SIMTEQ Newsletter 2025-Q4

Introduction
Events
Product of the month
News
New releases
Training

Yes, it is that time of the year again! As we close out 2025, let's reflect on this past year's activities while also looking ahead to next year with renewed focus and energy. We thank you for your support throughout this year.

This year's highlight for us was, of course, the desktop wind tunnel that we launched, and we are proud that we sold the first units to WITS already, as you may have seen in our social media posts. With them, we are very excited about the opportunities this will offer them to bring practical flow experiments and teaching right into the classroom. 

You also may have heard about it in the press that Hexagon Design and Engineering (MSC Software) was sold by Hexagon to Cadence, a big name in the electronics industry. We share some thoughts and insight on this development.

The rest of the year was very busy, with more than 50 new releases and product updates in our portfolio and more capabilities added to each than we can mention here. Please check every newsletter for a selection of what was released during the year.

Nexus Compute was also extended to now include pre- and post-processing for all the major product user interfaces. Nexus credits can therefore now cover all your analysis needs from pre- to post- and everything in between for a fraction of the hardware costs that it would take to have the same solving speed and capacity (and the software costs are included!).

I wish we could share everything that we are planning for 2026; however, rest assured it won't be business as usual, and you can look forward to what we will be sharing next.

With the advent of AI making a huge impact in every aspect of our lives, we realise that (ironically), training will become ever more important for engineers to have the right foundation to build on and spot errors faster than AI can produce them. You can therefore look forward to new initiatives that we will be sharing soon.

I can't believe that it is time already for me to say this, but Merry Christmas, and may you have a fantastic break and come back next year with renewed energy and many new ideas!

Best Regards

Managing Director

SIMTEQ at TCC25

Strengthening our network from the past into the future

SIMTEQ recently participated in the TANDM Community Connect (TCC25), engaging with industry and academic leaders and building technical discussions on both the simulation and measurement disciplines. At the conferences, we showcased our VTX-200 Educational Wind Tunnel, which sparked strong interest in hands-on aerodynamic learning. The TCC25 further strengthened conversations around research, collaboration, and future engineering needs. Thank you to everyone who connected with us and contributed to the meaningful discussions.

SIMTEQ Users’ Conference 2026

We’re inviting you to next year’s SIMTEQ Users’ Conference—a gathering for engineers, simulation users, and industry professionals who are passionate about simulation technology and engineering analysis. Whether you’re new to simulation or an experienced analyst, the Users’ Conference is designed to inspire, educate, and strengthen our community of engineering.

Next year’s event will be 17 June! We look forward to welcoming you!

Read More...

Everything 3D Printing and rapid prototyping at RAPDASA 2025

Continuing our commitment to education, 3D printing, and rapid prototyping, SIMTEQ Engineering was once again an exhibitor at the event for the 8th consecutive year, held at the CSIR.

Keep a lookout for keynote presentations from our team, as well as representatives from MSC Software.

Read More...

CAEfatigue

CAEfatigue is a powerful FE-based tool used to conduct durability analyses and it is an industry leader in the frequency domain.
Although CAEfatigue has a comprehensive set of tools to conduct durability analyses in the frequency domain, it also has all the tools to do the same in the time domain but much faster than its competitors.
CAEfatigue can do all the normal S-N, ε-N, spot weld and seam weld durability analyses, the different types of analyses can even be combined into a single analysis if the user requires it.

This however is just the tip of the iceberg in terms of the capabilities that CAEfatigue has to offer and some of the more advanced capabilities are:

  • Time to PSD
  • Random response and collision detection
  • Loads cascading
  • Test design and simplification
  • Surrogate loading
  • Loads tunning
  • Service loads derivation

One of the more recent additions to CAEfatigue that is not mentioned above is Robust Design.

Robust Design: 

This new technology allows the user to re-run multiple MSC Nastran jobs consecutively while changing the input parameters for each run, the outputs from these runs are used to create a correlation map of input parameters vs. outputs. This shows what effect each of the inputs has on the outputs.

