SonoAnalyzer new release - Beta 0.22

<Update 09 Oct 2009>
I'm still getting enquiries about this long after the beta trial has finished. Please note that this trial software is no longer available for download and no more beta versions will be released. I'm still working on the production version and aiming to release it soon.
<End update>

First, my apologies to all beta testers, and anyone else waiting for the SonoAnalyzer ultrasonic calculator software. Frankly, it was much, much more difficult than I anticipated to create a usable database out of thousands of finite element results, and so it has taken much longer than expected to bring the program to this stage.

The good news is, it's finally done! At present only for the stepped sonotrode model but this will also provide the basis for many and varied other shapes to follow. I'm uploading the distribution files now and I'll make it available to the registered beta testers as soon as the files are in place.

[b]Like the earlier beta releases, this one (0.22) is only available on limited release to beta testers who have already registered. Registration for the beta test program is now closed, but I hope to release a production version in the near future. (My concern here is to avoid charging money for software that I believe doesn't yet meet acceptable commercial standards, but at the same time limit the release of the free previews.) Thanks for your understanding.[/b]

Developments in this release:
[list]
[*][b]Multiple modes[/b]: Most importantly, the database that comes with the new release contains information about several of the most common "alternative" modes of vibration as well as the desired axial mode. Not [i]all[/i] other modes are included, just the second axial mode and some bending modes, but these should cover most of the unwanted modes likely to be found in the wild. I will be aiming to develop the selection process further and include more modes in future releases.
[*]Convenient unit conversion: Input parameters and results are shown complete with a drop-down box allowing the user to select from a range of units. Each unit can be chosen individually or a complete set of consistent units can be selected together using the Options - Dimensions menu item. Currently available are SI, metric and imperial.
[*]Additional material property data: When a material is chosen from the list, its properties are shown in the space below the list - Young's Modulus, density, Poisson's ratio, along with the longitudinal and radial sound velocities calculated from this data.
[*]User-defined materials: Two new materials are provided as containers where users can define their own material properties for the analysis.
[/list]

Limitations:
[list]
[*]In this release the analysis is still limited to stepped sonotrodes / boosters only. In future I will be releasing new databases to handle other shapes from the same program.
[*]Stresses are not yet included
[*]The size of the distribution files (and the installed application) is now relatively large - about 650 MB. Unless you have a very fast connection you can expect it to take a while to download. Unpacking for installation will also take several minutes, and of course you'll need at least 1.5GB or so of free disk space to be able to install it.
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The size of the installation, as you might expect, is caused by the new database which now contains the results of 51000 separate finite element analysis runs! I've worked quite hard to store the data as efficiently as possible in order to reduce the storage requirement but there's still work to be done there.

Another development due for the next release is to allow the calculator to get its data from a remote hosted database, so eliminating the download altogether.Commercially my aim here is to offer two different pricing models, so users will have the option to buy a number of analysis credits to use with a remote database, or buy a complete database and download it for unlimited use locally.

I'll be contacting the beta testers shortly for their opinions on this and my priorities for program development, in particular:
[list]
[*]What materials should be included as standard?
[*]Which shape should be next?
[/list]

If you have strong views on this please feel free to reply to the newsletter mail-out or add a comment to this article on the web site.

Thanks
Chris