Marc 2018 Doc Release

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Marc and Mentat 2018.0
Release Guide
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Contents
Marc and Mentat 2018 Release Guide
Contents
Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
General GUI Improvements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Contact Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
STL-Based Geometric Bodies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Load-Controlled Meshed Bodies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Improved Contact Table Generation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Material Behavior . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Ogden-Roxburgh Damage Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Material Data Fitting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Gasket Material . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Multi-Physics Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Harmonic/Thermal Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Symmetry Conditions and Phase Transformations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Ease-of-Use. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Convergence Testing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Bolts and Springs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Crack Propagation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Enhanced Selection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Performance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Multi-threading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Mentat Performance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Interoperability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Embedded Documentation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
List of Known Defects in the 2018 Release . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Marc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Mentat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
List of Defects Corrected in the 2018 Release . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

Marc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Mentat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
5 Contents
List of Build and Supported Platforms - Marc 2018 Release . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

Marc Platforms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Mentat Platforms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Mentat Graphics Card Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Peripheral Devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Security Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Marc and Mentat Release Guide 2018 6
Overview
Overview
The Marc 2018 release contains enhancements in contact options, material models, multi-physics analysis capabilities,
ease-of-use, performance, improved interoperability and embedded documentation. Defect corrections associated with
the previous release have also been included. The Marc 2018 release uses the same compilers as the previous 2017.1
release (see List of Build and Supported Platforms - Marc 2018 Release for more details). Likewise, Marc 2018 requires
the FlexLM 11.13 version.
General GUI Improvements

In this section, a number of important differences between Mentat 2018 and previous Mentat versions is discussed.
When starting Mentat 2018, it will be noticed that - in contrast to previous releases - by default nodes, points and solid
vertices are not displayed, while elements, solids and model sections are displayed in solid mode. Moreover, a new
color map (number 9) and a new contour map (number 10) have been introduced and are used by default. The new
contour map is more in line with other MSC products; for example, it has the maximum value displayed in red. For
post processing, the differences between the default settings in the versions 2017.1 and 2018 are shown in Figure 1.
The default color map (number 2) and contour map (number 1) used in older versions are still available, so users have
the option to go back to the old color settings.
Figure 1 Mentat default settings: 2017.1 (upper), 2018 (lower)
To facilitate working without nodes being displayed, Mentat 2018 allows graphical picking of nodes (e.g. to select
nodes or to apply a boundary condition) or their coordinates (e.g. to calculate a distance) when nodes are not displayed.
This functionality is not available for free nodes. In other words, nodes must be part of an element, a spring, a tying, a
servo link, an RBE2, an RBE3 or an RROD. In addition, Mentat 2018 allows graphical picking of solid vertices when
solid vertices are not displayed.
7 Marc and Mentat Release Guide 2018
If nodes, points and vertices are displayed, it will be noticed that - in contrast to previous releases - they have slightly
different symbols when highlighted or selected. This makes it easier for the user to distinguish between selected and
non-selected entities. A basic example of selected and highlighted nodes is given in Figure 2.
Highlighted Nodes
Selected Nodes
Figure 2 Display of Highlighted and Selected Nodes
In previous Mentat versions, attached entities were by default displayed using different symbols (attached nodes), and
different colors (attached edges or faces). In Mentat 2018, the use of designated colors and symbols for the display of
attached entities is off by default and can be switched on by the user (Plot Control  Use Attach Colors And Symbols).
In Mentat 2016, various toolbar icons were introduced to enable quick access to some commonly used commands (e.g.
to control which entities of the model are being displayed, and how they are being displayed). Though the use of these
icons reduces the number of mouse clicks, a drawback was that they could interrupt a running command, forcing the
user to restart it. As an example, if point display was off and one clicked the button to select points and next on the
icon to display points, then the select points button had to be clicked again. In Mentat 2018, these toolbar icons have
been associated with new commands, which don’t interrupt other commands.
In Mentat 2018, three new toolbar icons have been added. The first two appear in the toolbar Move Model in View
Space, which by default is shown just above the graphics area . They are meant to easily position the model in the view
space (see Figure 3). By default, when a model is rotated in the view space, this is done around the so-called LookAt
point (which is always displayed at the center of the graphics window). In particular when working with large 3-D
models, it could be difficult to properly rotate the model when making local changes or interpreting results. These new
icons make it easier to work with such models. Clicking the left icon activates the use of a model location as the center
Toggle the use of a model location as center for rotating/scaling the model in view space
Set a model location as center for rotating/scaling the model in view space
Figure 3 New icons to move the model in the view space

Activate the use of

a model location
Select node as
rotation/scale
center
The model is rotated

about this center
Figure 4 New icons to move the model in the view space
for rotating/scaling the model in the view space. Clicking the right icon enables the user to provide a location in the
model, which then will be used as the center for rotating or scaling the model in the view space. Note that here the user
can also click on a node or a vertex, even if it is not displayed. An example of this new option is given in Figure 4. The
top image shows which node is selected as the center of rotation in the view space, and the bottom image shows that
in the mode chosen, the rotation takes place around the selected center. If one translates the model in the view space,
this center moves together with the model.
The third icon added is for toggling the expanded display mode of 3-D beam and shell elements (see Figure 5). It is
located in the toolbar Plot Style, which by default is shown on the right hand side of the graphics area.
Toggle the display of beam and shell elements in expanded mode
Figure 5 New icon to toggle the display of 3-D beam and shell element in expanded mode
In Mentat 2018, the menus show a mixture of text in the regular font and in italics.The latter is used for non-editable
fields and is introduced to prevent users from trying to change them. Only the fields shown in regular text are user-
controllable. See Figure 6 for an example. Note that if the user selects an italic menu font, then the logic is reversed,
i.e. the non-editable fields are displayed in a regular font.
Non-editable field Editable field
Figure 6 Use of italics to indicate non-editable fields
In order to make it easier to select results file quantities for a job, a filter (similar to the one used for the independent
variable types for a table) has been added. By using this filter, the number of quantities to select from can be
significantly reduced. In Figure 7, the filter “thickness” has been applied to the list of available element scalars (Jobs
 Properties  Job Results). Note that the filter is case insensitive.
Figure 7 Filter to simplify the selection of results file quantities
For many years, the list of nodal quantities to appear on the results file was either default (depending on the analysis
class), or custom (user-defined). If one wanted to add some extra nodal quantities to the list of default quantities, the
entire list of nodal quantities had to be entered manually, including the list of default variables. In the 2018 release, a
third option is available: default & custom: all default nodal quantities will appear on the results file, plus the nodal
quantities selected by the user. The Mentat menu (Jobs  Properties  Job Results) is shown in Figure 8. Here the
External Pressure is added to the list of default nodal quantities in a structural analysis.
Figure 8 Add user-defined nodal quantities to the default list

Contact Options
Finally, when defining the load magnitude of a thermal face flux or a thermal edge flux, users sometimes prefer to
supply the power (heat flow rate), instead of the heat flux. In Mentat 2018, this option is available and the user can
switch between flux and power input. If the power is entered, the corresponding flux value is automatically derived
using the area of the associated element edges or faces.
Contact Options
STL-Based Geometric Bodies

If the description of a Geometric Body is based on faceted (STL) surfaces, then Marc 2018 offers the possibility to use
this geometry directly in a contact analysis. Where in previous releases a conversion into discrete NURBS surfaces
was required for each triangle in the STL description, now each surface can be imported as a single faceted surface
and as such it can directly be assigned to a Geometric Body. The use of a faceted surface as a Geometric Body further
enables the user to activate the Smoothed Boundary Description, which causes Marc to internally use a Coons-based
surface description, similar to what is already available for Meshed Bodies. If smoothing is active, then there is C1-
continuity between adjacent triangular facets, except at hard edges. These hard edges can be user-defined or
automatically determined by Marc.
If a Geometric Body is given by its Parasolid representation, then the faces of the Parasolid body can be converted
automatically to (trimmed) NURBS surfaces. In rare cases, the NURBS surfaces on adjacent faces of the Parasolid
body do not match exactly at the common edge (i.e. there are small gaps or overlaps between the surfaces). This may
cause problems if, for example, a node slides from one surface to the next. The faceted representation does not have
this problem, since the entire surface of the Parasolid body can be converted into a single connected faceted surface.
Various options are illustrated in the figures below. In Figure 9, an STL surface is shown. Upon importing the STL
surface, it is available in Mentat as a faceted surface, which can be used to define a Geometric Body for a contact
Figure 9 Geometric Body defined using a faceted surface

