
activities. Overall this workshop which is also supported by AeSI
Bangalore Branch is designed to enhance the functional knowledge of
young FEM users in the practical application of FEM.

NAFEMS is the world's premier organization with 25 years of expertise
in benchmarking CAD/ CAE software, publishing high quality books and
training for analysts. NAFEMS has provided new vistas to several
international organizations in domains such as Dynamics, Optimization,
Multiphysics, Heat Transfer, Non-linear Analysis, Electro Magnetics,
Process simulation, Biomechanics and CFD. The humongous work of NAFEMS
can be seen on www.nafems.org.

This Course is being handled by reputed industry experts with the
following objectives:

1. To offer guidance in guiding which approximations are acceptable
for solving practical problems
2. What are the best practices applicable to automotive, aerospace
and manufacturing industries?

Practical case studies on automotive/Defence/Aeronautics would also be
presented.

This course is aimed at practicing engineers who wish to learn more
about how to apply FEM techniques to their particular problems in the
most effective manner. The contents of this programme are specially
designed keeping the needs of junior and middle level analysts who
have to apply FEM for solving practical problems. The material that is
presented is independent of any particular software package, making it
ideally suited to current and potential users of all commercial FEM
software systems.

Date: 22 & 23 July 2011
Venue: Aeronautical Society of India, Bangalore Branch
Suranjan Das Road, New Thippasandra Post, Bangalore-560075

Registration Fee:
Industry and R&D Labs - Rs. 2000/-
NAFEMS /AeSIAA Members and Academia (Including Students) - Rs. 1000/-
For AMAeSI Students – Rs. 750 /-

This will be an excellent opportunity for engineers to get practical
and fundamental insight into the applications of FEM. We request you
to avail this opportunity by participating / nominating your
representatives. The pdf format of the workshop brochure is attached
for your reference. Additional details on the course feel free to
contact us.

NOTE: This workshop is open to Student as well. However seats are
limited and on first cum first serve basis.
For all your queries regarding the workshop, please contact our fellow
alumni and workshop secretary, Dr. Rajesh Kumar (9986018742)

Regards,
Rakesh Kumar
Hon. Secretary, AeSIAA

What's the secret of taking a great photograph?

What's the secret of taking a great photograph and why knowing that
will help you as an AeSI student and graduate.

The secret of getting a good photograph is to take a lot of them. The
more you take, the more are your chances of getting that perfect shot.
For some it will come at the 10th shot, or the 100th or beyond.

But what is important is taking shots. Same way the best way to learn
and perfect any cae software like catia, nastran, ansys etc is take a
lot of shot at them. Do them again and again and again and again.

Repeat a truss analysis, repeat a compresseor blade model. Don't just
stop but take action and take as many shot as you can.

The beauty about the digital camera is that you don't have to worry
about the reel, the developing. Same way, the cad and analysis tools
help you in giving you a virtual model or products, thus enabling you
to manipulate it to your hearts content.

So with minimum cost and fuss, you learn a lot. So when doing the next
session in ansys or catia, do become a photographer and take lots of
shots.

Read more about how to learn cae software effectively by clicking on
the following link http://my-aesi.blogspot.com/search?q=learn+analysis+software

Subscribe to myaesi via email or rss by visiting this link http://feeds.feedburner.com/myaesi

Registration for CSRP ends this Saturday

Hi,

Here's the titles of projects proposed in Collaborative Student Research Program.

Developing Gas Turbine Performance Analysis Tool

Random field discretisation and application in FEM

Development of stator blade using naca aerofoils

Development of CFD post processor and analysis tool

Developing Rocket Engine Performance Analysis Tool

More information on the project at the following link

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1AMfqycIQvbdc4SnJEJaq7y8-4a3vD64v2Tib2tgHjY8/pubhtml?gid=215898559&single=true

The last date for student registration is by Saturday 7th March 2015.

Few other points for the note:

1. This program is open for all AeSI students and graduates
2. Location is not a restriction in the age of internet
3. The projects are structured for 3 months and have set deliverables at the end of it

For more info and registration, please check the following link

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/10GGPNxlXr4ZBoVe3OOLXopAEW1u-iKr3M1cYj1FgLLo/viewform

6 tips for learning a new software tool.

Learning a software tool is an essential part of AeSI life. Some do it
while studying, some like me get to do it in their training days.

But whenever you are doing it, keeping this 6 rules in mind can help
you get maximum out of your tool learning experience.

1. Read the documentation fully
Before begining, have a through read on the documentation. You will
not understand everything but will get the bigger picture of what the
tool is and what is it doing.

2. Choose one set of tutorials.
For each software tool there are infinite number of tutorials, but at
the initial stage, one should choose only one and stick with it.

3. Linger longer on each exercise
Don't race through the tutorials. Think and explore. Linger longer on
one set of tutorials.

4. Explore extra.
Explore extra. Once you followed the tutorial. Explore the new things
you learnt. Look at the dialog boxes that were introduced to you.
Click on other buttons that the tutorial was silent about. In short
explore.

5. See the big picture.
Remember, softwares are just the tool. Tool for you an engineer, to
make decisions on. Use the tool like a tool. Then make an engineering
judgement. See the bigger picture of why the analysis/design is done
the way it is.

6. Initially shoot for quantity. Then chase quality.
When starting go for the number of hours you tinker with the tool not
on the number of components you design. Go for the number of simple
truss like analysis than just doing an all wing modal analysis.

Quantity should be your aim. Chasing quatily at the begining is like
trying to run before you have mastered walking.

