Finite Element Analysis Speeds Up Your Design Tempo
The traditional positioning of FE analysis
was as a safety check in the post design phase. However over the last
fifteen years or so the emphasis has switched to performance prediction
and an integral role in the design process.
Finite Element Analysis (FEA) is now a well-proven and accepted technique to predict the structural response of a design. Major producers from aerospace, automotive, maritime and civil engineering sectors, to name just a few, include FE Analysis in their design, manufacture and build process.
The traditional positioning of FE analysis was as a safety check in the post design phase. However over the last 15 years or so the emphasis has switched to performance prediction and an integral role in the design process. In the automotive industry both the design to manufacture time span and the number of design cycles has dropped dramatically. Typical targets are now six to 12 months to production. Physical tests are carried out in full collaboration with FE Analysis in pre-test and post test phases. This means less testing and more FE-based simulation of problem rectification and trade off design studies. The disciplines involved are widespread, including; Noise, Vibration and Harshness (NVH), Fatigue, Handling and Crash.
In the civil aerospace industry, one of the most safety critical, new airliners from Boeing and Airbus are being designed in a virtual environment. All computer-aided disciplines are being brought together to achieve this with FE Analysis providing a vital role. Our experience at Noran Engineering underlines this trend. Some case studies illustrate this.
SpaceDev
SpaceDev uses NEiNastran FEA software to analyze its satellites and
avionics for launch survivability, and to optimize rocket components
for various critical structural functions while meeting weight targets.
FEA is essential because the short development periods, stringent
budgets and high cost of prototypes and testing do not allow for
prolonged or highly iterative design and test cycles.
SpaceDev provided the rocket motor for Scaled Composites and the highly publicized first commercial suborbital flight of SpaceShipOne. NEiNastran FE software was applied on a number of rocket motor components to optimize and verify several aspects of the design, such as, shape, thickness, rib profile, and location. The motor bulkhead successfully passed on its initial qualification test.
NEiNastran was used to conduct a nonlinear structural analysis on the rocket motor bulkhead for SpaceShipOne by SpaceDev. Multiple test firings have proven out the design. High testing costs and tight design schedules make passing the initial qualification tests a must in the design process.
Minardi Formula 1 Team
The Minardi team uses Noran Engineering NEiNastran in an effort to
improve the analysis and simulation of the design and cut down the huge
investments they were making in physical composite chassis prototypes.
They now create everything within the digital environment--even down to
the smallest fiber in the materials.
It is important that the FEA software is flexible enough to manage the existing model, able to solve the problems thrown at it, and able to give accurate and detailed post processing information, so that effective modifications on material choice, lay-up sequences, local reinforcements, foams, bulkheads, and inserts can be easily tested and understood by the engineers.
Minardi reports that the NEiNastran implementation has given them an advantage by having the new chassis designed and tested with minimal cost and at high accuracy. They are confident that this will allow Minardi to gain an advantage in the 2005 Formula 1 season.
Minardi Formula 1 Team uses NEiNastran to analyze its monocoque chassis. Composed of high performance carbon-epoxy composites with aluminum or aramidic honeycomb core, It's critical to get the right orientation on the fibers within the material while minimizing the ply overlapping and cuts.. Getting any of these aspects wrong, affects performance.
Conclusion
The future for FEA simulation is broadening as many more companies and
industries embrace the clear advantages of FEA, and the technology is
being used by a greater proportion of non-specialists. The challenges
for the FE Software companies are to provide tools for the engineering
designer as well as the specialist analyst to give robust solutions and
to keep pace with the simulation requirements as they become more
sophisticated in modeling real world events.