Contact Options
Figure 10 Converting a Parasolid sheet body into a faceted surface
analysis. The associated Mentat menus are also shown in Figure 9. The option to smooth the boundary description is
activated, and the edges between the cylindrical and spherical part of the surface are added to the list of discontinuity
edges. On the left hand side, the original STL surface is shown, while on the right hand side the smoothed
representation is given (this is by default written to the results file; if needed, one can add FEATURE,17600 to the input
file to get the non-smoothed representation on the results file).
If one has the Parasolid representation of a body, then the conversion into a faceted representation can be easily
performed using the Convert menu. In Figure 10, a Parasolid sheet body (left) is converted into a faceted surface (right).
Similarly, the faces of a solid body can be converted into faceted surfaces and a wire body can be converted into a
faceted curve. If such a faceted Geometric Body is used in a contact analysis, then the original Parasolid data is used
to define the hard edges or points if the smoothed boundary description with automatic hard edge or point detection is
active. Note that the control on the facet size is very similar to the control the user has when meshing solid, sheet or
wire bodies.
Figure 11 Example of a more complex faceted surface

Contact Options
Figure 11 shows a more complex Geometric Body using a faceted surface. It should be mentioned that for a fine
discretization the effect of a smoothed boundary on the final results is not so large, but, due to the more complex
geometry description, it may impact the overall analysis time spent in the contact algorithm.
Although less important for most applications, the equivalent 2-D implementation of the functionality discussed above
is also available: 2-D Geometric Bodies can be defined by faceted curves, and these faceted curves can be smoothed
by the contact algorithm.
Load-Controlled Meshed Bodies

In Marc 2018, Meshed Bodies can be used as Load-Controlled Bodies. This way, part of a finite element mesh can be
used as a rigid contact body, for which either the motion or the force can be prescribed.
Improved Contact Table Generation

The concept of a Contact Table, allowing the user to define interaction properties between pairs of contact bodies, has
been available in Marc and Mentat for a long time. In particular for assembly models with a large number of Meshed
Bodies, creating a Contact Table can be time consuming. In Mentat 2018, an automated procedure has been introduced
to populate and manipulate a contact table based on the proximity of Meshed Bodies.
As an example, a model from the User’s Guide is used; see Figure 12. In the Contact Table menu, there is a new option
now, called Populate/Manipulate. The corresponding menu, shown at the right hand side in Figure 12, enables the user
Figure 12 Automated Contact Table population

Material Behavior
to easily add or replace Contact Table entries. To this end, a Contact Distance is used, which can either be calculated
in an Automatic fashion, or defined by the User. Based on these settings, the search process can be started using the
Execute command. Three input methods are available to define which body pairs are to be included in this search
process: All Body Pairs, List Of Bodies or List Of Bodies A vs. List Of Bodies B. If the fist method (All Body Pairs) is
used, the list of contact body pairs consists of all contact body pairs in the model. If the second method (List Of Bodies)
is used, the list of contact body pairs consists of all combinations of the bodies in the list of bodies; this list has to be
entered upon starting the Execute command. If the third method is used (List Of Bodies A vs. List Of Bodies B), the list
of contact body pairs consists of all combinations of the bodies in the first list (A) with the bodies in the second list
(B); these lists have to be entered upon starting the Execute command. Optionally, self-contact may be skipped. If the
distance between a body pair is found to be within the contact distance, the corresponding entry in the Contact Table
is added or replaced, and a default Contact Interaction is assigned. The Contact Type for this Contact Interaction
(Touching or Glued) must be set prior to execution. Optionally, existing Contact Table entries may be removed if the
distance between the corresponding body pair is larger than the given contact distance. As mentioned above, this
method is supported only for Meshed Bodies, so Contact Table entries involving Geometric Bodies or Symmetry
Bodies can only be added or replaced using the tools that already existed in earlier Mentat versions.
Material Behavior
Ogden-Roxburgh Damage Model

Cyclic loading causes stress softening in many rubber materials. This phenomenon, often referred to as the Mullins
effect, is usually most prominent during the first couple of loading cycles. In Marc 2018, a discontinuous damage
model for such behavior has been introduced. It is called the Ogden-Roxburgh model. Compared to the existing Miehe
model for discontinuous damage in rubber materials, this Ogden-Roxburgh model generally has more flexibility in
Figure 13 Ogden-Roxburgh damage model: parameters, damage contour and stress-strain curve
Material Behavior
fitting experimental data. Moreover, from a mathematical point of view, this model uncouples the initial stress-strain
curve from the damage behavior, such that conventional material parameters obtained using a single stress-strain curve
are not affected by the damage model. An example of the new damage model is given in Figure 13.
Material Data Fitting

In previous Marc releases, a material data fitting engine has been introduced and the parameters of various material
models can be successfully derived from experimental data. In the Marc 2018 version, more capabilities are added in
the area of data fitting for time independent hyperelastic material models. It should be noted that there is some overlap
here with the existing data fitting capabilities for such materials. In Mentat, the new method is called Differential
Evolution, while the old method is called Least Squares / Downhill Simplex. The new method has several advantages,
amongst others:
• Data can be provided using ragged tables;
• Experimental data with and without volumetric data can be combined in a single fitting operation;
• The full generalized Mooney material is supported;
• The volumetric strain energy can be fitted using a single bulk modulus or using a series expansion;
• The biaxial and the confined cylinder test have been added.
The Ogden-Roxburgh model is also fully supported by the new material data fitting capability. An example of the new
data fitting method for the Generalized Mooney model is included in Figure 14.
Figure 14 Data fitting example using the Differential Evolution method: Generalized Mooney
Multi-Physics Analysis
Gasket Material
In Marc 2018, the gasket material model has been extended to support orthotropic material behavior, both for the
gasket transverse shear moduli and the in-plane behavior of a gasket. The corresponding Mentat menu is shown in
Figure 15. Note that isotropic and orthotropic behavior of the shear and membrane behavior can be combined.
Figure 15 Gasket material supporting orthotropic behavior
Harmonic/Thermal Analysis
The first important change in Marc 2018 in multi-physics simulations is related to coupled Thermal/Structural analyses
with visco-elastic materials. It is now possible to perform a Harmonic load case using a single excitation frequency,
calculate the associated viscous energy dissipation and apply this dissipated energy in a Thermal load case. This way,
one can easily calculate the temperature evolution of a visco-elastic rubber component, which is loaded harmonically
Figure 16 Harmonic and Thermal load cases in a coupled Thermal/Structural analysis

for a period of time. In Figure 16, the typical load cases for such an analysis are shown: pre-stress using a standard
Thermal/Structural load case, then apply the harmonic loading in a Harmonic load case and finally analyze the Thermal
load case. Note the Loads menu, where the Viscous Heat Generation can be included.
Symmetry Conditions and Phase Transformations

The second change is related to the use of symmetry in a coupled Magnetodynamic/Thermal/Structural analysis. An
important application can be found in induction heating simulations. These models are often defined as 3-D models,
and since a field problem has to be solved, not only the structure, but also the surrounding medium has to be included
in the finite element model. In the magnetodynamic pass, there are four degrees of freedom (a vector potential and a
scalar potential) and the analysis usually requires complex arithmetic. Given these requirements, the use of symmetry
conditions can largely reduce the number of degrees of freedom and thus enable one to analyze such problems with
sufficient details in an acceptable amount of time.
Although for structural analyses symmetry conditions are often sufficient, in magnetostatics or magnetodynamics not
only symmetry, but also antisymmetry conditions are required. In Marc, the easiest way to apply symmetry conditions
is by using a contact body of type Symmetry. In Marc 2018, this concept has been extended, so that one can also include
(anti)symmetry conditions if there is an analysis pass involving magnetic properties: for each symmetry contact body,
the user can indicate whether symmetric or antisymmetric conditions have to applied for this analysis pass.
Figure 17 Application of Symmetry Planes in an induction heating simulation

