The Art of Packaging to Protect Cultural Assets

An engineer working for Northrop Grumman Systems Corporation Marine Systems (NGSC-MS) was given a project to improve their teams’ current NASTRAN results post-processing workflow by writing a script to automate the task. They reached out to Altair for collaboration and Altair engineers were able to quickly determine that Altair’s mathematical modeling environment – “Altair Compose” – would be the ideal solution due to its ability to read, manipulate, and write NASTRAN results. Also, the Open Matrix Language is a scripting language that is familiar to the engineering community. Given sample NASTRAN results and requirements Altair engineers provided a “template” script. The NGSC-MS team was able to quickly understand and modify the script to their goals. The custom results were then viewable in HyperView as a contour plot, which saved a considerable amount of time during post-processing and documentation workflows.

With more than 35 years of experience in research & development projects INESPASA has been working with companies such as Airbus, Alestis, Boeing, and Renault. To be successful in a highly competitive market, aeronautical tooling companies like INESPASA must deliver maximum quality and comply with highly demanding standards and regulations while meeting tight time constraints and limited budgets. Developing and testing aircraft component prototypes is time consuming and expensive, so INESPASA had to find new and faster ways – like Multiphysics simulation – to evaluate its aero-structure designs, identify problems before they occur, and ensure viability. INESPASA turned to Altair and applied tools such as Altair SimSolid®, Altair® Inspire™ and Altair® MotionSolve®. Thanks to fast simulation results, INESPASA addressed their challenge and found the solution with the best weight-stiffness ratio providing optimum usability of their aero structure elements.

While rail is the most environmentally friendly means of transport, freight trains today do not look much different than those from the past. To reach the climate and energy targets of the European Union while achieving higher payloads and a better ROI, the railway sector needs an innovation boost to build more efficient and sustainable rail freight wagons. TransAnt GmbH, a joint venture with ÖBB Rail Cargo Group and voestalpine Steel Division, was established to bring more efficient and sustainable rail freight solutions to the market. With its innovative concept based on modularity and lightweight design, once operational the company seeks to revolutionize the market as a full supplier of freight wagons. The company used Altair® HyperWorks® for topology optimization – in particular Altair® HyperMesh® – to realize the transition to a weldable structure, Altair® HyperView® for pre- and post-processing, and Altair® OptiStruct® for FEA (including local buckling) and optimization.

Unmanned aerial systems (UAS) are a rapidly evolving technology and used for a variety of civil and military purposes. To ensure airworthiness, UAS manufacturers rely on advanced simulation and manufacturing techniques to create efficient designs. Aerial systems active throughout Europe and operating with diverse payloads for different missions require a reliable vehicle architecture and fuel supply. To ensure perfectly tuned architecture and a lightweight design while increasing stiffness and strength, Schiebel used Altair solutions in combination with 3D printing. The engineers performed various simulations to optimize the design of AM engine parts. Using Altair’s topology optimization structural design tool, Schiebel reduced the weight significantly while maintaining high stiffness. Subsequently, the system was evaluated by laminar and turbulent flow simulation as well as conjugate heat transfer simulation using Altair CFD™. Contacts, NLFE and complex dynamic systems were modeled with Altair® MotionView® and Altair® MotionSolve®. Schiebel also took advantage of APA solutions.

Streamlining data preparation with Altair Monarch enables Client Engineering Services to speed up accounts receivable process by 90% while improving accuracy.

MOTO-MAQLAB-UC3M was founded in 2010 by students at Carlos III University in Madrid, Spain, to develop a racing motorcycle for the international MotoStudent competition. MotoStudent is an international event held every two years at the MotorLand, Aragon circuit and welcomes university teams from all over the world. The MOTO-MAQLAB-UC3M team won awards in several categories of the fourth MotoStudent edition. Inspired by their successful participation, the students wanted to further develop and improve their race bike designs to repeat or exceed these results. In order to improve their results, the MOTO-MAQLAB-UC3M team needed to reduce the mass in the cycle parts of the bike. Altair solutions enabled the MOTO-MAQLAB-UC3M team to approximate the ideal number of layers, their shape, order, and direction. Mass reduction of 30% was achieved while maintaining the original stiffness.

Truck dynamics, control system, thermal, and fatigue analyses all need to be completed when designing a new truck design. Using Altair HyperWorks, Hitachi achieves a 10% weight reduction in the main frame and rigid body, while maintaining product quality.

TGM Lightweight Solutions is an engineering services company with a focus on lightweight design and strategic weight optimization for aircraft, rail cars, road vehicles, and marine vessels. For a recent customer project requiring weight reduction of a railway container, TGM used Altair HyperWorks to achieve the target weight. Topology optimization helped identify the weight savings potential, resulting in material and cost savings, and a 20% reduction in weight while meeting tight development schedules.

To expand the rpm range of a motorcycle engine, a new type of rocker arm with lower inertia was needed at KTM. The new rocker arm was required to have the same, or better stiffness and deformation level as the previous design. KTM used Altair HyperWorks™ for nonlinear topology optimization and nonlinear structural analysis to develop the new rocker arm. Thanks to this, the component inertia could be reduced by 15 percent, component mass was reduced by 21 percent, and the stiffness increased by 14 percent which lead to an extension of the rotational speed by 150-200 rpm.

