Recent Developments in LS-DYNA®

18th Annual HP Symposium

Dilip Bhalsod
April 3, 2007
Livermore Software Technology Corporation
 Outline of talk
• Introduction
• Recent developments
– Shell seatbelts
– Particle method for airbags
– Sensors
– Contacts
– Selective mass scaling
– Implicit
– Incompressible flow
– Electromagnetic forming
– Hot forming
– Conclusions

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 LS-DYNA development
• Our developments are concentrated on
three products:
– LS-Dyna
– LS-Opt
– LS-PrePost
• LS-PrePost and LS-Opt are part of the LS-
Dyna distribution and do not require
license keys.

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 Development goals
• Combine multi-physics capabilities in a scalable code for solving
highly nonlinear transient problems to enable the solution of
coupled multi-physics and multi-stage problems in one run
• Full 2D & 3D capabilities
• Explicit Solver
• Implicit Solver
• Heat Transfer
• ALE, EFG, SPH, particle methods
• Navier-Stokes Fluids (version 980)
• Radiation transport (version 980)
• Electromagnetics (version 980)
• Acoustics
• Interfaces for users, i.e., elements, materials, loads, etc.
• Interfaces with other software, Madymo, USA, etc.

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 Development goals-implicit
• Springback for sheet metal stamping
• Static initialization of crash models
• Dynamic springback simulation after crash simulation
– Reliable measurements between numerical and physical
results can be more easily obtained
• An embedded linear capability to automatically solve
for normal modes, attachment modes, and constraint
modes
– Include infinitesimal motions superimposed on rigid bodies
for NVH and durability modeling
• Eigenvalue analysis to check the rigid body modes in
the crash models
– Identify inadvertent constraints

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 LSTC’s vision
• In automotive, one model for crash, durability, NVH
shared and maintained across analysis groups
• One scalable multi-physics code, LS-DYNA, to enable
the complete modeling of crash including airbags,
occupants, and fuel tank.
• Manufacturing simulation results from LS-DYNA used in
crash, durability, and NVH modeling
• Explicit durability and NVH modeling go mainstream in
MD Nastran
• No optional added cost LSTC developed features in LS-
DYNA
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 LSTC’s vision
• LS-DYNA specific pre-processing, post-processing, LS-PrePost,
and optimization, LS-OPT, with no added charges.
• Unrestricted open databases
• Focus on large distributed memory low-cost clusters running large
simulations
• As processor costs decrease and cluster sizes increase, LS-DYNA
software prices per processor will proportionally decrease to keep
simulation costs affordable
• Optimization technology will automate engineering design
calculations. LS-OPT is considered a critical enabling technology

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 Current state of explicit

• Currently, typical large simulation models typically

contain 1,000000 to 4,000,000 elements.
• FEA dummies are preferred over rigid body dummies
in crash simulations
• 12-32 processors are used in runs that complete
within 12-24 hours
• Calculations give digit-to-digit repeatability for a fixed
domain decomposition.
• MPP version is recommended if more than 4
processors are used per run
• Model sizes continue to grow faster than Processor
speed

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 Near future for explicit
• Model sizes of 10,000,000 elements
• 128-512 processors in overnight runs
• Human dummy models, such as THUMS, will increase
model sizes even further
• Honeycomb barriers will be modeled by shell elements
• Number of processors will increase 5-10 times
• Optimization software use in crash analysis will become
widespread

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 Final goal for explicit simulations
• Simulation results accepted in place of prototype
testing
– What is required?
• Strict modeling guidelines for analysts, and a single
comprehensive model for crash, NVH, Durability, etc.
• Continued software improvements
– Constitutive models
– Contact
– FSI with SPH, ALE, Particle methods
– Sensors and control systems
– Complete compatibility with NASTRAN
• Manufacturing simulations (in LS-DYNA, Moldflow, etc.)
providing the initial conditions for crash simulations

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 Parallel computing
• In less than one decade from 1998-2006 the use of explicit codes
has undergone a radical transformation
– From 100% serial and SMP licensed CPU’s for crash to 90% MPP with
the remaining 10% of CPU’s typically running smaller models on 1-8
processors
– Today serial and SMP explicit codes are becoming obsolete and will
eventually be phased out
• What about implicit?
– More difficult to create an MPP version
– Requires more expensive hardware so there is less customer pressure
to create MPP versions
– However, it is safe to predict that serial and SMP implicit solvers used in
large scale nonlinear simulations will also become obsolete within the
next 5 years.

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Recent version 971
developments

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 Seatbelt shell element
Definition of slipring and retractor

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 Extended formats
• Customer requests for extended formats are increasing
since 8 character IDs are too restrictive
– All keyword formats are being optionally extended
• 2 cards will be read for each existing card
• I10 > I20, I8 > I16, E10.0 > E20.0
• Mixed default and extended formats will be read
• Structured input will uniformly go to I20 and E20.0
– Current formats are being kept and all changes will be
backwards compatible.
• All old input files, both structured and keyword, will be read.
– New formats are being added to 971_R3 for early release since
preprocessors need to be updated. A 2-5 year lead time is
expected.

