Whirlpool Optimizes Design Problems and Significantly Cuts Prototyping Time and Cost

RF2B is a wireless design services company offering custom antenna design and validation services across air interfaces and bands. RF2B developed a phased array antenna proof of concept design for small cell Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS) base stations at 3.5GHz for its customer Menlo Micro, who develops high performance RF MEMS switch integrated circuits. Menlo Micro developed a reference design for 3.5GHz MEMS Based Differential Delay Shifter (DDS) using its RF switches that can be a great building block for electronically scanning antenna array in place of traditional phase shifters, which are band limited as well as expensive. Altair Feko comes with a feature called finite array analysis, plus a built-in script that synthesizes the antenna array. These features significantly sped up the high-level trade off analysis due to model building acceleration and lower memory consumption leading to much quicker simulation times, which is critical during the high-level design phase.

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.

Sweden-based Nolato, a global provider of injection molded parts for numerous industrial and medical applications has developed Nolava as a collaborative project with companies including Altair and Avalon Innovation. Nolava is Nolato’s medical self-injector, a complex electro-mechanical device housed in an injection molded fiber-reinforced plastic body. Within this presentation different aspects of the product design cycle are considered, including co-simulations of the device operation during the actual injection process, misuse in case of forceful bending or opening of the loading tray, and drop tests of the autoinjector. Based on Altair’s optimization technology, alternatives for the rib structure of the casing are investigated. To assure manufacturability, molding and assembly simulations are performed to identify and mitigate problems likely to occur throughout the process.

See how Altair Feko helped reduce heat during MRI procedures in DBS implants.

Hussmann provides tailored food safety solutions designed to improve food quality and integrity. As the manufacturer of refrigerated display cases and systems, they have to maintain the highest performance and quality standards of the products they develop. Using Altair solutions helped them reduce their product development time by 20 to 30% with the CFD Thermal solutions successfully addressing even the most complex problems in challenging areas that were faced in product design analysis and CFD.

APA Partner, DSA, uses Altair HyperMesh, AcuSolve, and Virtual Wind Tunnel to create high-quality hydrodynamic mesh and models for ship and marine structures.

Officially known as the Caleido project, the Fifth Tower in Madrid is owned by Inmobiliaria Espacio, a company that, among other services, deals with infrastructure and construction for all types of buildings.

Ossia’s patented wireless power Cota® technology is delivered much like Wi-Fi, is inherently safe, and provides real wireless power through the air and over a distance, even while the device is in motion. Using FEKO® for simulations to demonstrate that the SAR limit for COTA technology use for wireless power charging is within the FCC mandated limit of 1.6 watts per kilogram.

Argon 18 partnered with the ÉTS Research Chair on Engineering of Processing, Materials and Structures for Additive Manufacturing to manufacture a new track bike for Lasse Norman Hansen, one of the athletes competing for the Danish team in track cycling at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games. Their aim was to develop a bike that was stiffer, highly integrated, more aerodynamic, providing greater efficiency. An important aspect of the project was the development of a new aluminum stem to be used by Mr. Hansen in the Flying Lap event which is achieved by the fastest lap from the moving start. Altair solutions included OptiStruct for structural analysis, AcuSolve® for CFD, and Virtual Wind Tunnel.

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.

Kampmann GmbH is an internationally leading specialist for heating, cooling, air-conditioning and integrated building automation. Within their virtual development process they are using the Altair HyperWorks® software suite, in particular AcuSolve®, the CFD solver; OptiStruct®, the suite's FE-solver and an optimization tool; and HyperMesh® for modeling and meshing tasks. For plant control design, Kampmann is currently considering solidThinking Activate®, a mapping software for control systems. Thanks to simulation, Kampmann engineers are now able to answer questions regarding the internal processes of the system, which are difficult, if not impossible, to study through physical testing.

The RF Engineering group at the Institute of High Performance Computing (IHPC), develops advanced computational electromagnetics and multiphysics algorithms and tools, leveraging vast know-how in EMC for a wide range of applications. Typical challenges include electrically-large and multi-scale EM problems such as antenna placement on large platforms, and mutiphysics problems such as the electrical –thermal–mechanical analysis of composite materials. In a project that dealt with electrically large platforms, an efficient modelling tool was required to identify optimum antenna positions and minimize interference between various antennas. FEKO was used during the development process, helping to determine the design parameters of the surrogate models using its powerful optimization function.

HyperWorks and the Altair Partner Alliance Streamline Testing of Truck Components at IVECO Australia

Toolmaking is usually characterized by cost-intensive, custom made, single-unit production. To create innovative tools, the industry increasingly relies on new manufacturing methods such as 3D printing. To meet market demand, PROTIQ GmbH, a spinoff from Phoenix Contact needed to increase productivity through more efficient injection mold tools. The Altair solution included development of optimized tools using simulation, optimization and additive manufacturing (model setup with HyperMesh, topology optimization and FE analysis with OptiStruct, CFD analysis with AcuSolve and refinement with solidThinking Evolve. The benefits included increased productivity due to shorter production cycles, weight reduction of 75%, shortened development time and production costs reduced by 25%.

The company PROTIQ (www.protiq.com) worked with Altair and created a highly efficient molding tool. Optimization with OptiStruct was used to find the optimal design to guarantee the maximum tolerances of the generated products. The cooling process of the product was simulated with CFD (AcuSolve). As an overall result, the cycle time could be significantly decreased and the part quality also improved due to lower thermal deformations.

