Finite Element Method
User´s Meeting 1989
Venue
In 1989, Swanson Analysis Systems, Inc. (SASI) – the original name of ANSYS – hosted the 1989 ANSYS Conference and Exhibition in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In the same year ANSYS users from across Europe gathered also at the Hotel Jakobsberg near Koblenz. This conference served as an important meeting place for ANSYS users to exchange technical knowledge about structural, thermal, and fluid simulations (CFD), i.e. highly nonlinear numerical calculations.
Schedule
Three days packed with FEM innovations and intensive discussions between users and ANSYS developers from SASI company headquarters in Houston (PA, USA). By 1989, SASI supported over 900 installations across 20 types of computers and 30 different operating systems. Discussions centered on ANSYS Revision 4.4, which had been released shortly before. 1989 was a pivotal year for SASI in Europe, particularly through its partner CADFEM, which began performing its first commercial FEM calculations using ANSYS-PC/ED (Revision 4.2 A4) that year.
The first day was reserved for the ANSYS User Club e.V. (AUC, founded in 1988), where ANSYS users exchange experiences and submit suggestions for improving the FEM program. The AUC serves as a platform for users to exchange experiences and promotes professional dialogue between users in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland (DACH) through workshops and communication. The aim of the club is to expand its members’ knowledge of ANSYS simulation software through networking and the exchange of best practices.
“The purpose of the AUC club is to promote knowledge exchange between ANSYS users from industry and research in German-speaking countries. The target audience is engineers, researchers, and developers who work intensively with ANSYS.”
John Swanson
“John A. Swanson is an American engineer, entrepreneur, and philanthropist. Swanson is the founder of ANSYS, Inc., a John Fritz Medal winner, and a member of the National Academy of Engineering. He is internationally regarded as an authority and pioneer in the application of finite-element methods to engineering.” ~ Wikipedia
Multiphysics
The event was personally supported by SASI founder and CEO John Swanson (PhD, Dr. h.c.), who was available to all participants with dedication and expertise for questions and answers.
This gave me the opportunity to engage in direct dialogue with him about the FEM requirements of micromechanics (MEMS) at the Hahn-Schickard-Institut for Microsystems & Information technology (IMIT), in particular coupled field calculations (multiphysics), especially piezoelectric calculations and thermo-mechanical coupling.
Program
The German-language flyer with the program for the 1989 ANSYS user meeting at the Jakobsberg Abbey near Koblenz on the Rhine.
Further information
GitHub repositories
- github.com/ThomasFabula/ANSYS/tree/main/CADFEM
- github.com/ThomasFabula/ANSYS/tree/main/ANSYS44
- github.com/ThomasFabula/ANSYS/tree/main/Figures
- github.com/ThomasFabula/ANSYS
Acknowledgements
© Copyright of the images belongs to CADFEM GmbH, Grafing.
