Empowering Aerodynamic Design Exploration – Volkswagen Group Research Case Study

Three major trends have emerged over the last decade and continue to dominate the conversation in HPC: the race to Exascale, the rise of AI, and the emergence of Cloud. We will discuss how these trends are individually and collectively shaping the future of HPC, from the technologies we use to how we use them, along with how they are giving rise to new opportunities and challenges for providers and users of HPC.​

This webinar introduces Altair CFD and reveals how it can help organizations reduce software expense and deliver accurate results faster by providing all the major CFD technologies under a single license.

Whether you’re looking to optimize gearbox oiling, analyze tank sloshing, perform aerodynamics studies, or reduce cooling fan noise, Altair CFD provides the technology you need, as you need it – utilizing state-of-the art GPU calculations to reduce modeling turnaround times.

This webinar covers:
• The different CFD methods available with Altair CFD
• The range of fluids problems that can be solved with Altair CFD, including some unique applications and customer examples
• How Altair’s unique licensing system enables companies to reduce software expenditure
• How Altair’s flexible approach to Cloud and HPC helps deliver results faster
• What is next for Altair CFD?

Speakers
James R. Scapa, Founder and CEO
Mahender Reddy, SVP CFD & Manufacturing
Uwe Schramm, CTO

Duration: 35 minutes

Fluid mechanics simulation is a critical tool for late-stage failure risk mitigation, as well as a driver of design insights throughout the product development process. Used across all levels of product design and validation, from design engineers seeking to understand fluid and thermal effects on a design proposal to analysts performing advanced aerodynamic modeling, Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) serves a broad array of applications and a range of users with varied levels of expertise. The sometimes complex and computationally intensive nature of CFD necessitates careful consideration of the software and hardware investments required to produce accurate solutions and scale them at the speed of a company’s development process.

This presentation shows how advanced simulation technology can provide a cost effective way to minimizing the risk breaching noise regulations. Often the issue is only found out in a prototype testing scenario, bench test results can give misleading information as acoustic character of a rotating component will change in an installed condition. Altair CFD brings a solution to the market for installed fan acoustics by directly calculating the convective field, this virtual method can significantly reduce risk of failure leading to development cost savings and mitigation of timeline overshoot.

Presented at the ATCx Heavy Equipment in May 2021.

Speaker: Andy Fine, Vice President CFD Solutions, EMEA, Altair

Duration: 15 minutes

GAC engineers used Altair CFD’s Lattice Boltzmann method (LBM) solver to perform hundreds of transient simulations on design changes with high-accuracy using NVIDIA’s Tesla-V100 GPUs to increase computing efficiency. Results include achieving one of the highest aerodynamic efficient vehicle designs in its class on the GAC GS4 coupe, and on the concept GAC ENO.146, while at the same time realizing model preparation time savings of 60% and simulation cost savings of 70%.

From detailed component analysis to full systems performance, Altair provides a range of scalable solvers and robust pre- and post-processing software for CFD.

In this webinar, we demonstrate how to model and simulate aero-acoustic problems of fans through Altair’s GPU powered commercial Lattice Boltzmann CFD code ultraFluidX at a reasonable cost. You will learn: How ultraFluidX’s Lattice Boltzmann CFD solver is suited to calculate aero-acoustic noise in fans. How post-processed SPL data and pressure field provide a complete acoustic picture. Advantages of Altair’s seamless workflow that allows for fast modelling and analysis

A welcome address to Altair's ATCx CFD virtual event hosted in 2020, presented by Andy Fine, VP CFD Solutions EMEA at Altair.

Presented as part of the ATCx CFD 2020. Empowering Aerodynamic Design Exploration – Volkswagen Group Research Case Study by Dr. Bastian Schnepf, Technical Manager CFD Solutions at Altair.

Recorded at the ATCx CFD 2020 virtual event, this is a Q&A with Torbjörn Larsson, Former Head of CFD for Ferrari F1. With previous roles at BMW F1, General Motors and Saab Military Aircraft, Torbjörn has 30 years of industrial experience in fluid mechanics and CFD. Listen to the questions our audience posed to Torbjörn in this 30 minute session.

Learn how Altair’s flexible and efficient CFD solvers pave the way for simulation-based design in the field of Computational Fluid Dynamics.

Full evaluation of a design concept requires the definition of many complex details. However, complex geometric details constrain design flexibility.

Harnessing the computational capabilities of the graphics processing unit (GPU) is one of the cornerstones of Altair's mission to empower its customers. First and foremost, utilizing GPUs to accelerate numerical simulation delivers significant increases in speed and therefore, throughput. That means more opportunities to explore and fine-tune designs, faster decision-making based on more accurate results, and consequently the prospect of considerable reductions in time to market. In addition, creativity is enhanced, with more vivid, realistic and accurate rendering and visualization put within easier reach.

Most traditional simulations take too long to complete and takes significant toll on the vehicle manufacturer’s capability to arrive at an optimal design that considers styling and aerodynamic performance. In this webinar, we introduce you to Altair’s ultraFluidX, a GPU based Lattice Boltzmann solver that delivers unbeatable performance and overnight transient simulations of full vehicle aerodynamics on a single server. We will discuss the challenges in executing a full vehicle transient simulation and demonstrate how ultraFluidX technology and workflow helps you to overcome many of these with tremendous ease. We will also discuss some of the unique features that helps you perform multiple design analysis cycles with an unprecedented level of automation.

Achieving the targeted brand image in a short development cycle time with minimal or zero prototypes is a major challenge faced by EV companies. To overcome this challenge, Altair, HBK and Romax have jointly developed a simulation driven process coupled with capabilities to virtually experience the noise and vibration characteristics, giving engineers a way to obtain real time performance feedbacks as the vehicle is being developed. This joint presentation on the proposed NVH development process covers a wide range of topics, including benchmarking, target setting, full vehicle and motor gearbox simulation loadcases, troubleshooting, optimization and stochastic analysis, and playback of simulation results for subjective evaluations, with a number of new technologies representing the global best practice in sound and vibration design and development. Join us to explore ways to control the sound and vibration characteristics of the vehicle, achieve the right sound, and avoid common NVH pitfalls, while accelerating time to market utilizing and experiencing virtual NVH prototypes.

Altair was founded in 1985 with a vision to use simulation to drive design and decision-making. Through the years simulation has evolved from the back end of the design process to the front — and today's cloud infrastructure opens up new possibilities to solve problems of unlimited size.

In this white paper, we present the innovative commercial GPU-based Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) solver Altair ultraFluidX. This work features simulations of the DrivAer model, a generic, publicly available vehicle geometry that was developed by the Chair of Aerodynamics and Fluid Mechanics at the Technical University of Munich and which is widely used for testing and validation purposes. The DrivAer model features rear end, underbody designs, and underhood flow. This model was then used to perform both wind tunnel tests and numerical simulations of the 40% scale open cooling geometry using perforated aluminum sheets with different opening ratios to mimic different radiator properties. Within, we will compare some of the results from these wind tunnel tests with numerical results obtained with Altair ultraFluidX.

Altair ultraFluidX is a simulation tool for ultra-fast prediction of the aerodynamic properties of passenger and heavy-duty vehicles as well as for motorsport applications. Its cutting-edge technology is optimized for GPUs to deliver unbeatable performance and to allow for overnight simulations even of complex cases on a single server.