This allows the user to make better design decisions based on a holistic view of how the model reacts under all inputs.

Other interesting additions that are also noteworthy:

Automatic Generation of Load Scenario using Time Histories: 

Various loading scenarios can be created automatically for a time-domain analysis, instead of having to create the loading scenarios manually.  This automation will prevent errors from occurring and will speed up the analysis setup. 

Multiaxial Stress Assement for Time Histories: 

If the user is unsure which analysis method to use in CAEfatigue because the loading is proportional or disproportional, the new multiaxial assessment capability will allow the user to check the level of multiaxiality in the stress output. Based on the level of multiaxiality the user can decide if standard analysis methods or a more accurate critical plane approach should be used.

Composite Material Outputs from Nastran are Supported:

CAEfatigue can now import the stresses from a Nastran composite material analysis (using PCOMP or PCOMPG entries). This expands the interoperability of CAEfatigue with MSC Nastran output results.

Proud Moment for SIMTEQ Engineering!

We’re excited to share that WITS University is receiving their very own VTX-200 Educational Wind Tunnel, fully designed and built by SIMTEQ Engineering. This marks another step forward in advancing hands-on aerodynamics education in South Africa.

The VTX-200 gives students the opportunity to see, test, and measure real aerodynamic principles—bridging the gap between theory and practical understanding. At SIMTEQ, we are proud to support institutions shaping the next generation of engineers and to provide technology that brings real-world learning into the classroom.

Dytran 2025.2

Don’t miss the newest version of Dytran, now available in the Software Download Center.

Hexagon is pleased to announce the release of Dytran 2025.2. In this release, a new strain-based composite failure model, usability enhancements around simulation outputs and performance improvements when dealing with rigid bodies contact have been implemented.

 

What you can look forward to in Dytran 2025.2

Usability Enhancements for Output Requests

  • Time history output (e.g. acceleration) can now be requested in user-defined (non-global) coordinate systems, offering greater flexibility for your analyses.
  • Center of gravity calculation is now available for Eulerian elements in fluid-structure interaction simulations, providing more comprehensive output data.

New Strain-Based Composite Failure Model

  • A new composite failure model has been introduced, complementing the existing stress-based models.
  • This model introduces strain-based damage initiation, along with layer-wise damage tracking and element deletion, enabling more accurate simulation of composite behaviour, such as in bird strike analysis.

Rigid body contact improvements

  • Memory management is optimized and surface calculations are enhanced for rigid bodies, resulting in more efficient simulations.
  • Scalability is improved through refined domain decomposition techniques, enabling better performance in parallel processing environments.

Click Here to learn about What’s New in Dytran 2025.2.

For support options, please visit our Customer Support site on SimCompanion.

For problems with your login to the SDC, use our Password Finder.

Click Here to update your email communication preferences.

Actran 2025.2

Actran 2025.2 is now available for download! Don’t miss the new acoustic solution, Actran Radiosity, enhancements to our ePowertrain noise workflow, enhanced excitation capabilities in the acoustic indicators tool, and many more new features.

Release highlight:

  • Tackle large space and high-frequency noise challenges using the new integrated radiosity solver.

Enhancements:

  • Spend less time modelling ePowertrain noise with this simple, streamlined workflow manager. Quickly compute the effectiveness of acoustic cover treatments or use equivalent sources for analysis with the enhanced workflow.

That’s not all. We’ve also enhanced the acoustic indicator tool and the SEA manager. For a full breakdown of what’s included in the release, please refer to SimCompanion.

How to get it:

Download Actran 2025.2 from the Software Download Center.

Resources:

We appreciate your continued partnership and feedback, which help us improve and evolve our products. If you have any questions or need assistance, our support team is here to help.

For support options, please visit our Customer Support site on SimCompanion.

For problems with your login to the SDC, use our Password Finder.

Click Here to update your email communication preferences.

 

Marc 2025.2

Hexagon is proud to announce the release of Marc 2025.2, with highlights like unit-aware post-processing, improved control over RBEs, and more.

