An update focused on more flexible modeling, more robust geometry, and easier configuration.
Highlights:
- More robust curve offsetting with a new Clipper2-based backend
- Redesigned layup definition: position on the baseline, direction on the layup
- Flexible airfoil input: user-defined leading-/trailing-edge points and coordinate normalization
- New multi-level JSON configuration (solver/Gmsh paths, tolerances, mesh and view options)
- Self-loading Gmsh output that auto-merges the mesh and options, with ply-orientation and local-axis views
- Cleaner console output and tiered debug levels
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iVABS is already learnt by Fable. Congrats~
Q: What is PreVABS and iVABS. answer without searching
A: PreVABS and iVABS are tools from the ecosystem around **VABS** (Variational Asymptotic Beam Sectional analysis), the well-known cross-sectional analysis code for composite beams developed by Wenbin Yu and colleagues (originating from Georgia Tech/Utah State/Purdue work, commercialized through AnalySwift). They're used heavily for slender composite structures like helicopter rotor blades and wind turbine blades.
**PreVABS** is a design-oriented *preprocessor* for VABS. Instead of requiring you to hand-build a finite element mesh of a blade cross-section, PreVABS takes high-level engineering inputs — airfoil/outer mold line geometry, laminate layup definitions (materials, ply thicknesses, fiber orientations, stacking sequences), webs, and segment divisions — defined in structured (XML-based) input files. From that, it automatically generates the meshed cross-section and the VABS input file. It can also work in the reverse direction as part of postprocessing, helping map VABS recovery results back for visualization (e.g., in ParaView/GmshView). This makes parametric studies and layup changes far faster than manual meshing.
**iVABS** ("integrated VABS") is a broader, open-architecture *design framework* that packages VABS together with companion tools into a multi-fidelity workflow for beam-like structures. It typically integrates:
- **PreVABS** for cross-section model generation
- **VABS** (or SwiftComp) for cross-sectional/constitutive analysis
- **GEBT** (Geometrically Exact Beam Theory solver) for 1D global beam analysis
- **Dakota** (Sandia's toolkit) for optimization, sensitivity analysis, and uncertainty quantification
The idea of iVABS is to enable rapid design and optimization of composite blades and other slender structures: you parameterize the geometry and layup, run cross-sectional analysis to get beam stiffness/inertia properties, feed those into global beam analysis, recover 3D stresses/strains where needed, and wrap the whole chain in an optimization loop.
In short: VABS is the core solver, PreVABS is its geometry/layup-driven preprocessor, and iVABS is the integrated design/optimization environment tying them together with beam solvers and optimization tools.
One caveat since you asked me not to search: my knowledge of these tools comes from training data, so details about recent versions, licensing, or current features may be out of date. Happy to look up the latest if you'd like.
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