Transforming Design & Decision Making by Applying Simulation Throughout Product Lifecycles
Seen here presenting at the UK Altair Technology Conference 2019, James R. Scapa brings more than 35 years of engineering experience to his dual role of Chairman and CEO of Altair Engineering, Inc., a title he has held since the company’s inception. In 1985, Mr. Scapa and two partners founded a small consulting activity in the new field of computer-aided-engineering. Today, the company employs over 2,000 employees with more than 82 offices throughout 25 countries.
Through Mr. Scapa’s leadership, the company is now a leading global provider of simulation technology and engineering services that empower client innovation and decision-making. With over 5,000 clients, Altair serves the automotive, aerospace, government and defense, heavy equipment industry sectors as well as the consumer products, shipbuilding, energy, electronics, life sciences, and architecture engineering and construction markets. Prior to establishing Altair, Scapa served as an engineering consultant to the automotive industry, beginning his career with Ford Motor Company in 1978. Scapa holds a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Columbia University and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Michigan.
Presentations, Videos
BMW Motorrad
By automating the crankshaft modeling process using Altair SimLab, BMW Motorrad, the motorcycle division of BMW was able to significantly reduce their model creation time, and enable accuracy in budgetary forecasting and planning. As a result of making it an inhouse resource, they were able to gain flexibility and consistency in model quality, with a high-degree of efficiency with iterations.
Customer Stories
E-motor Design using Multiphysics Optimization
Today, an e-motor cannot be developed just by looking at the motor as an isolated unit; tight requirements concerning the integration into both the complete electric or hybrid drivetrain system and perceived quality must be met. Multi-disciplinary and multiphysics optimization methodologies make it possible to design an e-motor for multiple, completely different design requirements simultaneously, thus avoiding a serial development strategy, where a larger number of design iterations are necessary to fulfill all requirements and unfavorable design compromises need to be accepted.
The project described in this paper is focused on multiphysics design of an e-motor for Porsche AG. Altair’s simulation-driven approach supports the development of e-motors using a series of optimization intensive phases building on each other. This technical paper offers insights on how the advanced drivetrain development team at Porsche AG, together with Altair, has approached the challenge of improving the total design balance in e-motor development.
Customer Stories, Technical Papers
Schneider Electric
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.
Customer Stories
Multi-Physics Design and Optimization of a Complex Radar System
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.
Technical Papers
Fallbrook Technologies
Traction-based, patented NuVinci® transmission is a continuously variable planetary (CVP) technology enabling performance and efficiency improvements for machines that use an engine, pump, motor, or geared transmission systems. Fallbrook Technologies has been working on improving oil flow inside the NuVinci products as it affects the transmission’s efficiency, durability, power, capacity, and cost. Altair worked with Amazon Web Services (AWS), a secure cloud services platform, to provide an integrated solution to Fallbrook including advanced GPU hardware, high-performance computing (HPC) and the nanoFluidX software through industry-leading workload management and job scheduler Altair PBS Professional™.
Customer Stories
Form Follows Function - thyssenkrupp AG - Reinventing the Elevator Concept
Christian Kehrer presents on behalf of thyssenkrupp Elevator AG.
2017, thyssenkrupp Elevator AG has presented the MULTI concept, the world’s first rope-free elevator. The drive is ensured by a linear electromagnetic motor. To enable an economically feasible operation, it is necessary that the total weight of the lift does not exceed a certain limit. Designing the overall system of the MULTI lift according to this weight specification is one of the major challenge for thyssenkrupp Elevator.
In this presentation, an overview of the partnership between thyssenkrupp Elevator and Altair, the chosen design partner since the early phase of development, will be introduced. Thereby, different aspects of the simulation driven design process will be highlighted, taking into account several tools throughout diverse stages of the development cycle.
Presentations, Videos
Aspects of Heterogeneous System Models in Industrial Applications
Presentation by Robert Höpler, Founder of SysOpt GmbH.
Heterogeneity can be present on various stages in system modelling and simulation. A system model is often called ‘multi-domain’, when different technical domains are present, such as hydraulics, mechanics, and control. When it comes to simulation this is just the surface of this domain level. Various mathematical and modelling formalisms can lie underneath which lead to different mathematical equations of motion, numerical properties, and computational complexity. On a specification level we see the choice between different modelling formalisms and modelling languages, libraries, coding styles, and authoring tools. Often there is a need to mix these. Decisions taken here strongly influence expressiveness of the models and ability for code generation and deeply impact software engineering topics such as development processes and exchange of models. Multi-domain approaches such as Modelica try to reconcile some these sources of heterogeneity. On an executional level we find classical desktop system simulation but more complex settings such as co-simulation, parallelization, real-time systems, and optimization which constrain numerical stability and precision and simulation speed. There might be an intricate feedback to the specification level, e.g., when modelling for specific solvers. Efforts like the Functional Mockup Interface (FMI) address some of these aspects and focus on interfacing and exchange of executional models. Prevalent system simulation tools are usually mature and controllable – as long as one stays within the desired scope of the tool. Following some examples we show how practical considerations influence design decisions and the choice of tooling.