Marc 2025.2 Highlights:

  • Interpret results accurately: Mentat displays units consistently during post-processing, whether you're viewing model plots, history plots, or path plots. 
  • Take more control over RBEs: Easily show or hide, quickly identify, and select RBE2s and RBE3s. They are also visible during postprocessing. 
  • Do more with the user material subroutine: The UMATERIAL subroutine now supports shells, beams, anisotropy, and tables. Reuse Abaqus UMAT subroutines with minimal or no changes to streamline workflows.  
  • Take advantage of enhanced contact modelling: The hybrid node-to-segment contact method now enables user-defined separation behaviour, and glued contact with load-controlled rigid bodies results are more accurate. 

For a full breakdown of what’s included in the release, please refer to SimCompanion

How to get it:

Download Marc 2025.2 from the Software Download Center.

Resources:

We appreciate your continued partnership and feedback, which help us improve and evolve our products. If you have any questions or need assistance, our support team is here to help.

For support options, please visit our Customer Support site on SimCompanion.

For problems with your login to the SDC, use our Password Finder.

Click Here to update your email communication preferences

MSC Nastran 2025.2

Don’t miss this exciting new update to MSC Nastran! In this version, you’ll find groundbreaking features that simplify workflows, accelerate performance, and deliver greater accuracy for your most demanding simulations.

Key highlights:

  • Supersonic aerodynamics made simple: Perform aeroelastic and flutter analyses entirely within MSC Nastran using the new Mach1+ supersonic panel method – no external tools required.
  • Streamlined contact analysis: Capture essential nonlinear contact behaviour with linear gap modelling for compressive-only contact to reduce complexity and cost.
  • Faster nonlinear transient analysis: Run advanced nonlinear transient simulations with the high-performance nonlinear solver for superior speed and scalability.
  • Seamless co-simulation: Integrate Adams and MSC Nastran for co-simulation workflows using the modern nonlinear solver for improved efficiency.

Enhancements:

  • Solver performance: The integration of the MUMPS solver into frequency and transient response analyses delivers significant performance gains, supporting larger models. 
  • Enhanced outputs for nonlinear analysis: Gain deeper insights with global energy balance summaries, advanced contact outputs, and detailed element formulations used for your nonlinear analyses.

That’s not all. We’ve made many more enhancements to MSC Nastran. For a full breakdown of what’s included in the release, please refer to SimCompanion.

How to get it:

Download MSC Nastran 2025.2 from the Software Download Center.

Resources:

We appreciate your continued partnership and feedback, which help us improve and evolve our products. If you have any questions or need assistance, our support team is here to help.

 

For support options, please visit our Customer Support site on SimCompanion.

For problems with your login to the SDC, use our Password Finder.

Click Here to update your email communication preferences.

SIMTEQ Engineering Webinar
Contact and Everything That you Need to Know About it
7 October 2022
11:30 - 12:30

Contact and Everything
That you Need to Know About it

Registration
Training

ADM701 - Complete Multibody Dynamics Analysis with Adams

Software Package: MSC Apex & MSC Nastran

Price: R  21 300.00/p excl VAT

Date: 19 - 23 January, 2026

Duration: 5 Days

CPD Accredited: 5 Points

More Information
Registration

FEA101 - Finite Element Analysis Fundamentals

Software Package: MSC Apex & MSC Nastran

Price: R  21 300.00/p excl VAT

Date: 09 - 13 February, 2026

Duration: 5 Days

CPD Accredited: 5 Points

More Information
Registration

STU701 - Structural Mechanics

Software Package: Structural Mechanics

Price: R  8 500.00/p excl VAT

Date: 24 & 25 February, 2026

Duration: 2 Days

CPD Accredited: 2 Points

More Information
Registration

CAEFatigue—Theory and Practical
Fatigue Analysis using CAEFatigue

Software Package: CAEfatigue

Price: R  12 159.00/p excl VAT

Date: 17 - 19 November, 2025

Duration: 3 Days

CPD Accredited: No

More Information
Registration
DfAM Course

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