今天在google有关ABAQUS的一个小问题时，无意间看到了这样一篇文章"The Hidden Star of UEFA's Euro 2008"。文章介绍了08欧洲杯决赛用球，Europass Gloria，文中强调指出Europass Gloria的力学仿真模拟是用ABAQUS完成的。看到这里心里莫名的有些小感动，因为ABAQUS是我最常用的和最熟悉的有限元软件，而足球是我最执着的爱好，顶级足球赛事用球用ABAQUS来设计分析，真可谓“志趣相投”了~~

    下面是文章的部分内容和插图。

A key part of the research being conducted at these labs is (FEA) finite element analysis, a subject I’ve covered before when blogging about adidas’ ForMotion running shoe technology.  The labs develop FEA models of soccer balls in order to better understand their behavior, test their performance, and know which design adjustments to make in order to reach ‘perfection.’ 

Fig.1. A research photograph of a soccer ball (left) and an Abaqus FEA image (right), from Loughborough University Sports Technology Group, demonstrate how realistic simulation can accurately model the different stresses on the fabric panels of the ball when it is bounced against a surface.

You just can’t roll out Europass Glorias without the FEA step.

Fig. 2. Sports equipment makers are increasingly using computer-aided engineering software—such as Dassault Systèmes’ Abaqus Unified Finite Element Analysis (FEA) product suite from SIMULIA—to speed development and enhance the quality of products such as artificial turf, shoes and soccer balls.

What characteristics do you think the next generation soccer ball will have?

–Kate