Hope these tips helps you in your tool learning experience.

Do let me know if you want to add something.

More tool learning posts can be found via http://my-aesi.blogspot.com/search?q=tools&max-results=100

Resume tips from experience

Last week in OURAeSI club, there were 3+ messages related to job requirement... I hope everyone has seen them and appropriate candidates must have forwarded their resumes by now. But I was wondering how many of them had done it in the right way? I mean what was your checklist before you shot that email carrying your resume for the requirement listed?

 

Please do let me know in the comments.

 

Although I haven't sent my resume for a year now, but a year back, when I did, I had this 4 point checklist before I sent my resume to any job requirement.

 

Is the resume latest?

Do I have the cover letter?

Do my resume match the requirement or needs little adjustments?

Do I know anything about the company I am applying?

 

Let me elaborate on these points a little bit more. Is my resume the latest is the first thing I checked. Most of the time, it never was. I had to scour my resume back from the sent folders of my email account. Or from the my documents folder where it stayed unattended. Sure it always got updated. The areas which got modified were the dates of previous work experience. I quantified my work experience as 1.5 year (meaning 1 year 6 months), that changed as I progressed month wise. So I needed to include that and give my latest experience figures!  While in NAL, the skills section also got updated to highlight the skills I have picked up since my last resume update. And same thing happened to Project listing. Sometimes skills and projects not needed in for the current requirements were trimmed and re-adjusted.

 

"Do I have a cover letter?" was the second thought. To this I will emphasize from experience, I know that my all resumes that went with a cover letter brought me a response!! There was not a single instance that my resume with a cover letter didn't get me a call for the interview. I think having cover letter is must.

 

You can't put everything on your resume and you can't use fancy colors or highlight your resume too much for the risk of looking unprofessional, here cover letter comes handy and useful. A cover letter is one place where you can highlight the specific areas that you want your recruiter to see when they look at your resume. It serves as a good introduction to your resume! So never let a resume go by without a good cover letter accompanying it!

 

While in NAL, i did various kind of work, some of the work came under design like design of mixed flow compressor, some came under software development where I developed VB applications to do various design calculations and other got into the category of analysis, where using analysis packages to get result was the main responsibility. So having worked on varied kind of work, I had this standard resume, where I listed all my work, major, minor, design related, analysis related and software development related and Every time I had to send a resume, I used to adjust my projects to the requirements, plucking projects and its description from this master standard project-only resume.

 

Sometimes one project covered and overlapped many different categories. Like I had this project "design of mixed flow centrifugal compressor impeller”; now this had design and during the project I have to develop a VB application to design the compressor. So this project encompassed 2 categories. And having a standard projects-only resume solved my problem. When I said I needed to modify my resume for the appropriate requirement, I meant pushing the project related to the requirement up in the list and including more details to it. Removing the once that were irrelevant, trimming some which do not add much value. This way the resume had the consistency and I was at peace that I haven’t missed any project.

 

Sometimes, if the requirement was of design nature then the design projects were pushed up and I hightled the points on this project. Even in the skills section of the resume, the skills related to design got highlighted and were emphasized.  Sometime when I knew my work experience directly matched with the requirement; then I made sure that I highlighted the project in my cover letter as well.

 

Knowing the company I was applying for! Be sure to know what the requirement is and then use Google to search for the company you are applying for. It’s after this that you should craft your cover letter and update your resume. Your cover letter and resume should reflect that you know about the company you are applying for and are aware of the requirements!!

 

A resume cannot guarantee you a job offer, but a great resume introduced with a good cover letter can help you get an interview.

 

For more info on how to craft a resume see this excellent link

http://www.mahalo.com/How_to_write_a_resume

 

I am sure you will add your tips in the comments that I might have missed. So feel free to comment!!

 

Be winner _ Group Discussion

Group discussion is a part of interview in many organization, I personally feel that by referring some below given points we can win GD. It should be controlled by logic and arguments not by emotions. Isn't it ?

Tool A

It will increase the weight of your arguments

Point
Logic
Example

 

• Point—Put your point of view in front of the group. It’s not necessary that your point should be different from others’ points. But it should be on well defined assumption. Your initiate will not provide your leadership quality but your thought process and how people accept your point.
•  Logic – Explain your logic behind that point. The logic will close all options for invalidity of your point. The acceptability across the member of the group will be lesser.
• Example – Support your logic with some facts and figures. When you will support your point and logic with examples, this will be the moment when you convince most of the people in the group.

 It looks simple but it has a sound psychological background. It will help you to control the members of the team.

Tool - B

It should be used when you are not the initiator in the GD and have fewer points to discuss. It is used when the topic is unexpected.

Synthesis
Analysis
Value
Example

• Don’t speak in the start up (for 45 seconds) and just listen to others.
• Notice all the point of views (with facts) spoken by the team members. Synthesis the information.
• Now after having point of view with facts of majority of the team members you will analysis the collected data and give it a different meaning from all team members but should support their facts. There might be more than one analysis.
• Value the analysis by prioritizing them.
• Add the suitable examples and put your argument.

Influence the people all together and make them listen to your words. This can be done by speaking facts rather then judgments. Now the next thing will be to influence the main opponents who are challengers. There are two strategic ways to do it. Either convert majority towards yourself or make him react. If four in a group of five are in your favour then you need not to worry. If the fight is when you have only 50 percent people in your favour then attack the weakest member of that group to join you or make the opponent react so as to prove him weak. Execute the above steps in a sequential way. You will win the group discussion.
 
I hope that it will help you a lot at the time of interview.