Ease-of-Use
In Marc 2018, the option Cyclic Symmetry (which does not explicitly require the use of contact bodies), can also be
used in conjunction with magnetostatics and magnetodynamics.
A typical application of model size reduction using symmetry planes can be found in an analysis used to simulate
hardening of a gear wheel, where, based on a sector of the model, the overall size can be drastically reduced compared
to the full model (see Figure 17). The analysis simulates induction heating of the gear wheel, followed by quenching,
during which phase transformations occur. Note that the support of magnetic properties in an analysis involving phase
transformations is also new in Marc 2018. In Figure 17, at the left, the menu is shown in which the antisymmetric
conditions are defined (usually, a plane to which the current is perpendicular requires antisymmetric conditions). The
model, including the air and the (anti)symmetry planes, is included in the middle. The images at the right display the
fraction of martensite and the equivalent value of the residual stress in the sector of the gear wheel at the end of the
cooling phase.
Ease-of-Use
Convergence Testing
The decision when to terminate the Newton-Raphson iteration process in a nonlinear finite element simulation can be
very important. In Marc, the default termination criterion is based on comparing the maximum residual force and the
maximum reaction force in the model. In some cases this can lead to accepting a solution, while there is still a relatively
large residual force present. Examples are models in which the maximum reaction force shows up at the retained node
of a multi-point constraint with multiple tied nodes, or in a Node-to-Segment contact analysis, where nodes involved
in contact are skipped in the residual check, or when the reaction force corresponds to an element with a large area or
volume. In Marc 2018, a new convergence checking mechanism has been added. The new mechanism allows for
checking equilibrium on a per node basis. The idea is that for each node the contributions to the nodal force are
monitored (they may result from internal element forces, contact forces, external load, etc.), and the maximum
contribution is compared with the residual force:
F residual
-
--------------------------
F c-max
in which F c-max is the maximum force contribution to the nodal force and  is the convergence tolerance defined by
the user (the same number as used for the standard residual force check). If there is a zero-energy solution (e.g. due to
a rigid translation), then F c-max is based on a virtual strain applied to the elements. The nodal equilibrium check can be
used in three different modes:
• Mild: Here, the default method is applied first and if there is convergence based on the default method, an
extra nodal check is performed. If the nodal check is not fulfilled for all the nodes, a maximum of one extra
iteration will be performed to fulfill the nodal equilibrium check.
• Standard: Here the program tries to satisfy the nodal equilibrium check more strictly than in the Mild mode.
If after three iterations the nodal equilibrium check does not converge, the program introduces an average
check over the non-converging nodes, by taking into account the nodes connected to the non-converging
nodes via the element connectivity. Moreover, the user can define a fraction of nodes which may fail to fulfill
the nodal convergence check.
Ease-of-Use
Figure 18 Nodal equilibrium check: Mentat menu and effect on the total Body Force
• Strong: This mode is similar to the Standard mode, but the averaging over neighboring nodes will not take
place.
In Figure 18, Mentat convergence testing menu is shown, together with an example (contact between two cylinders,
using global remeshing) in which the new residual force checking option clearly improves the overall solution.
Bolts and Springs

Bolts and rivets are important parts in many engineering structures. In Marc, the so-called over-closure tying (type 69)
can be used to model pre-stressed bolts. This tying type allows the user to apply the bolt boundary condition (pre-
stressing or locking) on the control node of this tying. Though this tying type is completely supported by Mentat,
setting up a model with multiple bolts is time consuming. Moreover, the analyses are restricted to small rotations, since
the direction of the over-closure (usually along the bolt axis) is always that of the undeformed configuration. In Marc
2018, both aspects have been addressed by introducing a new bolt modeling capability.
In Figure 19, a flange connection with 18 bolts is shown at the left. A Bolt is now a new model entity type in Mentat
and is part of the Model Tree, as can be seen in the middle of Figure 19. From a finite element point of view, a bolt
consists of a number of elements and a control node (this control node is similar to the one used in tying type 69). The
advantage of the new bolt modeling capability is that a bolt can now be easily created in Mentat, and, if another
preprocessor is used, requires limited input in Marc. The corresponding Mentat menus (which can be accessed either
from the Model Tree or the Toolbox in the Main Menu), are also shown in Figure 19.
Ease-of-Use
Figure 19 Flange with bolts, Model Tree, Bolt Menus, position of the control node and Bolt Picking filter
In order to create a bolt, first one has to assign elements to the bolt. Using these elements, Marc and Mentat can derive
the bolt axis, based on the assumption that the bolt has a slender, “bolt-like” shape (the same algorithm is used by Marc
and Mentat, so it is not necessary anymore for the user to manually define the bolt direction). Either continuum or beam
elements can be used to define the bolt. Second, a control node must be assigned, which can be used to apply the bolt
boundary conditions (pre-stressing or locking). Although the position of this control node is unimportant for the actual
analysis, when created automatically in Mentat it will get a position where it is easy to use: just “above” or “below”
the bolt, along the bolt axis (the offset is given by a fraction of the bolt length).
Applying a boundary condition to the control node of a bolt can be done by graphically picking this node, but also,
after activation of the special filter in the toolbar (see also Figure 19), by graphically picking one or more elements of
the bolt. So even without displaying the free (control) nodes, the graphical picking of elements of the bolt enables the
user to easily apply the boundary conditions. Given the position of the control node, the graphical verification of the
boundary conditions is straightforward (as the arrows are drawn on the control node, which is located “outside” the
bolt).
The default mode to determine the axial direction, as shown in Figure 19, is Automatic. In rare cases, e.g. if only half
of the bolt is modeled using symmetry conditions, the algorithm to automatically determine the axial direction, may
not yield the correct direction. Then the mode can be switched to User and the axial direction can be entered manually.
In order to numerically apply the bolt boundary conditions, Marc needs a bolt cross-section. Its location is also
determined automatically (based on the center of gravity of the bolt) by default. If needed (e.g. if the cross-section
appears to be in an area where the bolt is in glued contact), the user can control this location by entering an offset value.
This offset value must be between -1 (bottom side) and +1 (top side); the top side corresponds to the side where the
control node is located.
Ease-of-Use
It should be noted that the option Create Multiple Bolts can be used to define a (large) number of bolts at once. Here
the user is requested to add a list of elements and Mentat will automatically create, based on disconnected groups of
elements, the list of bolts and the associated control nodes.
For a Large Strain analysis, the limitation of small rotations that existed in previous releases has now been removed.
Finally, to simplify post processing, the results file of a bolt analysis contains Global Variables for the Bolt Axial Force,
the Bolt Shear Force and the Bolt Control Node Displacement.
In Marc 2018, springs can be defined as elements. Three new 2-node spring elements have been added (element
numbers 244, 245 and 246), for planar, axi-symmetric and 3-D analyses. In Mentat, the spring properties can be entered
as Geometric Properties of type Link (Spring/Dashpot). The corresponding menus for 3-D models are shown in
Figure 20.
Although the basic analysis capabilities of spring elements are the same as those of the conventional springs, they offer
more flexibility when working with many springs: spring elements can be put in sets, the user can decide which are
visible and which are invisible, they can be activated or deactivated in load cases, etc. Also, if many springs have the
same properties, these properties can be entered in a single geometric property and assigned to multiple spring
elements. For post processing, Spring Forces and Spring Moments are available as element quantities. Note that a tool
is available to convert conventional springs into spring elements (Links  Springs/Dashpots  Tools  Replace All).
Figure 20 Link (Spring/Dashpot) Geometric Properties and Elements menu for springs
Ease-of-Use
Crack Propagation
Several improvements have been made for crack propagation simulations. First, in Mentat 2018, the menus for crack
propagation have been updated, such that they are easier to understand (see also the chapter Embedded Documentation
for some more details on documentation changes). Second, crack initiation and crack growth on a curved surface now
better preserves the curvature. Also, for curved crack fronts, Marc automatically uses a finer mesh along the front
wherever needed during crack growth. Finally, Marc 2018 has the capability to handle fatigue with alternating load
directions. By keeping track of the sign, K is calculated correctly. Note that a negative K I is allowed, and that this is
available for plotting.
Enhanced Selection
Various options to select entities have been added in Mentat 2018. First, with the increasing use of Parasolid based
CAD models, several selection options associated with Solids have been added, like selecting Solids by Solid Vertices,
Solid Edges, Solid Faces, Nodes and Elements, or the other way around, selecting Nodes or Elements by Solids or
Solid entities. Moreover, a Color-based selection has been added for Solids, Solid Faces and Solid Edges, as well as a
possibility to edit the colors of these entities (see Figure 21). The select options based on the Face Flood and Edge
Flood methods have been improved, such that they optionally work on the visible elements, instead of on the whole
model. This allows for an easier way to select a group of adjacent element faces or edges on a part of the finite element
model.
Figure 21 Selection based on colors; color modification and selection menus