Presentations, Videos
Simulation of a Gas Turbine and Generator System Under Steady State and Transient Conditions using Altair Activate
Presentation by Tomas Suguinoshita Quirino, GT2 Tecnologia.
This work presents the strategy created by GT2 Tecnologia to simulate the dynamics of a system comprised by a gas turbine coupled with an electrical generator, which is a typical schema for thermoelectrical powerplants. The mathematical models of the gas turbine and the generator are based on physical principles, such as mass and energy conservation, as well as on correlations from the literature, including heat transfer coefficients and tables of thermodynamic properties. The models have been developed and tested in native languages (Fortran 90 and C++) and their integration with Altair Activate is achieved through the Custom C Block functionality. The system is first tested in Activate in a base load scenario, being then subjected to load changes. This work discusses the test results and shows the advantages of using sT Activate in the simulation of thermal and electrical phenomena.
Presentations, Videos
Fast and Reliable Software Interfaces to Speed up the Design of Electric Motors
Presentation by Luigi Rizzi, Technical Director at SPIN Applicazioni Magnetiche.
The car industry is undergoing an unprecedented shift, between electrification, car sharing and autonomous drive. Car makers are going to roll out several zero-emission models in the next few years and their engineering departments are going to face new challenges. Engineering methodologies and good-design practices related to the well-known internal combustion engine must be reviewed and adapted to the electric propulsion system, considering multi-physic analyses in order to cover the various aspects of the vehicle performance. In this presentation a fast and reliable solution for the design of electric motors is shown.
A powerful software interface has been prepared in order to help the engineers to setup the model, define targets and boundary conditions, include multi-disciplinary verifications and collect analyses results. Using this tool, designers can easily and quickly perform electromagnetic analysis with the Altair software for electromagnetics, Flux, verify the performance in terms of delivered power, torque, losses and efficiency, check the thermal behaviour by means of equivalent thermal networks built in Activate and at the same time verify the stress levels and the NVH performance with OptiStruct, in order to define the early stage details of the product development. Activate plays a key role to speed-up the analysis because allows to obtain fast and accurate thermal information reducing the time usually required to simulate this domain.
Presentations, Videos
Virtual Tryout - Digitalization for an Efficient Commissioning of Forming Tools
Presentation by Dr. Lars Penter, Head of Machine Technology at University of Dresden.
The life cycle of a forming tool consists of five major phases. It starts with the process and tool design followed by its assembly, the ramp-up and serial as well as spare part production. Due to every increasing system complexities, various simulation tools accompany today’s tool life cycle. A popular term in the current world of production is the “Digital twin”. It is a simulation model, which contains at least two sub-models of different physical disciplines, connects different time scales and regularly synchronizes data with the real system. Such a model must be a highly accurate white box model.The presentation will address the generation of a virtual twin on the example of the virtual try-out of forming tools. The simulation model employs RADIOSS (for forming process simulation), MotionSolve (for multi-body simulation of machine mechanics) or Activate (for more complex multi-domain modelling of mechanics, hydraulics and electrical components). Currently, the digital twin allows for computing the interactions between forming process and die cushion. This enables the calculation of correlations between die-cushion cylinder forces and flange draw-in. The presentation shows how optimizing these cylinder forces in HyperStudy benefits the final part quality and shortens real tool try-out time.
Presentations, Videos
Multi-disciplinary System Simulation for Model-Based Development
Customers share their success stories illustrating how Altair Model-Based Development technology, and especially Altair Activate™, help them design better products faster. These customers give special attention to simulating multi-disciplinary performance aspects of their products as a system-of-systems. Given the complexity of today’s smart products, this often involves a combination of mechanical, electrical & electronic, and/or software aspects – and thus leverages both 1D and 3D models simulated together.
Presentations recorded at the 2018 Global ATC in Paris, France on October 18, 2018.
Presentations, Videos
Transient Analysis of Switched-Reluctance Motor Drive by FE Model Co-Simulation
Presentation by Lino Di Leonardo, University of L'Aquila.
This presentation showcases an analysis technique of electric motor drive based on transient simulation tools and embedded finite element motor modeling (co-simulation). A couple of software tools, Altair Flux and Activate, are employed suitably interfaced each other. The first one allows the computation of the motor electromagnetic behavior using a finite element model, while the second one allows the dynamic simulation of the control and feeding converter. The interacting use of these tools allows a detailed prediction of the motor transient behavior under a given control strategy and drive scheme. As test case a multi-phase Switched Reluctance motor for aerospace application is considered.
The results demonstrate that the co-simulation procedure allows taking into account not negligible phenomena, such as dynamic torque ripple, usually not considered in similar studies. Hence, co-simulation analysis represents a significant step for the integrate design of the motor and control, as well as a meaningful tool for electrical drives education.
Presentations, Videos
Redesign and Topological Optimization of Transtibial Prosthesis by Reverse Engineering
Presentation by Eduardo Bajo, FEA Engineer at IDAERO.