Rimac Automobili’s main challenge has been to design a monocoque as a single carbon fiber part with an unprecedented size. Hence, in the development of the monocoque, the main topic to manage was the material, a lightweight, carbon fiber reinforced with epoxy resin. As this carbon fiber is an orthotropic and brittle material, its representation in a finite element (FE) material card is very difficult. To meet this challenge the company introduced Altair HyperWorks™ into their development process.

Czech company Duratec Ltd. develops handmade bike frames using both aluminium and composite materials. For a recent project at Duratec presenting the latest approach in development of carbon fiber optimization of the bike frame, Altair HyperWorks was used for model creation in Altair HyperMesh, optimized via the Altair OptiStruct code and evaluated in Altair HyperView in the development and optimization of a lightweight composite racing bike frame.

An Altair customer for many years, Schneider Electric at first used only Altair Flux; now the company has extended their usage to several more software products in the Altair HyperWorks suite, including solutions such as Activate, MotionSolve, OptiStruct, and others to apply co-simulation in their development processes. Schneider feels their collaboration with Altair is more like a partnership than the standard supplier-OEM relationship.

Israeli motorsport company Griiip has designed a new, fast and professional race car that combines efficiency in racing with a competitive purchase price and low running costs, to make it more affordable. By harnessing the power of data, Griiip has created the first smart connected race car – the G1 – and with it, an entirely new racing series. Accessing the software via Altair's new Startup Program, Griiip engineers employ several products from the Altair HyperWorks™ suite, among these Altair Radioss™ for crash simulation, Altair OptiStruct™ for structural optimization, general FE analysis as well as Altair HyperMesh™ and Altair HyperView™ for pre- and post-processing tasks in the development of race cars.

Melbourne-based Integrated Design and Engineering Solutions (IDES) provides full “systems-life-cycle” tailored engineering solutions to fulfill demanding defence requirements. For the LAND 121 Phase 3A project involving the procurement of Mercedes-Benz G-Wagon light trucks for the Australian Army, the IDES team had to design a protective module for a G-Wagon variant intended for surveillance and reconnaissance (S&R). Altair HyperWorks was instrumental in enabling the quick, efficient and accurate development of an optimum design for the vehicle rollover protection structure (ROPS), saving valuable time while revising and significantly improving the structures’ strength and safety.

The National Composites Centre (NCC), in collaboration with the Manufacturing Technology Centre (MTC), Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) and University of Warwick (WMG) worked on a collaborative project to develop a Cross-Catapult technology demonstrator; the Mono-Ski or Sit-ski, a device for sports that uses adaptive equipment on mountain slopes, designed for individuals with lower extremity limitations. Composites were used extensively in the new Sit-ski design with the Altair HyperWorks™ suite being utilized throughout the development process.

Mabe is a Mexico-based international appliance company designing, producing and distributing a wide spectrum of home appliances such as washing machines, dryers, cooking ranges, refrigerators, air-conditioners, microwaves, etc. Altair technology has enabled Mabe to increase the capacity of their washing machines by 35%, and the spin speed by 24% while reducing the cost per cubic foot by 10%.

For a competition launched for the Museum of the 20th Century, Zaha Hadid Architects re-invented a similarly radical approach by applying new advances in technology to generate structural and architectural expression. With Altair’s assistance, they created a plug-in for their design tool, enabling topology optimization. Altair HyperMesh was used for finite element preprocessing mesh generation, with Altair HyperView providing post-processing and visualization solutions. Structural analysis solver Altair OptiStruct provided advanced analysis and optimization algorithms.

As part of educational programs for students to acquire practical skills and knowledge, Aichi University Technology (AUT) participated in a demonstration test competition aiming for future Mars exploration. A Rocket Launch for International Student Satellites (ARLISS), is a competitive event for the evaluation of autonomous robots – conducting tests relating to their autonomous descent back to the ground after being launched 400m above the ground using a small rocket. For the final designed robot, HyperWorks was used for structural analysis to understand whether or not the robot meets requirements, and MotionSolve was extremely useful for practical industrial education that is linked to CAD design.

Sujan CooperStandard manufactures (anti-vibration) NVH products for leading automotive companies. Currently, the automotive industry is under extreme pressure because of environmental norms and has to adhere to stringent government policies related to pollution control and one of the simplest ways to address these is to optimize designs and reduce weight of products and components. They began using Altair HyperWorks on the on the recommendation of their joint venture partner CooperStandard. The team decided to improvise design of their Torsion Vibration Damper using Altair solutions like solidThinking Inspire to optimize designs of the brackets and OptiStruct for structural integrity of the designs. Altair solutions have helped Sujan CooperStandard get their product designs right the first time and consistently meet their time, cost and quality targets.