Performance
Performance
Multi-threading
In previous releases, the performance of a finite element calculation using Marc was improved by among others the
introduction of OpenMP support, also known as multi-threading. This was available for the assembly of the global
stiffness matrix, as well as for the stress recovery phase of the analysis. In Marc 2018, this concept has been extended
to the assembly of mass and specific heat matrices, as well as to the Iterative Penetration Checking part of the contact
algorithm (which checks if the iterative displacement solution in a Newton-Raphson iteration would cause inter-
penetration of contact bodies). These two multi-threading enhancements are controlled by the option for element multi-
threading (-nte on the command line).
Mentat Performance
For large models (about one to several millions of elements), a reduction in the peak memory usage has been achieved
in Mentat 2018, compared to the 2017.1 release. For bulky 3-D solid models, this is about 25 to 35% and for shell
models about 10 to 20%. For typical plotting scenarios, a speed-up in the performance has also been achieved. For
bulky 3-D solid models, this is about 40 to 50% and for shell models about 20 to 30%.
Interoperability
In Marc Mentat 2018, significant improvements have been made to the interfaces with two external programs, namely
the import of MSC Nastran and Abaqus files. The improvements in the MSC Nastran interface are mainly in the area
of contact related options. Due to these improvements, exchanging data between Apex and Mentat, via MSC Nastran
.bdf files, is easier than in previous versions. The MMB help system in Mentat now includes a list of supported options
(see Figure 22), both for the Nastran and the Abaqus interface.
Figure 22 Nastran interface: MMB help and an example of an imported model

Embedded Documentation
In Marc Mentat 2018, two important changes have been made regarding the embedded documentation. First, the User’s
Guide now has an extra sub-window in which chapters and paragraphs are shown as bookmarks (see Figure 23). Each
sub-window has its own search capabilities.
Figure 23 New layout of the User’s Guide
Second, in the same style, two tutorials have been included, one about Fracture Mechanics and one about Pyrolysis
and Surface Recession (ATAS, Advanced Thermal Analysis System). The finite element models used to explain the
various algorithms and options available can be easily opened by the user to study them in detail.
Figure 24 Tutorials on Fracture Mechanics and ATAS