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 Sensors for Automotive Safety
• There are over 110 sensors in the average
vehicle today, e.g.,
• Pressure sensor for brake, tire
• Force and torque sensor for suspension
• Acceleration, velocity and displacement sensor for
suspension, vehicle and occupant
• Occupant classification sensor for restraint system
• Strain gauge for steel and seat

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 *Sensor
• *SENSOR_DEFINE defines a physical sensor.
The output signal is the numerical value of a
physical sensor.
• *SENSOR_SWITCH compares the sensor
signal with a given criterion. The output signal is
the logical result, true or false.
• *SENSOR_CONTROL controls a function,
airbag, contact,…, based on the logical result of
a set of SENSOR_SWITCH. Multiple status
switch is possible.

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CONTACT

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 *Contact_force_transducer
• Scalability of LS-DYNA to hundred’s of
processors is limited by contact
– Scalability for 1-2 contact definitions covering
the entire vehicle is excellent
– Scalability for 300+ contact definitions
diminishes significantly as the number of
processors increase
• 300 contact definitions are used to obtain detailed
reaction force information.

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 *Contact_force_transducer
• Force transducers measure contact forces within
a vehicle by accumulating all forces acting on a
segment set during contact.
– Problem is that these transducers cannot separate
the forces in two-sided contact
• In version 971_R2 a master surface is also
accepted such that the reaction force is
accumulated by the interactions of the slave and
master surfaces
– It is now possible to move to fewer contact interfaces
and improve scalability.

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 Smooth contact with CAD
• Contact with CAD surface (IGES and VDA formats) has
been available in LS-DYNA for ~15 years but rarely used

– Advantages:
• Smooth surface with eliminates sudden change in surface normal
vectors
– Contact force calculations and work piece stresses are more accurate
– Springback predictions are more accurate

– Disadvantages:
• Contact search and treatment is time-consuming
• Not robust due to poor quality CAD data

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 Smooth contact with FEA
• A smooth curve-fitted surface represents the contact surface
• Eliminates sudden changes in the surface normal across the
element
• Provides a more accurate representation of the physical surface.
• Reduces the contact noise and produces a smoother result with less
mesh sensitivity
– More accurate residual stresses provide for springback results which
are comparable to CAD springback results

• Less sensitivity to contact penalty parameters

• Implemented for MPI.

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 MPP smooth contact

*CONTACT_NODES_TO_SURFACE_SMOOTH
*CONTACT_ONE_WAY_SURFACE_TO_SURFACE_SMOOTH
*CONTACT_SURFACE_TO_SURFACE_SMOOTH

*CONTACT_AUTOMATIC_NODES_TO_SURFACE_SMOOTH
*CONTACT_AUTOMATIC_ONE_WAY_SURFACE_TO_SURFACE_SMOOTH
*CONTACT_AUTOMATIC_SURFACE_TO_SURFACE_SMOOTH

*CONTACT_AUTOMATIC_SINGLE_SURFACE_SMOOTH

*CONTACT_FORMING_ONE_WAY_SURFACE_TO_SURFACE_SMOOTH
*CONTACT_FORMING_NODES_TO_SURFACE_SMOOTH

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MASS SCALING

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 Conventional mass scaling
• Lumped nodal masses are scaled (increased) to
increase stable time step in explicit finite element
analysis
• Severe scaling unavoidably introduces unwanted, non-
physical, inertia effects in the structure under
consideration – this will in practice limit the amount by
which the time step can be increased
• Crash models are often forced to run at small step sizes
due to critical components where mass scaling will lead
to wrong results, i.e.,
• Dummy interacting with steering wheel finely meshed with solid
elements

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 Selective mass scaling
• Mass is increased under the constraint
that the rigid body translational behavior is
preserved
• Lowers the high frequencies which allows
for a larger stable time step, but leaves the
low frequency domain relatively unaffected
– severe mass scaling can be performed
without deteriorating the accuracy of
results
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Selective mass scaling - usage

• Selective mass scaling can be performed

on the entire model or a subset of parts
• Selective mass scaling and conventional
mass scaling can run together in the
same model
• Selective mass scaling is activated using
a single parameter on *CONTROL_TIME
STEP

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 Steering wheel example
• Steering wheel impacted by body block
• Solid elements dt< 0.1 microseconds
• Simulation times to 50 ms
• 5.5 hours with mass scaled such that dt=1.e-07
• 0.7 hours with selective mass scaling dt=1.e-06

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 Steering wheel example
• Conventional mass scaling with dt=2.e-06

Red: dt=1.e-06 SMS

Cyan: dt=2.e-06 SMS
Blue: dt=2.e-06 CMS
Green: dt=1.e-07 CMS

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 PARTICLE METHOD
• Very similar input as Control volume input
• Venting and Porosity supported
– Blocked and unblocked
• Internal baffles defined through sid2
– Flow through internal baffles can be monitored
• Multiple inflators
• Switching from Particle method to CV
• 2 step procedure
– Extract mdot and Temp. from gasguide stations
– Use of extracted data in step 1 as input to individual chambers.
• Tank test simulation – resident gas in the tank/bag can be considered
• 3 unit systems currently supported for ease of input.