Presentation of a project consisting of redesign with topology optimization of a transtibial leg prosthesis. It is a project in which the reverse engineering workflow has been followed, starting with 3D digitization of an amputated limb and real old prosthesis. Subsequently, they have been reconstructed in 3D to simplify and applied topology optimization, taking into account the biomechanics of human gait, using Altair Inspire software. Finally, the reconstruction of the optimization through organic design has been carried out with the software Evolve.
This project won the 1st prize in the II International Industrial Design Contest UPM-Technical University of Madrid.
During the presentation it will be presented the new 2019 Edition of the Industrial Design Contest UPM, open to students and professionals, sponsored by Altair.
Presentations, Videos
EV Thermal Analysis: 1D and 3D Model Integration for Cockpit and Batteries
Presentation by Massimiliana Carello, from Beond & Politecnico di Torino.
Nowadays automotive climate control systems are evolving at a rapid pace to meet the overall vehicle requirements. System evaluation is one of the major requests currently faced by the automotive manufacturers and their suppliers. Thermal comfort, convenience and range are equally important user expectations, even if they may represent “opposed” performance for a modern EV, especially in an urban driving cycle.
In this framework, to achieve the expected targets and limiting the time-to-market and costs, a complete vehicle thermal model is to be developed to evaluate the cockpit thermal request for occupants' comfort at different ambient temperatures as well as solar radiation. Furthermore, the battery thermal management is to be investigated, to avoid cells damages and deterioration. The aim of this technical presentation is to highlight the integration capabilities of a lumped parameters model (1D) developed with Altair Activate for fast simulations and a CFD model (3D) of the battery liquid cooling system developed in AcuSolve. The Models realized are validated using experimental data.
Presentations, Videos
Mabe
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%.
Customer Stories
Plot Types
2D and 3D plots in Altair Compose - plot, scatter, plot3, surf, contour, contour3, waterfall, polar, semilog, loglog, area, bar
Training Materials, Videos
Defining Functions
Defining Functions in Altair Compose - variable length argument lists; use of nargin, nargout, varargin, global, and feval
Training Materials, Videos
Data Types
Data Types in Altair Compose - Complex, Double, Strings, Structures, Cell Arrays
Training Materials, Videos
Leverage the Power of Simulation-Driven Design
In order to stay competitive while pushing the envelope on innovation, simulation must drive the entire design process from the early concept design phase all the way to production. Leveraging robust simulation—including motion analysis, finite element analysis, and manufacturing feasibility analysis—early and often has become a necessary driver to innovation and is helping numerous industry-leading companies to meet quality, cost, and time-to-market targets.
Webinars
Activate e-Mobility Series
This series discusses various aspects of system modeling for e-Mobility studies from overall performance simulations including fuel economy, to model refinements for electric engines and/or vehicle dynamics.
Fuel economy simulations
Activate model of a series-parallel hybrid electric vehicle powertrain to evaluate fuel economy and system performance.
Increasing fidelity of vehicle dynamics models
Activate models of a series-parallel hybrid electric vehicle powertrain coupled with CarSim via the Functional Mock-up Interface.
Increasing fidelity of electric engine models
Comparison of 3 different engine models for an HEV vehicle: Park equations, full 3D Flux model, table method; later one generated by Flux2D.
PMSM simple speed control
Activate model of a permanent magnet synchronous motor (PMSM) with vector control for speed or torque.
Training Materials, Videos
Model-Based Development with Altair
Today, most products are a combination of mechanical, electrical/electronic, and controls/embedded software. In order to manage product complexity and ensure innovation, organizations turn to a model-based development approach for concept studies, control design, multi-domain system simulation and optimization.
Altair recently released a unified solution (solidThinking Compose, Activate and Embed) for math and system modeling. Watch this on-demand webinar to learn more.
Webinars
An Interview with Ben Farmer of Robot Bike Co. Discussing the Development of their R160 Bike with Altair
Robot Bike Company (RBC) is a new startup established in the UK by aerospace engineers and mountain biking enthusiasts who identified the potential of combining additive manufacturing technologies with carbon fiber to, in their own words, “create the best bike frames possible”. To deliver a customizable, lightweight, high strength bike, RBC’s frame was intended to be created from carbon fiber, a material very common in the industry. The carbon fiber tubes, as well as the bike’s other components and systems were to be joined by additively manufactured titanium ‘nodes’, manufactured based on the specification of individual riders. Altair ProductDesign’s engineering team was tasked with optimizing these joints, which included the head tube, seat post and chain stay lugs, to ensure they were as lightweight as possible and still able to withstand the forces of downhill mountain bike riding, all while being fit for the AM process.
Videos
HyperWorks’ Simulation Technology Enables Godrej to Streamline Sheet Metal Tooling Processes
Using Altair HyperForm, HyperWorks’ stamping simulation technology, Godrej was able to design and
fine-tune a successful tool for a rear fender, while minimizing die testing time by reducing physical
trials. Leveraging numerical analysis, Godrej was also able to predict the size, shape and location of
the blank accurately. HyperForm’s ability to visualize failure in incremental simulation enabled them to
finalize the draw bead location and characteristics.
Customer Stories
