Introduction

Autodesk Nastran is a powerful, general purpose Finite Element Analysis (FEA) tool that is integrated into several Autodesk simulation products. It is used to analyze linear and nonlinear stress, dynamics, and heat transfer characteristics of structures and mechanical components.

In addition to analyzing conventional engineering materials, Nastran is equipped to simulate the latest advanced materials, including composites, plastic, nonlinear elastic, shape memory, hyperelastic, viscoelastic, and brittle materials such as concrete.

Nastran uses the latest in solver technology providing fast results for the largest and most complex FEA models. Five linear solvers (PCGLSS, PSS, PIS, VSS, and VIS) and three eigensolvers (LANCZOS, FEAST and SUBSPACE) are included. The PCGLSS (Preconditioned Conjugate Gradient Linear System Solver) is an advanced iterative solver used in leading FEA products. The VSS (Vector Sparse Solver) and VIS (Vector Iterative Solver) are based on NASA developed technology and have been enhanced to provide better performance and accuracy. The PSS (Parallel Sparse Solver) is an extremely fast parallel direct solver designed for 64-bit operating systems where large amounts of memory can be directly accessed. The PIS (Parallel Iterative Solver) is an extremely fast parallel iterative solver. The FEAST eigensolver uses a numerically efficient contour integration scheme to obtain eigenpair solutions.

Nastran is available on 64-bit Windows and Linux operating systems. The Installation Supplement publication gives you information on how to install the software on your computer.