Overview:
In nTop 5.11, we will promote the Field Optimization block and all the related Parametric FE Component blocks—Parametric Lattice Component, Parametric Voronoi Component, Parametric Shell Component, Parametric Shell-Infill Component, and Parametric FE Model—out of beta and into production. This will directly affect the results generated by the Field Optimization block and indirectly affect downstream blocks that use the Field Optimization results.
The previous beta versions of these blocks will be deprecated and no longer be available.
Notebooks with older beta blocks can still be opened and viewed in nTop 5.11. Your previous results will be cached and available; however, the cached Field Optimization results may exhibit minor differences in the geometry when opened in 5.11. As such, we recommend updating the Parametric FE Component blocks and re-running the Field Optimization blocks as soon as possible.
To update and re-run the blocks in 5.11, select the impacted blocks above and click the “Update” button that can be accessed by clicking the warning icon. Updating the blocks will automatically trigger them to re-run and produce new results. The previously cached results will be overwritten.
Table of Contents:
1.0 Why is this change happening?
2.0 Impacted Blocks
3.0 Example Differences
4.0 How does this affect you?
5.0 Recommended Actions
6.0 Effective Release
1.0 Why is this change happening?
We are promoting all the Field Optimization and related blocks out of beta. We have also improved the smoothing algorithms to produce better results.
2.0 Impacted Blocks
| Block Name | Function | Production Version | Impact |
|---|---|---|---|
| Field Optimization | Perform a field optimization on a Parametric FE Model. | v1.1.0 | Minor (<5%) results in the Optimization History differences caused by the changes in Parametric Component blocks listed below. |
| Parametric FE Model | Combine a list of Parametric FE Components and corresponding FE Connectors into a Parametric FE Model. | v1.0.0 | Minor differences are caused by the changes in the Parametric Component blocks listed below. |
| Parametric Voronoi Component | Create a Parametric FE Component for a Voronoi lattice with the following design parameters: cell size and beam thickness. | v1.1.0 | Minor output difference in the Implicit Body. |
| Parametric Shell Component | Create a Parametric FE Component for a variable shell structure with the following design parameters: shell thickness (inward direction). | v1.0.0 | There is no result difference. We are promoting the block from beta to production. |
| Parametric Shell-Infill Component | Create a Parametric FE Component for a variable shell structure with a periodic lattice infill with the following design parameters: shell thickness (inward direction), lattice thickness. | v1.1.0 | Minor output difference in the Implicit Body. |
| Parametric Lattice Component | Create a Parametric FE Component for a periodic lattice with the following design parameters: lattice thickness. | v1.1.0 | Minor output difference in the Implicit Body. |
3.0 Example Differences
| nTop 5.10 | nTop 5.11 | |
|---|---|---|
|
Parametric Voronoi Component and subsequent Field Optimization |
|
|
| Parametric Shell-Infill Component |
4.0 How does this affect you?
- The Field Optimization implementation from 5.10 and prior will not be available in nTop 5.11 and later. If you have an existing notebook with older block versions, you cannot re-run them until you update the block version.
- When opening files saved in nTop 5.10 and prior in 5.11 (or later), you can visualize, interact with, and use the Field Optimization results downstream. You will be prompted to update the block to the latest version. If you choose to update the block, your previous results will be erased, and the new output will be generated. This will also restore your ability to re-run the block.
- This will result in faster load times and runtimes for nTop files with Field Optimization.
- This update will have minor differences in the optimization objective and convergence.
- *Note that results will not be cached in nTop Automate.*
5.0 Recommended Actions
Here are a few scenarios and the recommended actions to follow when using the Field Optimization block after this update:
- Accessing results from an existing notebook: No action necessary. You can open a notebook created in a version before the update and access your results. You will notice warning messages in the blocks that require an update. You can ignore these messages if you do not intend to re-run them and generate new results. However, there will be differences in the implicit geometry even without re-running.
- Modifying or reusing a notebook: You must select the “Update” button for each block in the block’s warning panel. We do not auto-update your blocks in notebooks created with older versions. This will update it to the latest version and trigger the block to run. Previous results will be erased, and the new output will be generated. We recommend saving a copy of the notebook with a different name before performing the update to preserve your old results.
- Composing a new notebook: No action necessary. All the updated blocks will be available by default as you add them to your notebook from the ribbon or the search bar.
- If you need to generate the exact same results, do not upgrade to 5.11. If you have already upgraded, contact support@ntop.com to revert to nTop 5.10.
6.0. Effective Release
These changes will be effective in nTop 5.11, which is expected to be released the week of November 25th.