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 PARTICLE METHOD
*AIRBAG_PARTICLE
SID1 STYP1 SID2 STYP2 BLOCK HCONV
NP UNIT VIS PATM TATM C23 TEND TSW
IAIR NGAS NORIF NID1 NID2 NID3

Extra card if IAIR=1:

XMair Aair Bair Cair Pair Tair
initial air data
NGAS cards:
XM1 A1 B1 C1 LCM1 LCT1 INFG1
XM2 A2 B2 C2 LCM2 LCT2 INFG2.
.
XMn An Bn Cn LCMn LCTn INFGn gas component data

NORIF cards:
NID1 AN1 VX1 VY1 VZ1 INFO1
NID2 AN1 VX2 VY2 VZ2 INFO2
.
NIDn ANn VXn VYn VZn INFOn
inlet orifice data
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Particle method for airbag deployment
Example: flat bag after 5ms compared to results
from Eulerian and uniform pressure models
particle method

multi-material Eulerian and fluid-structure interaction

uniform pressure

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Particle method for airbag deployment

Example: airbag center deflection compared to results

from Eulerian and uniform pressure models
bag center deflection (mm)

Eulerian
particle

UP

time (ms) 33
Tank Test using Particle method

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Tank Test using Particle method

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Control Volume – Particle Method - ALE

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Control Volume – Particle Method - ALE

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 CPU minutes for 3 methods

ALE

Particle
Method
Control
volume
0 50 100 150

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Particle method with curtain bag

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Particle method with curtain bag
with switch to cv at 20ms

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 Incompressible flow (980)
• Explicit-implicit solver
• Lagrangian treatment of most interfaces
• Automatic meshing and adaptive
remeshing
• FSI with large deformations
• MPP implementation

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Flow Past a Cylinder (Re=200)
Surface and Volume Adaptivity Based
on Velocity Gradient Error (Prescribed error = 1%)

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 Flow around a structure
Max. error=1.5%. Initial mesh size: ~200K elements, final
mesh size ~2M

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 LS-DYNA electromagnetism
• Introduction of electrical currents in solid conductors.
• These currents generate magnetic fields, electric fields, as well
as induced currents.
• The magnetic fields coupled with the currents generate Lorentz
forces on the conductors.
• The forces induce motion and deformation of the conductors.
• This motion has an effect on the fields and the currents.
• The currents generate Joule heating in the conductors,
changing the temperature, and thus some mechanical as well as
electromagnetic properties (conductivity for example).

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Magnetic Metal Forming

Coil Holder
(insulator)

Coil

Workpiece

Die

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IMPLICIT

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 Example
• Model of jet turbine fan blades
– 2 sets of fan blades on a common shaft
– 24 fan blades on each
– Lots of eigenvalues with multiplicity 48
• Requested the smallest 100 eigenvalues.
• 700K nodes, 2.06M dofs, 70M nonzeroes in lower
triangle of K.

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48
Implicit followed by Explicit

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Unconnected parts

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Fully connected parts

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 Performance

20000
18000
16000
14000
CPU Seconds

12000
10000
8000
6000
4000
2000
0
0 5 10 15 20
# of Processes

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 MPP Eigensolver Speed up

18
16
14
12
10 Speed-up
8 Ideal
6
4
2
0
0 5 10 15 20

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HOT FORMING

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HOT FORMING

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 HOT FORMING

Cooling tools using *BOUNDARY_THERMAL_BULKFLOW

And *BOUNDARY_THERMAL_BULKNODE

Input generation supported in LS-PREPOST

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 Conclusions
• Version 971 has become a major release with many new capabilities
that focus on the automotive industry
– MPP implicit
– ALE is at production level for out-of-position occupant analysis
– EFG is implemented for scalable MPP applications
– Particle method for airbags

• Significant progress has been made to include most crash capabilities

within the implicit solver

• LSTC’s software development goal continues to be the implementation

within one scalable code of all capabilities required to solve problems
that involve, multi-physics, requiring multiple-stages, running on large
clusters of processors.

• Full compatibility with linear structure models leading to a one model

environment

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THANK YOU

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