Enhancing Your Simulations with PTC Mathcad

While PTC Creo includes a number of options for running simulations and analyses, one of the most valuable tools available for anyone who wants to evaluate their designs under real-world conditions is PTC Mathcad.

Scientists and engineers have long used the PTC calculation software for optimizing designs, but when they leverage the power of PTC Mathcad with Creo simulation tools, they ensure the whole process starts with the right numbers.

Good Data In

“In PTC Creo Simulate, you define forces, but how do you determine which force value to use?” asks Tim Bond, associate application engineer, at PTC.  With PTC Mathcad, you can solve, analyze, and document essential engineering calculations, including forces and boundary conditions, before you run them through something like finite element analysis.

Bond offers an example: “Imagine I want to know how the spring in a car’s suspension will respond to a bad road. If I’m driving the car at 65 mph with 18-inch tires and hit a pothole that is 3-inches deep and 15-inches in diameter, how much force does the spring experience?”

You can calculate the answer using industry equations provided in PTC Mathcad. “The calculated forces could then be used as values in the finite element analysis, which calculates the stresses and strains that the spring will experience under the defined conditions,” says Bond.

Good Data Out?

With good data in, you’re more likely to get good data out, but Bond notes that PTC Mathcad is ideal for checking your work too. “PTC Mathcad is a great tool to calculate quick ballpark forces and stresses to get an idea of what the simulation results should be.” How do the estimated and actual values compare? If your results surprise you, it’s time to look closer at your assumptions.

The good news is that with PTC Mathcad, those are easy to check too.  Using the calculation software, authors can create calculations, along with notes and other documentation, that look like they come from math textbooks. So it’s not only easy for you to see how you arrived at the values you entered, anybody else can too.

We Did the Work for You

Best of all, you don’t necessarily have to create these equations on your own. You can download hundreds of industry-specific worksheets, including examples for mechanical engineering, civil engineering, chemical engineering, electrical engineering, and oil and gas.

The predefined worksheets include the calculations you’ll need for most common tasks. They can be modified and saved as your own templates too, so you can easily reuse them.

Math Matters

When you’re ready to analyze your work, remember that the values you provide the system matters just as much as the CAE and FEA methods that evaluate your model. With PTC Mathcad, you can accurately calculate and document all the work that goes into your simulations, ensuring your results are well considered and reliable.

Not using PTC Mathcad yet? You can Download PTC Mathcad Express free! With PTC Mathcad Express, you can use the full functionality of the software for 30 days, after which you continue to use of some of the most popular capabilities found in the commercial version of PTC Mathcad Prime 4.0 indefinitely. Learn more and download your copy today.