List of Known Defects in the 2018 Release

Marc
Contact
MARC-10133 In a node-to-segment contact analysis, the Contact Interaction Moment X is incorrectly calculated.
This does not affect other results.
MARC-7984 When using node-to-segment contact in a coupled thermal/structural analysis, if a node contacts both
a surface with glued contact and a surface with touching contact, then there is incorrect heat transfer
on the touching face.
MARC-5102 Stress-free initial contact may not work correctly in a large sliding segment-to-segment contact
analysis.
Global Remeshing
MARC-7978 Hard nodes in the interior of the mesh are not available when using Global Adaptive Meshing in 2-D,
hence if a boundary condition such as a Point Load, Fixed Displacement is applied to a point, then
after remeshing, it will be applied to the node of the new mesh with the same ID as the node from the
original mesh that is attached to the point, but this node may be in a different location.
Materials
MARC-10352 The table dependency of the coefficient of thermal expansion is ignored for elements using the Shima-
Oyane model.
Multi-Physics
MARC-9878 Servo Links do not work in a coupled magnetostatic/structural analysis.
Parallel Processing
MARC-10776 If a single post file of revision 14 is requested in a DDM analysis with multiple materials, then not all
materials may be present on the post file.
MARC-8690 If a Marc model uses non-consecutive node and element numbering such that the ID’s are much larger
than the number of nodes and elements in the model, then the amount of memory required in a DDM
analysis is significantly larger than in a serial analysis.
User Subroutines
MARC-10057 In a segment-to-segment contact analysis, the nodal post code Contact Stress is not supported by user
subroutine NODVAR.F
Mentat
General
MARC-8600 The database function set_entry(), that returns the id of a specific entry of a set, does not function for
sets of type solid, solid_face, solid_edge and solid_vertex.
MARC-5888 If automatic updates of the graphics windows are disabled by switching off the Update option in the
Tools  Program Settings menu, then the default method to create snapshots of the graphics window
will produce blank images. The workaround is to enable the Use Screen Captures option in the
Window  Snapshot menu before creating the image. Note that if automatic updates are disabled, the
graphics windows can be updated manually by clicking the Regenerate button.
MARC-5675 The progress meter is neither updated during meshing of solid, sheet or wire bodies, nor during
meshing of the volume enclosed by a surface mesh by the Patran tetrahedral mesher.
MARC-5408 The cross hairs option, which was available in Mentat Classic to provide guidance when picking items
from the graphics window and which could be activated by clicking the SHIFT key on the graphics
window, is not supported in the new Mentat.
MARC-5343 Faceted surfaces can not be duplicated, neither using the commands in the Geometry & Mesh 
Duplicate menu, nor using the commands in the Geometry & Mesh  Symmetry menu.
MARC-3772 If a model file or a post file is opened while the graphics window shows a table, a history plot, or a
path plot (in general, anything other than the model) from another model file or post file, then the
filename displayed in the title bar of the Mentat window is potentially incorrect.
Preprocessing
MARC-10183 In Mentat, the internal pressure on element type 31 (pipe element) cannot be defined.
MARC-6598 In 2-D models, Mentat allows one to apply initial conditions like Initial Temperature, Initial Velocity,
etc. on surfaces. However, this is not supported by Marc. Such initial conditions must instead be
applied to the nodes of the faces attached to the surfaces.
MARC-6492 No Planar Truss Geometric Property type is available in Mentat to define the properties of Marc
element type 9 (a truss element which can be used both in 2-D and in 3-D analyses) if the element is
used in a 2-D analysis. As a workaround, a Geometric Property of type 3-D Truss can be created
instead.
MARC-5352 Mentat does not support Geometric Properties for Electrostatic analyses to define for example, the
thickness of a shell. The workaround is to temporarily change the Analysis class to Thermal, create a
Thermal Geometric Property of the appropriate type for these elements and then change the Analysis
Class back to Electrostatic.
MARC-4596 Mentat allows creating materials with identical names. This can be confusing when selecting a
material.
MARC-4544 Mentat does not support the Marc option to choose magnitude/phase or real/imaginary nodal output in
harmonics for the PRINT NODE option.
MARC-3587 Multiple axes of rotation for Centrifugal loads are not supported within Mentat.
MARC-3511 The General Traction distributed load type 21 is not supported within Mentat.
MARC-2136 Mentat does not support the Foundation option for 2-node line elements.
MARC-1622 Mentat is unable to control the prescribed displacement boundary conditions in a Modal Dynamics
Load case. This may results in problems with Design Optimization in a modal dynamics simulation.
Postprocessing
MARC-10509 If sample point data is tracked using the post file of a pure thermal analysis involving remeshing, then
the option Fixed Points In Space must be set. If this is not done, no warning message is given and an
incorrect sample point plot may be created.
MARC-10225 Data collection for History Plotting does not function correctly if sub-incremental data has to be
collected.
MARC-10126 Model clipping by results scalar does not work when the nodal averaging of the results is turned off.
Only exterior faces of the visible elements are shown and internal elements do not show up at all.
MARC-9706 If Presets for History Plots are used when processing a post file of an analysis using Adaptive
Meshing, then switching back to the Model View may cause the model to be incorrectly displayed. A
workaround is to rewind the post file before using the Presets, or to skip to a different increment after
the Presets have been used.
MARC-8764 If a report is created using the Report Writer for selected entities (nodes and/or elements) and over a
list of increments while post-processing a job with adaptive meshing, then no data will be reported for
the selected entities, unless they have been selected in the finite element mesh of the first increment in
the list. In that case, data will also be reported for subsequent increments in the list until the finite
element mesh changes. A workaround is to create a report of the current increment for the selected
entities, or for all entities over the increment list.
MARC-8114 If the entities (surfaces, curves and points) of a trimmed geometric contact body are made invisible
through the command sequence Select Contact Body Entities / Make Invisible, then the trimming
curves show up again when skipping to an increment with a different mesh (due to remeshing).
Workaround is to make the contact body itself invisible, e.g. through the Model Navigator.
MARC-7397 Mentat fails to make a movie, when either the starting index is greater than 10,000 or the index
becomes larger than 10,000; for example, if trying to capture more than 10,0000 frames.
MARC-5906 If Cutting Planes are defined in postprocessing and the extreme values of the quantity are assumed on
the cutting plane and not on the surface of the model, then these extreme values are not reflected in the
legend.
MARC-5748 When postprocessing jobs in which VCCT cracks are initiated during the analysis (i.e. not all cracks
already exist at the start of the analysis), then history plots involving crack related quantities, such as
Energy Release Rate, Accumulated Crack Growth and the Number of Fatigue Cycles, may be
incorrect if the data is collected in a range of increments in which a new crack has been initiated. The
workaround is to collect data from the increment in which the crack has been initiated to the last
increment before the next crack is initiated.
MARC-5409 In rare cases, if sample points have been created during postprocessing of an analysis with global
remeshing, the program may not be able to map a sample point from the current mesh to the mesh
corresponding to another increment when skipping to or past that increment. In that case, the message
“WARNING: Could not update sample point” is printed.
MARC-5015 The automatically computed range of the current scalar or vector quantity, as shown in the Scalar Plot
Settings and Vector Plot Settings menus, respectively, is not updated automatically if one skips to a
different increment. The legend on the graphics window shows the correct range though. The menus
can be updated by pressing the Enter key once in the “Command” box of the Dialog, i.e. by entering
an empty command string.
MARC-4622 In rare cases, a non-symmetric contour plot is shown for a symmetric problem.
MARC-1226 The automatically computed value range for a vector plot of 3-D continuum elements may be wrong
when only the Edges on the Surface are being drawn.
Marc Writer
MARC-9714 If a Marc input file is created for a Segment-to-Segment contact analysis with a non-zero interference
closure, but without augmentation, Mentat will not issue an error message, although the Marc analysis
will stop with exit number 13.
MARC-8105 If old-style input is used, an incorrect input file may be written for a job that contains a harmonic load
case with a distributed load. Workaround is to use new-style (table-driven) input.
MARC-7996 If a model has multiple radiation cavities, each cavity should have its own boundary condition, instead
of assigning the same boundary condition to multiple cavities. However, Mentat will not issue a
warning or an error message in such cases.
MARC-7215 User defined point, curve and surface sets consisting of points, curves and surfaces of a geometric
contact body, or of points, curves and surfaces which are not used in the finite element analysis (i.e.
do not have mesh attached, are not used to define the material coordinate system of an Orientation,
etc) can be written to the Marc input file as empty sets and thus will show up in postprocessing also
as empty sets for DDM analyses using decomposition in Mentat.
MARC-5929 If a WELD FLUX boundary condition is not explicitly selected in a load case of a restart analysis,
Mentat does not write WELD PATH and WELD FLUX data into the Marc input file, causing Marc to
stop prematurely with exit number 77.
MARC-4047 Mentat does not write a correct Marc input file if two node, element, edge, face, point, curve, or
surface sets exist with the same name.
Marc Reader
MARC-9765 The OP2 option is not supported.
CAD
MARC-8660 On rare occasions, defeaturing may not work correctly for certain features, like chamfers, fillets, etc.
MARC-8002 The Holes and Pockets options in the Import  General CAD As Solids  Defeature Settings menu,
that allow one to select the types of holes that are to be removed when importing a CAD model, do not
work. If the Remove Holes/Pockets option is switched on, then all holes and pockets with a radius
within the given range are removed from the model.
MARC-5655 For some CAD models, the automatic feature removal options in the File  Import  General CAD
As Solid menu may fail. Workaround is to remove the features after import via the Defeature menu on
the Geometry & Mesh tab of the main menu.
Nastran Writer
MARC-11108 When exporting a Mentat model into a Nastran .bdf file, material orientations are lost.
MARC-6481 Exporting shell elements with orthotropic material properties to a Nastran bulk data file is incorrect.
In the bulk data file, the material properties for the shell elements are defined via a MAT3 option, while
a MAT8 should be used instead.
Other
MARC-9925 The Marc Movie program fails to import multiple RGB files at once.
MARC-7266 When using remote access (for example, VNC) to use Mentat on a Linux machine, creation of GIF
movies may fail; the image may appear mirrored.
List of Defects Corrected in the 2018 Release