Low profile, concealed antennas are frequently desired for diverse applications across many military and commercial vehicle platforms. A vehicle underside can be considered a viable alternative place for concealment as it provides enough space to avoid extreme antenna miniaturization. A study conducted at the Antenna Research Group (ARG) at the University of Colorado evaluated the bottom side of the vehicle as an alternative to more conventional antenna placement positions for mounting high-frequency VHF antenna systems. Altair FEKO EM field simulation methods were applied to assess antenna performance.

A precursor to the SKA, the Murchison Widefield Array (MWA) radio telescope was constructed in the Murchison Radio-astronomy Observatory in Western Australia. In order to correctly calibrate and image the data collected by the radio telescope, it is imperative that the beam pattern is known accurately. In this study, a rigorous approach was applied where the full array geometry was simulated using FEKO with a goal to characterize the beam pattern of the MWA and demonstrate that this approach was more accurate.

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

As Manufacturers of Automotive Components such as Chassis and Brakes, Mando Softtech India has to ensure that they maintain highest performance and quality standards of the products they develop. Implementation of Altair HyperWorks solutions has helped them considerably reduce their product development time and costs, while augmenting product quality. Their overall development time was reduced by up to 30 to 40%.

Integrating antennas in windscreens has become popular due to the enhanced aesthetics and the increased antenna surface area that enables improved reception. However, the design of such antennas is a complex procedure. Antenna systems contain different antennas with mutual coupling, making it very inefficient and time consuming to optimize the FM-, DAB-, RKE- and TV antennas independently. Wanting to make the optimization process of its multi-port antenna more efficient, Daimler turned to Altair for assistance.

Dr. Margarita Tecpoyotl-Torres leads a team of students and researchers at The Center for Research in Engineering and Applied Sciences (CIICAp) at UAEM. They use FEKO for simulation technology in the design and development small, low cost, lightweight antennas for TV and automotive applications. Her team demonstrated an outstanding level of innovation in the development of the world’s smallest antenna.

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.

To analyze and optimize the shielding effectiveness of the housing in an Around View Monitor (AVM) while meeting EMC requirements, Hyundai MOBIS automotive group improves the Electromagnetic Compatibility Analysis (EMC) process from 2D to 3D using FEKO for shielding effectiveness simulation

In the limited space of a plane, a lot of radio equipment, especially antennas are installed, leading to concerns about antenna pattern distortion caused by the plane body and inter-antenna isolation. COMAC, Shanghai Aircraft Design and Research Institute continues selecting FEKO to improve the EMC performance in the developmental phase of the multiple aircraft models C919 and ARJ21.

Challenging Einstein’s seminal theory of relativity to the limits, how the very first stars and galaxies formed just after the Big Bang, the study of dark energy and the vast magnetic fields in the cosmos, and the age old question “Are we alone in the Universe?” These are some of the key scientific goals of the Square Kilometer Array (SKA) project, led by the SKA Organization from Jodrell Bank Observatory in the UK, supported by 11 member countries.

Computational electromagnetic software enables a team of researchers at NASA’s Langley Research Center to develop wireless resonant sensors that can measure and mitigate lightning strike damage to composite aircraft.

By Beverly A. Beckert
Concept To Reality Winter/ Spring 2015
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CAE is a core element in developing high-end, long-lasting professional power tools at DeWalt, a Stanley Black & Decker brand.

Euro-Pro, maker of Ninja blenders and Shark vacuums, has embraced simulation-driven design to reduce physical tests and improve product performance and durability. HyperWorks solvers (OptiStruct, RADIOSS and AcuSolve) are used across the board via Altair’s HPC cloud infrastructure

Recent trends in wind power technology are focusing on increasing power output through an increase in rotor diameter. As the rotor diameter increases, aeroelastic effects become increasingly important in the design of an efficient blade.

Applications of Acusolve and Optistruct in the High-Temperature Reformation of Biomass presentation given by Tim Laska of sundrop fuels at ATCx Energy.

This study is part of Prodrive’s implementation of AcuSolve to enhance its CFD capability after many years of outsourcing these simulations.

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.

Thermal Analysis of LED Lamps using AcuSolve

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

With more than 22,000 employees in 19 countries, Cooper Standard supplies the vehicle industry with fluid delivery systems, sealing and exterior systems, thermal and emission systems and AVS. The company’s Electromechanical Department is an advanced research and development arm of the Cooper Standard North America division. It’s goal is to marry mechanical systems with electronic controls. This new technology improves overall vehicle efficiency by providing on-demand fluid delivery and by eliminating the power loses inherent in conventional systems. In designing new pumps for this type of system, CAE Engineer Tom Lincoln uses computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software to simulate the flow of coolant through the device. He and his team began using CFD computer-aided engineering tools as long ago as 2003, and computer simulations have become an essential part of his organization’s product development process.

Highly automated computational fluid dynamics (CFD) workflows enable the discovery of flow behaviors, improving wheel aerodynamics.

Mathew N. Godo, Ph.D. and David Corson, Ph.D.
Concept To Reality Summer / Fall 2012 Subscribe to C2R Magazine

Nippon Sharyo uses AcuSolve simulation to make Japan’s bullet trains safer, more comfortable

This benchmark validates AcuSolve for external aerodynamic applications. NACA0012 has been studied in depth both numerically and experimentally. AcuSolve results are compared with other CFD software results and with available test data

This benchmark demonstrates the ability of AcuSolve to capture the effect of impulse load on a profile submerged in channel flow. A P-FSI simulations is performed using the structural output from Radioss.