EASi-SEAL VERSION 2.0 PROVIDES ACCURATE UNDERSTANDING OF CRITICAL ISSUES
INVOLVED IN SEAL DESIGN.

EASi Engineering, Inc. has announced a new version of its
personal-computer-based software package called EASi-SEAL that can greatly
simplify the process of optimizing the design of automotive body seals.
Version 2.0 of EASi-SEAL provides significantly expanded material
capability that allows the user to model single, dual and multi-durometer
seals. The new version of the software also handles a variety of bulb and
lip seals applications like primary and secondary seals, belt-line seals,
seal carriers, glass run, etc.

With EASi-SEAL, the engineer enters the geometry of the seal and the
surrounding sheet metal. The program performs a nonlinear finite element
analysis and provides all the information needed to determine the seal
performance, like CLD (Compression Load Deflection) curves, seal
deformation, stresses and contact pressure distribution. The initial
design can be modified to analyze a new iteration with very little effort.
This
allows a variety of "what if" studies and provides a better understanding
of the seal performance.

EASi-SEAL offers the ability to streamline what has been up to now a
difficult and uncertain design task. The major considerations in seal
design are providing proper sealing while avoiding the need for excessive
closure force. Preventing leakage and reducing wind noise directly
conflicts with the requirement of minimizing door closing effort. Managing
this tradeoff has been difficult up to now because breadboards do not
provide all the necessary information, and detailed analysis requires
excessive time and effort. Expensive changes are often required at the
prototype stage when physical testing reveals problems with the initial
design. At this point, time and cost considerations generally make it
difficult to optimize the design.

EASi-SEAL overcomes these problems by placing all of the tools required to
accurately analyze seals on the desk of any engineer with a personal
computer. The engineer first defines the geometry of the seal and
surrounding sheet metal through an IGES interface with other CAD systems,
or through the program's own drawing tools. Then comes the input of
material data in the form of a stress-strain curve, which is stored in a
database for easy retrieval at a later time. EASi-SEAL has extensive error
checking to validate user input. Next, the program automatically meshes
the seal section, extrudes the geometry into solids, applies boundary
conditions and material properties and performs a finite element analysis
which takes both the material and geometric nonlinearities of the problem
into account. This analysis, which runs without user intervention, takes
2-4 hours on a 486 personal computer. Various runs can be queued in the
software queuing system which can solve multiple iterations overnight.

The program output provides all of the information required by the engineer
including animation of seal cross-section while deforming, CLD
(load/deflection) curves, stress/strain contours and pressure
distributions. The stepwise animation of the seal cross-section provides
an intuitive understanding of the seal performance, which often aids in
improving the design through subsequent iterations. The CLD curve can be
shown on the same screen with the curve used to control the portion of the
animation that is viewed. The stress/strain contours indicate the
hot-spots, and the pressure profiles give an insight into leakage and wind
noise prevention. All in all, the depth and accuracy of the analysis goes
far beyond the scope of breadboards at a cost well under that associated
either with detailed FEA or physical testing.

Founded in 1981, EASi Engineering has a staff of over 100 professionals and
is one of the largest suppliers of computer-aided engineering services to
the automobile industry. EASi's capabilities include structural crash
simulation, occupant simulation, biomechanics, linear and nonlinear finite
element analysis, optimization, kinematics and dynamic analysis.
Additional capabilities include analysis of noise, vibration and
harshness, and alternate materials evaluation including structural
plastics and composites. The company also offers EASi-BUMPER software
which allows the material and geometry of automotive bumpers to be
analyzed and optimized in the concept phase on a personal computer without
building a prototype.

EASi Engineering Inc
691 N. Squirrel Rd, Ste 11
Auburn Hills, MI 48057
313-377-4200,  fax 313-377-2342

 ============================================================
 From the  'New Product Information'  Electronic News Service
 ============================================================
 This information was processed from data provided by the
 above mentioned company. For additional details, contact 
 the company at the address or telephone number indicated.
 OmniPage Pro is now used for converting all printed input! 
 ============================================================
 All submissions for this service should be addressed to:
 BAKER ENTERPRISES,  20 Ferro Dr,  Sewell, NJ  08080  U.S.A.
 Email: RBakerPC (AOL/Delphi), rbakerpc@delphi.com (Internet)
 ============================================================
