White Paper: Linking System Requirements with Product Performance for Design Balance

Heavy equipment manufacturers want to design products that are durable and perform at their peak under a variety of conditions. To accomplish this, Altair provides an integrated multi-disciplinary simulation environment to virtually test and optimize equipment performance and therefore, help reduce design and development costs. Using simulation-driven design, studying the full dynamics of a product or system is possible, from motion analysis to complete lifecycle durability testing.

A key development goal of any machine-building project is to produce perfectly running, reliable machines that make high-quality products. By leveraging accurate virtual prototypes, seamless production can be ensured earlier in the development process to help assess and improve product profitability.

Heavy mobile machines consist mostly of production equipment working almost twenty hours a day, year on year, in diverse harsh environments, undergoing extreme loads and overloads. Especially diggers and loaders such as hydraulic excavators, wheel loaders, and backhoes, cater to multiple applications with use cases such as digging, trenching, loading, lifting, breaking, and ripping. Many times, these machines undergo non-standard uses where the machine is subjected to unplanned forces and moments as in the case of self-loading on a trailer, or a bucket hitting a dump truck body. This paper highlights the workflow process and simulation-driven methods to integrate multi-physics with Altair’s industry-leading solutions. The latest generation of Altair simulation tools can capture a wider range of vehicle systems and environmental interactions.

Information silos present a major challenge to Heavy Equipment OEMs. Poor integration of simulation models across the product life cycle, limited reuse of models between programs, and a variation of modeling maturity across various engineering disciplines result in lack of traceability and ultimately hampers development efficiency and product performance. Using system modeling and asset-centric data analytics solutions help develop and orchestrate coherent models to increase decision-making confidence and speed.

As of today, the “classical” V diagram is very well known among more and more engineers. Nonetheless its usage – even partly – is far away from the potential that it offers. One reason might be, that its benefits are not really obvious for the end-users. With this presentation, we will bring a new view by “closing the old V” and transferring it to a “closed ∇ (Nabla) cycle”. The focus of this contribution is on the opportunities to significantly increase the effectiveness of the approach of model-based development (MBD) by re-using engineering efforts in multiple ways.

Reducing aircraft design and development time is critical for all aircraft manufacturers, from urban air mobility and electric aircraft startups to military to commercial OEMs. In order to fully understand and optimize the complex systems of systems required in modern aircraft, aerospace engineers leverage a simulation method called Model-based Systems Engineering (MBSE). MBSE allows the evaluation of various types of vehicle systems to determine which best meet the mission requirements.

High accuracy sensors and encoders are integral components of an e-motor drive, greatly impacting the quality and efficiency on the system. A purpose-driven simulation approach is needed to account for all the physical interdependencies within these complex multi-domain systems.

Today, most products are complex mechatronic combinations of advanced technologies, mixing electrical parts with controllers and embedded software. To efficiently manage innovative products, organizations are turning to a Model-Based Development approach for concept studies, control design, multi-domain system simulation and optimization. To meet this demand, Altair’s simulation and optimization suite aims to transform design and decision-making throughout product lifecycles with their multi-disciplinary software tools and consultancy services.

Nowadays, it is more and more difficult to design electro-technique devices without having a look at thermal stress. In more and more applications (more electric vehicles, more electric aircrafts, …) designers need to reduce weight, cost, increase efficiency, and keep the same security factor. One possibility is to increase current for the same device, needing to check how to draw away the heat. This is why the classical approximations need to be cross checked with complementary analysis. These new tools have to be rapid and accurate in order to run parametric and even optimization analysis. There is also a need for fast model in order to check robustness versus driving cycles. The goal in this article is to review rapidly the different methods available, depending on the accuracy required and the solving speed. The method includes equivalent thermal circuits, Finite elements methods and CFD analysis.

Development tools and methods, such as simulation, are increasingly important to face and address the pressure of innovation. As an example, for successful new design methods and to show how simulation tools are used, Altair developed a virtual demonstrator based on a cobot application. This complex machine interacts with a human operator as the ultimate smart manufacturing equipment - to show how challenges in modern product design can be overcome.

When developing mobile machines, manufacturer focus is twofold: 1) Increasing a machine’s productivity and operator comfort 2) Improving its energy efficiency. To achieve these objectives, it is crucial to have an optimized system-of-systems and seamless interaction between subsystems. But how can manufacturers design components from varied disciplines like mechanics, electronics, and hydraulics to create a holistic overall system having optimal performance? The answer is digital transformation.