Marc
Contact
MARC-11096 In a small sliding segment-to-segment contact analysis, stress-free initial contact was not correctly
maintained if adaptive remeshing or element deactivation is used.
MARC-11089 If in a contact analysis using solid shell or solid composite elements the number of integration points
exceeds 28, the analysis could terminate prematurely. Note that in a coupled thermal-mechanical
analysis using the solid shell element, the number of integration points is given by 4 times the number
of layers.
MARC-11073 If a load-controlled contact body is defined using a control node and an auxiliary node which position
does not coincide with the center of rotation of the contact body, and a TRANSFORMATION is
assigned to the auxiliary node, then the rigid body rotations could be wrong.
MARC-11003 A model using the RIGID NODE option could produce wrong results if it also contains load-controlled
contact bodies and shell/beam elements, or RBE's (the movement of the load-controlled bodies was
incorrect).
MARC-10998 If non-consecutive coordinate system ID's are used, and a coordinate system is used for the interfer-
ence data in a contact analysis, the analysis could stop prematurely with a message that the coordi-
nate system could not be found. The work around was to use consecutive coordinate system ID's.
MARC-10779 In a segment-to-segment contact analysis, the rigid body modes of a meshed geometric body consist-
ing of shell elements (e.g. element type 75) were not correctly suppressed, and therefore the results
could be incorrect. The work around was to use membrane elements (e.g. element type 18).
MARC-10548 In a segment-to-segment contact analysis, it could happen that the contact status of a node which is in
touching contact with one body and in glued contact with another body, was reported as touching(1.0)
instead of glued (1.5). It could also happen that a node on the cyclic symmetry plane was reported as
touching or glued (1.0 or 1.5) instead of 2.0 This did not impact the other analysis results.
MARC-10543 If in a model with global remeshing, displacements in a loadcase are prescribed with respect to the
start of the loadcase and there is an (initial) approach of contact bodies, the prescribed displacements
could be wrong.
MARC-10323 Element types which are not allowed in contact bodies (like e.g. semi-infinite elements) could be part
of a contact body without being noticed. This could lead to unpredictable results.
MARC-10243 In a segment-to-segment contact analysis using DDM, the contact status on the results file for a
model using could have been wrong for nodes lying in multiple domains. This did not affect other
results.
MARC-10214 An eigenvalue analysis of a contact model involving CBUSH elements could cause the Marc program
to crash.
Global Remeshing
MARC-10856 In rare cases, in an analysis with plasticity based on the multiplicative decomposition of the
deformation gradient, local adaptive refinement introduced very small, but noticeable, numerical
errors.
MARC-10290 If end nodes of springs or truss or beam elements are part of a body which is remeshed, then these
nodes were not properly preserved. Now they are preserved, at the same location as before remeshing.
MARC-10216 Radiation in combination with global remeshing and using curves and surfaces and attach edges/faces
to define the radiation cavity could give wrong radiation view factors after remeshing. A work-around
was to specify a zero external flux on the curves/surfaces that define the radiation cavity.
MARC-10176 3-D crack propagation with remeshing could in some cases give an uneven crack surface after many
growth steps. This was observed in particular if small growth increments were used.
The accumulated crack growth reported in the output file and on the post file for 3-D crack propagation
has been improved. This is a further improvement to the previous release.
The nodes along crack fronts are now available in sets for each crack. This simplifies the generation
of path plots along the crack front.
The elements in the special region around 3-D cracks for crack initiation and growth by remeshing are
now available in element sets for easier post processing.
MARC-9721 If in a 3-D analysis involving global remeshing, the total length of the name of file being passed to the
standalone remeshing program exceeded 128 characters, the program failed.
MARC-8074 In a 3-D crack propagation analysis, a program crash could occur if a very irregular crack shape is
obtained, so that a crack advance is not possible. Now the analysis will stop with a proper exit
message.
Materials
MARC-11079 If a visco-elastic Mooney, Arruda-Boyce or Gent material (defined in the time domain) is used in a
coupled thermal-mechanical analysis in the Updated Lagrange framework and the time independent
material coefficients are not table dependent, then the results would be incorrect.
MARC-10328 Rebar stresses for multiple layers were not reported correctly on the results file.
MARC-9874 An alternative thermo-mechanical shape memory model has been implemented, that is less sensitive
to the load step size and that can handle plasticity with isotropic hardening.
Multi-physics
MARC-10698 The resistance calculation in a joule heating analysis could give wrong results for quadratic tetrahedral
and quadratic pentahedral elements, and both the linear and quadratic pyramid elements were not
supported at all in the resistance calculation.
MARC-10674 When touching contact is used in a coupled magnetodynamic/thermal analysis, glued contact would
be applied in the first increment of the thermal pass.
MARC-10560 A results file from a magnetostatic/thermal analysis involving wire elements (element type 183) could
not be read by Mentat.
MARC-10549 Marc could enter an infinite loop in a coupled magnetodynamic/thermal/structural analysis when the
frequency is zero and a cut-back is performed.
MARC-10197 If in a thermal radiation analysis using view factors, the RADIATION parameter option occurs before
the VERSION parameter option, and the version number is greater than 10, then the two view factor
cutoff values on the RADIATION option were ignored. Consequently, in that case all view factors were
used in an implicit way.
MARC-10155 If in a harmonic magnetodynamic analysis orthotropic material is used where the permeability is
defined by a B(H) relation, the magnetic co-energy was not computed for the elements to which this
material ia assigned. This could have an effect on the results, since this energy is used in convergence
testing.
MARC-10067 In rare cases, in a coupled thermal/structural analysis, gravity load was incorrectly applied.
MARC-7235 New values (400, 500, 600 in the Marc input file) have been introduced for directed fluxes (option
QVECT) in order to have a consistent behavior between solid faces, top shell faces and bottom shell
faces.
The old values (100, 200, 300) are still supported in Marc and Mentat, but are visible in Mentat only
if they are present in existing models.
Loads, Boundary and Initial Conditions