Automotive suppliers are facing many challenges in having in-house simulation capabilities compared to that of OEM’s. One of the ways to overcome these challenges is to invest in simulation technologies that require an affordable initial investment, the ownership cost of which is low, the codes are reliable & proven, and the suite of tools provide suppliers access to a broad range of solvers (a true multi-physics environment) helping them pick and choose the solvers as per their simulation requirements. In the early stage of in-house simulation implementation at Endurance Technologies, HyperWorks was being adopted primarily for pre and post processing due to its extraordinary FE modeling solutions. With constant support, Altair team has helped Endurance in exploring and implementing various HyperWorks solvers at Endurance Technologies.

Subros is the leading manufacturer of thermal products for automotive applications in India and operates in technical collaboration with Denso. Being a major supplier of AC units to the predominant automotive segments and all classes of vehicles produced by global players in the country, it is very important for Subros to honor deadlines of product delivery with agreed benchmarks of quality. The Subros team has used Altair solutions such HyperMesh for FE modeling, RADIOSS and OptiStruct for structural analysis, AcuSolve for flow analysis, and solidThinking Inspire for Modal Analysis

Ankers performed co-simulation using a combined multibody and brake systems model in MotionView and Activate to generate more accurate results to analyze thermal and other effects on braking.

HyperWorks used by leading Indian manufacturer of seating systems Harita, for homologation testing, regulations and crash analysis for all commercial vehicle seats, bus passenger seats and tractor & off-road seats

To support the use of simulation tools in this endeavor, ABB in Spain enlisted the help of Altair ProductDesign's regional team, thanks to the company's experience in utilizing simulation tools to solve engineering challenges in the robotics industry. The project centered on improving the fatigue performance of a Twin Robot Xbar (TRX), one of ABB’s robotic part transfer systems that moves components between manufacturing stations.

The project focused on the design and construction of a skiff, a particular kind of sail boat, within the given regatta regulation. With its modeling and calculation tools, HyperWorks helped the team to significantly reduce weight while increasing stiffness, while saving time and costs.

To optimize the car performance, the Auburn University SAE Racing Team focused on selected components that were most promising in terms of mass reduction with equal or increased stiffness. HyperWorks enabled them to reduce component mass-to-stiffness ratio, thereby improving car performance, speed up development time, as well as grow in knowledge of composite material design and optimization

Harald Hasselblad (PhD) - Senior Analysis Engineer at Volvo Car Group Sweden - talks about introducing an Optimization Culture Arena to support simulation driven development in his company.

As a key industry tool, HyperWorks becomes part of the Curriculum, providing hands-on training to Mechanical Engineering Students at Dal

Simulation is extensively used in the early development phases at the Sigma Group, where about 10-15 engineers are working with different types of simulations.

CAE is a core element in developing high-end, long-lasting professional power tools at DeWalt, a Stanley Black & Decker brand.

Analysis of MAHLE's automotive components and systems creates a huge amount of simulation data which is used to generate project reports. This reporting process can be a slow, manual process that ties up a great deal of the engineering team’s time that could be better spent investigating the results. The company wanted to explore ways of streamlining its simulation results reporting process when developing new pistons and connecting rods.

Automation of Engineering Analysis and Design Process in Subsea Industry

Recently, ACENTISS has developed the all-electric technology demonstrator ELIAS (Electric Aircraft IABG ACENTISS) based on the one-seater UL aircraft ELECTRA ONE from PC-AERO GmbH. To perform all the needed engineering and development work of the project ACENTISS applied Altair’s HyperWorks suite.

Beta Epsilon designs racing cars and offers engineering. Beta Epsilon offers component and vehicle meshing, FEA analysis of metal and composite components, crash test simulation, optimization, and CFD simulation. Beta Epsilon uses HyperMesh, OptiStruct, HyperCrash, RADIOSS, AcuSolve, HyperView, and Virtual Wind Tunnel. With HyperWorks, Beta Epsilon could improve the quality of its products and extend its range of services.

The Clemson University Deep Orange 3 program introduced future engineers to analysis software, enabling them to develop a novel sports car concept architecture.

By Dr. Paul Venhovens
Concept To Reality Winter 2013 Subscribe to C2R Magazine

Two-Wheeler Designer-Manufacturer Cuts New Component Time to Market and Optimizes Component Design with the Altair Partner Alliance

LG Electronics needed to sharply reduce their simulation time to meet rapid design cycle demands. They used Altair's automation capabilities and engineering expertise to significantly speed up and standardize routine drop test simulation processes , increase reliability and repeatability, and capture knowledge and practices. They were able to slice the time required for drop-test simulation from a week to just hours.

HBPO GmbH optimizes their design process by utilizing multiple products, such Total Materia and MADYMO, alongside HyperWorks products for the development of their front end modules.

American Railcar Industries, headquartered in St. Charles, Mo., designs and manufactures commercial railroad cars, producing every part of the car above the wheels. Customers use the company’s railcars to transport all sorts of liquid and solid raw materials, including oil, coal, cement, sand, grain and other substances. Their designs include boxcars, gondolas and hoppers, among other styles.

Chassis manufacturer relies on simulation and optimization to develop the fastest – and safest – race cars on today’s circuits.

By Luca Pignacca
Concept To Reality Summer / Fall 2012 Subscribe to C2R Magazine