Simulation Software Buyer's Guide
The MSC Software / Cadence portfolio explained — one discipline at a time.
MSC Software, now part of Cadence, covers structural analysis, motion, fluids, acoustics, manufacturing process simulation, fatigue, AI-driven modelling and simulation data management — under one portfolio, with products that were mostly built or acquired independently and later connected together. That history means the product names don't map neatly to disciplines the way a single vendor's clean product line might. This guide sorts the portfolio by the engineering question you're trying to answer , so you can find the right starting point without needing to already know the product names.
"Will my structure hold up under normal loads?"
MSC Nastran — the industry-standard FEA solver for linear static, modal, buckling, thermal and nonlinear structural analysis. Originally developed for NASA in the 1960s and still the only FEA solver FAA-certified for aircraft structural analysis.
"What happens in a crash, blast or impact?"
MSC Dytran — an explicit solver for events measured in milliseconds: bird strike, blast loading, underwater shock, penetration and crashworthiness. Uses the same input format as Nastran, so the two work together naturally. See our Nastran vs Dytran guide for a full comparison.
"How does my mechanism or vehicle move?"
MSC Adams — multibody dynamics simulation for how complex mechanical assemblies move, contact and interact, from full-vehicle dynamics to landing gear and machinery. Adams motion loads typically feed into Nastran for downstream structural checks.
"Will it survive millions of load cycles?"
CAEfatigue — reads stress results from any major FEA solver and predicts fatigue life and durability, including weld, spot-weld and random-vibration fatigue, using a library of over 4,000 material fatigue curves.
"Is it too loud, or does it sound wrong?"
Actran — vibro-acoustic and aero-acoustic simulation for interior cabin noise (NVH), jet engine fan noise, and speaker/enclosure acoustic design, coupling directly to structural results from Nastran or other solvers.
"Can I manufacture it without defects?"
Simufact — dedicated manufacturing process simulation across three solvers: Welding , Additive (metal 3D printing) and Forming (stamping, forging, rolling). See our guide on why a dedicated manufacturing solver matters versus general FEA.
"Can I get answers faster, without a full solver run every time?"
ODYSSEE — an AI / Reduced Order Modelling platform that compresses existing simulation data (from Nastran, Adams, Marc, Cradle, Simufact and others) into models that run in real time on standard laptop hardware, without requiring machine-learning expertise.
"How do I keep control of all these simulations across a whole team?"
SimManager — simulation data and process management: a governed, versioned repository connecting tools, engineers, models and results, supporting traceability standards such as DO-178C, ISO 9001 and AS9100.
Portfolio at a glance
| Question | Product |
| Static/modal/thermal structural analysis | MSC Nastran |
| Impact, blast, crash | MSC Dytran |
| Motion / multibody dynamics | MSC Adams |
| Fatigue & durability | CAEfatigue |
| Noise & vibro-acoustics | Actran |
| Welding, forming & additive manufacturing | Simufact |
| Real-time AI-driven prediction | ODYSSEE |
| Simulation data & process governance | SimManager |
How SimEvolution can help
As certified Nordic reseller for MSC Software / Cadence, SimEvolution can help you work out which combination of these tools actually fits your engineering process — rather than starting from a product list. Most projects end up using two or three of these together (for example, Adams for motion loads feeding Nastran for structural checks, or Simufact Welding results feeding CAEfatigue for weld durability).