ESI Group launches PAM-VA One for vibro-acoustic analysis

InterNoise 2005, Rio de Janeiro, 8 August 2005 – ESI Group (ISIN FR0004110310) officially launched PAM-VA One at InterNoise 2005, the international trade fair for noise control engineering, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. PAM-VA One is the world’s first fully integrated environment for simulating the response of vibro-acoustic systems across the entire frequency spectrum.

This major product launch represents ESI Group’s latest innovative solution for vibro-acoustic simulation, analysis and design. PAM VA One has been described by industry professionals as the most important breakthrough in vibro-acoustics in the past 20 years. PAM-VA One incorporates Finite Element Analysis (FEA) and Statistical Energy Analysis (SEA) within one easy-to-use modelling environment. In addition, the software implements a state-of-the-art method for creating and solving fully coupled FEA/SEA models. This major theoretical breakthrough significantly extends the types of vibro-acoustic problems that can now be addressed with simulation. Since 2004, leading OEMs in the automotive, aerospace and rail industries have participated in ESI Group’s Structure-Borne Noise Consortium and contributed to the development and validation of PAM-VA One.

PAM-VA One offers a comprehensive range of internal solvers to meet analysis needs. The software also includes interfaces to external solvers so as to ensure compatibility with existing vibro-acoustic analysis and design processes. The flexibility of PAM-VA One lets the user choose the optimal simulation strategy based on cost, time and computational resources. The software also includes powerful model management tools for the quick and easy creation of models from existing CAD and FEA data. PAM-VA One has an extensive library of add-on modules to ensure that the software can be easily integrated into existing CAE and design processes.

"This software is the result of a long-term research and development effort by ESI Group and we’re proud to announce its release. We’ve worked closely with our key customers and research partners to ensure that the software is validated and meets the needs of our worldwide user-base," says Dr Phil Shorter, Lead Acoustic Scientist, ESI Group.

"The theory underpinning the FEA/SEA coupling part of PAM-VA One is the most important breakthrough in vibro-acoustics in the past 20 years," says Professor Ken Heron FREng, QinetiQ Senior Fellow. "This is a vital step towards predicting structure-borne noise at mid and high frequencies."
PAM-VA One, the simulation environment for full frequency vibro-acoustic analysis, will be available for its first customer shipment in October 2005.

About ESI Group’s vibro-acoustic solutions

Virtual prototyping solutions reduce reliance on costly and time-consuming physical testing, speed up the product development process and optimise the use of noise and vibration control materials. ESI Group’s vibro-acoustic software portfolio now includes PAM-VA One (the first fully integrated software environment for full-frequency spectrum vibro-acoustic analysis); RAYON (low-frequency software for the characterisation of complex noise sources and the prediction of the low-frequency vibro-acoustic performance of fully trimmed structures); AutoSEA2 (the industry standard for high-frequency noise and vibration analysis); Nova (a software package dedicated to the design of multi-layered acoustic components software); and Foam-X (a data acquisition and post-processing software for identifying the acoustic properties of poro-elastic materials from impedance tube measurements).

About ESI Group

ESI Group is a pioneer and world-leading supplier of digital simulation software for prototyping and manufacturing processes that take into account the physics of materials. ESI Group has developed an entire suite of coherent, industry-oriented applications to simulate a product’s behaviour realistically during testing, to fine-tune the manufacturing processes in accordance with the desired product performance, and to evaluate the environment’s impact on product usage.

ESI Group’s products, which have a proven track record in manufacturing and have been combined in multi-trade value chains, represent a unique collaborative, virtual engineering solution, known as the Virtual Try-Out Space (VTOS), enabling virtual prototypes to be improved in a continuous manner. By drastically reducing costs and development lead times, VTOS solutions offer major competitive advantages and make it possible to eliminate gradually the need for physical prototypes. This integrated protocol allows all the company’s solutions to work with each other and with applications developed by independent software vendors. By significantly reducing costs and development lead times and enabling product/process synergies, VTOS solutions progressively eliminate the need for physical prototypes during product development, thus offering major competitive advantages.

ESI Group is listed on the Eurolist compartment C of Euronext Paris, and generated sales of €60m in 2004. The company employs almost 500 high-level specialists worldwide, and covers more than 30 countries.

Virtual Try-Out Space® and VTOS® are registered trademarks of ESI Group. All other products, names and companies mentioned in this press release are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.
For further information, please go to: www.esi-group.com