MARC-11100 For models using the multiplicative decomposition of the deformation gradient, stresses at increment
zero could be wrong if the PRE STATE option is used.
MARC-11083 In the advanced recession model (receding surface option), the evaluation of the table for the
normalized mass flow rate of ablated solid (called B'c) was not correct if the table depends on the
normalized mass flow rate of pyrolysis gas (independent variable type 60) or vapor (independent
variable type 61).
MARC-11082 If a model contains a large number of loads (LOADCASE option) and a large number of sets (DEFINE
(sets) option), it could happen that “total time for miscellaneous” was very large.
MARC-10763 For coupled Current/Thermal and Current/Thermal/Structural analyses the total current (named
concentrated currents) from the previous increment would be printed to the output file.
MARC-10750 When the Darcy Pyrolysis Model is used, the tables in the Surface Energy Balance and the Receding
Surface options did not support pressure dependency.
MARC-10690 If non-homogeneous boundary conditions using tables that are a function of the x-, y-, and z-
coordinates are specified across two successive load cases, the incremental displacements to be
applied during the second load case at the constrained nodes were not computed properly. In Marc
2018, this is corrected for the case that they are activate during increment zero (time = 0.0), and the
first load case.
MARC-10629 For table-driven input, defining state variables for solid shell elements could result in data corruption
(typically visible by NaN's in the analysis results).
MARC-10628 For table-driven input, defining state variables for solid composite elements could result in data
corruption (typically visible by NaN's in the analysis results).
MARC-10536 The FOLLOW FORCE stiffness matrix was not calculated for distributed loads on a cavity, and also
not for distributed loads with a non-zero table reference in the load magnitude.
MARC-10186 If a state variable is linearly ramped from the value at the beginning of the load case to the value at the
end of the load case, the value at the beginning of the load case was incorrectly taken into account.
Fracture Mechanics
MARC-10778 During mesh cutting in a shell model where the shell is attached to a solid or a surface, the attach info
was not properly updated for new elements generated due to the cut.
Parallel Processing
MARC-10666 In a DDM contact analysis with thermal contact between two meshed bodies, it could happen that the
output and post file results for the film fluxes were incorrect. This did not affect other results.
MARC-10617 In a DDM contact analysis, the option to find initial contact using an approach velocity could go wrong
if the approaching body is a meshed body or a load-controlled geometric body.
User Subroutines
MARC-11094 User subroutine MATNAME should return the material name in a string with a maximum length of 24
characters; however, it was returning a string with a length of 160 characters, which could cause a
program crash if the definition in the calling routine is based on a length of 24 characters.
MARC-10610 The temperature at the end of the previous increment was not correctly passed into user subroutine
UACTGLUE.
MARC-10174 On Windows, the option to create a user-defined executable using the option -obj failed if multiple
object files are included (like with a command run_marc -j test -obj "user1.obj user2.obj").
MARC-10111 The utility subroutine UT_MATERIAL_ELEMENT (which, for a given element, gives a list of materials
used in this element) did not work correctly if called for an internal element number.
MARC-10072 In a structural analysis using the multiplicative decomposition of the deformation gradient, resetting
the strains and/or stresses was not complete when asked for via user subroutine UACTIVE, via the
WELD FILL option, or via the DEACTIVATE option.
Other
MARC-11104 Creating a complete model section with truss elements did not function correctly (the section file
produced could not be visualized in Mentat).
MARC-11102 The OP2 option for element stress and strain output caused Marc to stop with exit number 7001 if there
are elements in a model which are not supported by the OP2 option.
MARC-11093 The SUPERELEM option did not work correctly if a list of more than 20 load-controlled geometric
contact bodies is entered.
MARC-11090 During insertion of 2-D interface elements due to delamination, it could happen that incorrect crossed
elements were generated.
MARC-11004 The PRE STATE option did not work correctly in combination with a model using an explicit dynamic
operator.
MARC-10885 On Windows, when a Marc analysis is launched from a directory name which contains parentheses,
then the analysis would not start.
MARC-10808 The Power Sweep method for the determination of buckling loads could not be used during an AUTO
INCREMENT load case and the program automatically switched to the Lanczos method. However, this
could give a premature exit during the post-buckling part of an analysis.
MARC-10706 If the fast explicit dynamics operator is used, the response of the model could show continuously
growing oscillations, leading to very large or even infinite displacements.
MARC-10621 If OP2 element data is requested in a single precision input file, Marc would stop prematurely with
exit number 13.
MARC-10551 In a spectrum response analysis, the output of the Von Mises stress to the post file and the printout of
stress components to the output file could be incorrect.
MARC-10517 Analyses using tyings (introduced by e.g. the options TYING, SERVO LINK, INSERT, or CONTACT
(node-to-segment meshed bodies or load-controlled contact bodies)), showed a memory leak (except
if the CASI solver is used), i.e. for every assembly of the system matrix, the total memory needed was
growing.
MARC-10425 If Marc was called as part of the Nastran Sol600 solution sequence from within SimXpert, the program
checked for an incorrect license and stopped with exit number 67.
MARC-10219 If the termination criterion with last time step reduction is used in combination with the AUTO STEP
option, the first increment when time step reduction is triggered would still use the original time step.
MARC-10215 If plane stress elements are used in the multiplicative framework, the elastic strain energy density was
not calculated. This did not affect other results.
MARC-10189 If a model uses tables (to e.g. define material properties or boundary conditions) and both the options
GLOBAL-LOCAL and ADAPT GLOBAL, the analysis would abort with exit number 1055.
MARC-10131 With table input, an inconsistency between a weld flux type and its distributed load type resulted in an
error message, but nevertheless the analysis was not immediately aborted.
MARC-10108 A FIXED DISP boundary condition did not work correctly if it is not active from the start of the
analysis in an analysis using global remeshing. Note that this was also true for Model Sections.
Mentat
General
MARC-11005 The two renumbering modes available in previous releases for importing a file into Mentat (using one
of the options in the File  Import menu) both have some drawbacks. If Import Renumber is off (which
was the default), then the IDs of the entities from the file were imported as is into the existing model.
If the existing model already contains entities of the same type, then this may result in duplicate IDs.
The Import Renumber option can be used to prevent this, but this option renumbers, after import, all
entities from the combined model starting from 1 and thus not only changes entities from the imported
file, but also entities from the existing model. In addition, if after import the combined model contains
a large number of named entities of a particular type (e.g. a large number of boundary conditions, or
a large number of springs) then the import can be slow, even if the existing model is empty prior to
import.
A third renumbering mode Only If Required has been added to address these issues, and has been made
the default mode. This mode does not change the entities from the existing model and only changes
entities from the imported file if there are conflicts with entities from the existing model. Please see
the middle-mouse button help file for more information.
If a Mentat model is merged with the existing model using the File  Merge option, a similar third
renumbering mode Only If Required has been added and this has been made the default mode.
MARC-10227 Mentat allowed to create a Marc input file with FIXED ACCELERATION boundary conditions even
if the analysis is not transient dynamic (note that Marc would stop with exit number 13 in such cases).
MARC-8811 The API “trim” from the PySurface class is documented in the Python manual, but it was not actually
exposed in the pypost module. In version 2018, this API is now generally available.
CAD
MARC-10801 When importing an STL file, the sweep distance used for merging points was incorrectly calculated.
This could occasionally lead to too many swept points.
Menu
MARC-10670 The Dynamic Menu did not work correctly for RBE2's, RBE3's, RROD's and Inserts.
MARC-10178 In the loadcase termination menu items in the frame Upon Loadcase Termination could not be selected
for the strain energy criteria.
Marc Writer
MARC-10565 The option to hide the Job Check Report Window (Tools  Program Settings) did not function
correctly.
MARC-10564 The option to switch the printout of transformation data ON or OFF was not supported. Now it is part
of the Jobs  Job Results  Output File menu.
MARC-10530 In rare cases (e.g. upon importing a Nastran bdf file), very small numbers (smaller than 1e-99) can
show up in the Mentat database and when they are exported to a Marc input file, this could cause Marc
to fail.
MARC-10529 Mentat would give an error message when the wire current element type 183 is used in a
magnetodynamic, magnetodynamic/thermal, or magnetodynamic/thermal/structural analysis. This
element is used to apply a current load.
MARC-10129 When checking a job, submitting a job or writing a Marc input file no error would be issued if an
element had been assigned a geometric property for which the option “Use For Connection” was set.
Also, an incorrect input file could be written if a material property is assigned to an element not
needing a material property (e.g. a bushing element).
Marc Reader
MARC-10730 For a 3-D meshed contact body that uses the analytical (or smoothed) description via the SPLINE
option in the Marc input file, the manually selected discontinuity edges (at which the normal to the
analytical description is discontinuous) were not imported correctly from the Marc input file.
Nastran Reader
MARC-10622 The reference coordinate system of a coordinate system was not always correctly set.
MARC-10283 The last entry of the RBE2 option was erroneously interpreted as a node ID and could cause an error
message in the log file when importing a bdf file with RBE2 elements.
MARC-9053 An incorrect node could be assigned to a Fixed Displacement boundary condition if the last line of an
SPC1 entry was empty.
MARC-6028 If an End-Of-File was encountered on the last line, any valid input on that line was not processed.
MARC-5024 Import of C3D10 elements failed if the string “TYPE = C3D10” was encountered instead of
“TYPE=C3D10”.
MARC-4834 If the first subcase did not have a load or a temperature load, it was not translated.
MARC-4433 The last entry of the RBE2 option was erroneously interpreted as a node ID and could cause an
inappropriate error message in the log file.
Abaqus Reader
MARC-10850 Beam Sections containing the string “SECTION=I-BEAM” were not imported correctly.
Preprocessing
MARC-10250 If FileSave As is used to save a model in a non-default Style (more precisely: using the model file
format of one of the previous releases, Mentat 2010 to Mentat 2017), the resulting model file was
corrupt. The problem only occurred if the model contains materials.
MARC-10526 The advanced remeshing option Change Element Type was not supported for the Global Adaptive
Remeshing Criteria types 3-D Solid Mesh File, 3-D Shell Mesh File and 2-D Solid Mesh File.
MARC-10117 When performing data fitting for time independent rubber materials, Mentat offers the option to
display the so-called predicted modes, i.e. modes for which no experimental data is available. It was,
however, not possible to toggle the display of individual predicted modes.
As a workaround, the user could correct the corresponding menu file based on the following steps:
1. Close all Mentat sessions

2. Open the file menus/rubbert.ms (on WIndows: menus\rubber.ms) in a text editor and change:
visible "not(or(streq($expfit_mode,visco)), (streq($expfit_mode,plastic)))" ($expfit_mode,
$expfit_mode)
into:
visible "not(or(streq($expfit_mode,visco), streq($expfit_mode,plastic)))" ($expfit_mode,
$expfit_mode)
3. Save the menu file
4. Recompile the binary menu file:
(Linux) bin/mentat -compile menus/linux64/main.msb
(Windows) bin\mentat -compile menus\win64\main.msb
Start Mentat.
MARC-8720 The command Detect Meshed Bodies did not consider elements that have been assigned to a contact
body of an incorrect class (Geometric or Symmetry).
MARC-7704 For a contact body defined by a model section. the command Select Contact Body Entities failed to
select the model section.
Post Processing
MARC-11092 Mentat could terminate prematurely if a track plot from a sample point of type Material Particle was
displayed and the track consists of a single increment. This may happen if only one increment is stored
on the results file, or if, in a job with global adaptive meshing, a Custom selection of nodal results
quantities has been made (in the Jobs  Results menu) and the Remesh Displacement vector has not
been explicitly selected. The Remesh Displacement is needed by Mentat to map the sample point into
the different meshes on the results file. The vector is written to the results file automatically in jobs
with global adaptive meshing if the Default set of nodal results quantities is selected. However, if a
Custom selection is made, then the vector will not be written unless it is explicitly selected. If the
vector is not available in post-processing, then the sample point cannot be updated to a new mesh and
the track is defined only in the increment in which the sample point has been defined and in increments
with the same mesh.
Please note that in Marc and Mentat 2018, a new option Default & Custom is available in the Jobs 
Results menu that will write the default set of nodal results quantities (including the Remesh
Displacement in jobs with global adaptive meshing), plus any variables selected by the user.
MARC-10996 The extra space at the end of the x and y legend is now removed. Now, if the history plot information
is copied to clipboard, and if pasted in any text editor, the extra space after the heading will not be
there.
Other
MARC-10987 Saving a keyboard shortcut that uses the “/” key to the Mentat settings file did not work correctly.
MARC-10337 The PyPost module could end prematurely if an out-of-bound ID was passed in.
MARC-10073 The option “From Curves” which creates tables from curves could create curves with incorrect values
of the independent variable (time) when the curve is nonlinear. The behavior was that the curves were
traversed with a variable velocity.
MARC-9872 Mentat was not displaying more than 26 Japanese characters (with Unicode option) in the load case
title.
List of Build and Supported Platforms - Marc 2018 Release
Marc Platforms
Fortran
Type OS Hardware Version Default MPI
Linux (64 bit) Red Hat RHEL 7.1/7.3 Intel EM64T or AMD Opteron Intel XE 20171 Intel MPI 2017.1
1
SUSE 11SP4/12SP1 Intel EM64T or AMD Opteron Intel XE 2017 Intel MPI 2017.1
(can also be used on
RHEL 6.7)
Windows (64-bit) Windows 7 Intel EM64T or AMD Opteron Intel XE 20171 Intel MPI 20.17.12
Windows 10
Windows Server 2016
1
When using user subroutines, Intel XE 2017 must be installed. When using user subroutines on Windows, Microsoft Visual Studio 2015 must
also be installed.
2
Supports the Microsoft MPI 7.1.
The next major release of Marc will be based on Intel XE 2018; support of Red Hat RHEL 6.7 will probably be
dropped.
Mentat Platforms
Vendor OS Hardware
Linux (64-bit) Red Hat RHEL 7.1/7.3 Intel EM64T or AMD Opteron
SUSE 11SP4/12SP1 (can
also be used on
RHEL 6.7)
Windows (64-bit) Windows 7 Intel EM64T or AMD Opteron
Windows 10
Windows Server 2016
All platforms support Python 3.5.1.
Mentat Graphics Card Support

