Safe Technology Limited (Sheffield, UK, September 2010), announces the launch of a new module for the advanced fatigue analysis of composite materials.

As the use of composite materials becomes more widespread in the drive to produce strong yet lightweight products, there is an increasing necessity to understand their behaviour and predict design life. Yet an accurate and robust fatigue life prediction tool for composite materials has not been available to meet this growing demand – until now.

fe-safe/Composites™ is a new product from Safe Technology Ltd, developers of the leading durability analysis software for finite element models, fe-safe™. Safe Technology has partnered with Firehole Technologies, experts in advanced composite analysis, to develop fe-safe/Composites, a unique and advanced solution enabling the fatigue analysis of composite materials.

Historically, predicting fatigue life in composites has been challenging because even simple load states lead to complex behaviour in the individual composite constituents. Furthermore, the effects of frequency and load history can only be dealt with adequately by using physics-based approaches.

fe-safe/Composites meets these challenges head-on by using Firehole’s Helius:Fatigue technology platform. Helius:Fatigue combines the constituent-based failure analysis method of Multicontinuum Theory (MCT) with the well-established kinetic theory of fracture, to introduce a game-changing technology for fatigue life prediction in composite structures. Additionally, it does so without the need for exotic material data or substantial computational cost.

fe-safe/Composites extends to composite materials all the comprehensive capabilities of fe-safe to calculate complex loading histories which up until now have only been available for use with metals. Users can simulate real, industrial loading conditions, and thanks to fe-safe’s ability to use different fatigue algorithms for different sections of the FE model, the user can also combine the analysis of composites and the analysis of metals in the same run.

fe-safe/Composites is available for purchase directly from Safe Technology or through their worldwide network of re-sellers. Additionally, Safe Technology and Firehole Technologies will team up in September to offer the first in a series of webinars demonstrating the features and functionality of fe-safe/Composites.

“We are delighted to be partnering with Firehole Technologies to bring an exclusive and unique fatigue solution to the composites market. Our companies make a formidable partnership, each the technical leader in our specialist field; Firehole in advanced composites analysis, and Safe Technology in durability analysis from FEA,” said John Draper, CEO, Safe Technology Ltd. “Our teams have worked well together during the development of this product and we are confident that we can meet the rigorous demands the composites industry will make on this technology.”

This ground-breaking new software will be introduced via a series of web seminars beginning with:

Date: Tuesday 21st Sept, 2010
Audience: Europe
1pm BST / 2pm CEST

Date: Wednesday 22nd Sept, 2010
Audience: North America
8am PDT / 9am MDT / 10am CDT / 11am EDT / 4pm BST

Content:
o        Introduction to fe-safe
o        Introduction to fe-safe/Composites
o        Application examples of fe-safe/Composites
o        Demo of fe-safe/Composites

Duration: 1 hour

Presenters:
Ian Mercer, Safe Technology Ltd
Doug Kenik, Firehole Technologies

Register: http://www.safetechnology.com


About Safe Technology Limited:

Safe Technology Limited is the technical leader in the design and development of durability software and is dedicated to meeting its customers' most demanding applications. Its flagship product, fe-safe™ allows fast, easy and accurate fatigue life predictions for FE models.

In-depth knowledge of fatigue combined with expertise in software development allows Safe Technology to provide outstanding service - with basic and advanced training, software support, and consulting services provided by fatigue experts. Safe Technology develops, markets and supports its software products directly from offices in the UK and USA, by a network of independent distributors worldwide and via the worldwide SIMULIA network.

To learn more about Safe Technology and fe-safe/Composites, visit http://www.safetechnology.com or contact Email Contact


About Firehole Technologies:

Firehole Technologies supplies innovative computer-aided simulation software and services for composite materials to the aerospace, defense, automotive and energy industries. Firehole’s Helius:MCT software enables the design of composite structures without the numerous expensive testing cycles traditionally deployed, allowing for a faster time-to-market and more reliable designs. The company’s mission is to enable wide-spread use of composite materials leading to lighter, stronger, safer and more fuel efficient applications. They offer a suite of products designed to significantly improve the composite design process.

To learn more about Firehole Technologies and Helius:Fatigue, please visit http://www.firehole.com