The following graphics boards have been certified to work with the Mentat 2017 release:
Graphics Board Graphics Driver Version

AMD FirePro V4800(FireGL V) 15.201.2401.0
AMD FirePro W4190M 21.19.142.32768
AMD Radeon Pro WX 4130 21.19.384.3
Graphics Board Graphics Driver Version

AMD Radeon Pro WX4150 16.40.3801.1002
AMD Radeon WX2100 22.19.640.2
AMD Radeon WX2100 22.19.640.2
AMD Radeon WX3100 22.19.640.2
AMD Radeon WX3100 22.19.640.2
AMD Radeon WX4100 17.10.1730.1004
AMD Radeon WX4100 22.19.640.2
AMD Radeon WX4100 22.19.640.2
AMD Radeon WX5100 17.10.1730.1004
AMD Radeon WX7100 17.10.1730.1004
AMD Radeon WX9100 22.19.640.2
AMD Radeon WX9100 22.19.693.256
Nvidia Quadro M1200 21.21.13.7586
Nvidia Quadro M1200 377.43
Nvidia Quadro M2200 21.21.13.7586
Nvidia Quadro P1000 377.11
Nvidia Quadro P2000 23.21.13.8908
Nvidia Quadro P3000 21.21.13.7586
Nvidia Quadro P3200 23.21.13.8908
Nvidia Quadro P4000 21.21.13.7586
Nvidia Quadro P5000 21.21.13.7586
Nvidia Quadro P600 23.21.13.8908
Nvidia Quadro P620 23.21.13.9077
Radeon Pro WX 3100 23.20.787.768
Peripheral Devices
3DCONNEXION’s SpacePilot PRO, SpaceMouse PRO and SpaceNavigator products, have been tested with Mentat.
For Linux based systems, see the Marc Mentat Installation and Operations Guide for additional information.
Security Notes
Security Notes
The 2018 release requires the FlexLM 11.13 server version and stores the license manager (lmgrd) by default in the
directory C:\MSC Software\MSC.Licensing\11.13 for Microsoft Windows and for Linux platforms it is
/msc/MSC.Licensing/11.13/bin. The default location for the license file is MSC.Licensing/licenses.
The capabilities that require a license are given below with feature names as required in the license file.
1. MARC license required to run one single processor job or one instance of a
multiple processor (parallel) job.
2. MARC_Parallel license required per processor in a parallel run (either DDM, or parallel
element assembly and stress recovery, or parallel CASI).
3. MARC_Mesh2D license required for each run requiring automatic 2-D remeshing feature
in Marc.
4. MARC_Mesh3D license required for each run requiring automatic 3-D remeshing feature
in Marc.
5. MARC_ShapeMemory license required for each run using shape memory model.
6. MARC_MetalCutting license required for each run modeling metal cutting operation.
7. MARC_Electrical license required for Joule-Mechanical, Coupled Electrostatic- Structural,
and Piezoelectricity.
8. MARC_GPU license required to use the GPGPU solver capability.
9. MARC_CASI license required to use the CASI iterative solver.
10. MARC_Hexmesh license required for each instance of Hexahedral mesher.
11. MARC_MatFit license required for advanced material data fitting.
12. MARC_PhaseTrans license required for MICROSTRUCTURE phase transformation model.
13. Mentat license required for each instance of Mentat.
14. Mentat_Parasolid_CAD license required for each instance of Parasolid when working
(import/export/meshing) with Parasolid based models. This license does
NOT allow the creation of solid geometry or the modification of solid
geometry through Booloean operations, blending, and/or feature
recognition and removal.
15. Mentat_Parasolid_Modeling license required for each instance of Parasolid when working
(import/export/creation/modification/ meshing) with Parasolid based
models.
16. Mentat_ITI_Access license required for each instance of, or exporting a file using the DXF,
IGES, or VDAFS translators.
17. Mentat_CMOLD license required for each instance of CMOLD when working
(import/export) with CMOLD based models.
18. Mentat_Geometry_Translators license required for import of Parasolid, IGES, IDEAS, ACIS, STEP,
STL to Parasolid Geometry with cleanup of model.
Security Notes
19. Mentat_CATIAV4_Access license required for import of CATIAV4 model to Parasolid Geometry
with cleanup of model.
20. Mentat_CATIAV5_Access license required for import of CATIAV5 model to Parasolid Geometry
21. Mentat_Creo_Access license required for import of Creo and Pro/E model to Parasolid
Geometry with cleanup of model.
22. Mentat_Inventor_Access license required for import of Inventor model to Parasolid Geometry with
cleanup of model.
23. Mentat_JT_Access license required for import of JT model to Parasolid Geometry with
cleanup of model.
24. Mentat_NX_Access license required for import of NX model to Parasolid Geometry with
cleanup of model.
25. Mentat_SolidWorks_Access license required for import of SolidWorks model to Parasolid Geometry

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Marc and Mentat 2018.0

General GUI Improvements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

List of Known Defects in the 2018 Release . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

List of Defects Corrected in the 2018 Release . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

List of Build and Supported Platforms - Marc 2018 Release . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

General GUI Improvements

Figure 1 Mentat default settings: 2017.1 (upper), 2018 (lower)

Figure 2 Display of Highlighted and Selected Nodes

Figure 3 New icons to move the model in the view space

Activate the use of

The model is rotated

Figure 4 New icons to move the model in the view space

Toggle the display of beam and shell elements in expanded mode

Non-editable field Editable field

Figure 6 Use of italics to indicate non-editable fields

Figure 7 Filter to simplify the selection of results file quantities

Figure 8 Add user-defined nodal quantities to the default list

STL-Based Geometric Bodies

Figure 9 Geometric Body defined using a faceted surface

Figure 10 Converting a Parasolid sheet body into a faceted surface

Figure 11 Example of a more complex faceted surface

Load-Controlled Meshed Bodies

Improved Contact Table Generation

Figure 12 Automated Contact Table population

Ogden-Roxburgh Damage Model

Material Data Fitting

Figure 15 Gasket material supporting orthotropic behavior

Figure 16 Harmonic and Thermal load cases in a coupled Thermal/Structural analysis

Symmetry Conditions and Phase Transformations

Figure 17 Application of Symmetry Planes in an induction heating simulation

Bolts and Springs

Figure 21 Selection based on colors; color modification and selection menus

Figure 22 Nastran interface: MMB help and an example of an imported model

Figure 23 New layout of the User’s Guide

Figure 24 Tutorials on Fracture Mechanics and ATAS

List of Known Defects in the 2018 Release

List of Defects Corrected in the 2018 Release

Loads, Boundary and Initial Conditions

1. Close all Mentat sessions

List of Build and Supported Platforms - Marc 2018 Release

Mentat Graphics Card Support

Graphics Board Graphics Driver Version

Graphics Board Graphics Driver Version

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