Industrial Factory Automation

Pratt and Miller has used a combination of software from Safe Technology and its partner Ansys to redesign a cracked brake pedal face. The team used engineering simulation products from Ansys and fe-safe fatigue analysis software developed by Safe Technology to explore design alternatives and identify an optimal solution that strengthened the critical part without excessive weight or compromising on race performance. The open architecture of Ansys technology combined with the advanced fatigue analysis capabilities of fe-safe software enabled Pratt and Miller to quickly identify an optimal redesign that met stringent fatigue life targets. In world-class auto racing, mechanics often modify the car's brake pedal face to comply with driver preference. Moving the pedal off centre introduces a significant twisting moment - a situation that induces stresses and can lead to material fatigue. Pratt and Miller Engineering, a force in motorsports and high-level engineering, discovered th...

Volkswagen (VW), a German car manufacturer, has signed a master agreement with Ansys to use its multi-physics engineering simulation solutions. The decision to use Ansys software was based on its ability to address the bandwidth of applications and the fact that the Ansys Workbench platform allows for substantial process compression. In its research and development, VW uses structural mechanics, fluid dynamics and explicit analysis tools from Ansys to perform studies on climate control, headlights and engine internal flow. 'The Ansys Workbench concept is convincing because we can easily do coupled simulations and, in this way, accurately account for the entire range of physics,' said Dr Ralph Sundermeier, head of the department for computer-aided-engineering methods at VW.

Italian car manufacturer Ferrari is using software from Ansys to optimise automobile design and performance. Ferrari is using software from Ansys to predict thermal comfort in a vehicle's interior. In order to assess comfort qualitatively and quantitatively, the car manufacturer worked with Pisa University in Italy to define thermal comfort indices and to evaluate the general aspects of thermal comfort. Since an experimental approach was not practical, the investigating engineering team used fluid dynamics software from Ansys to perform the calculations. According to Giovanni Lombardi, professor of aeroplane aerodynamics and vehicle aerodynamics at Pisa University, the Ansys engineering simulation software rendered accurate and reliable results. The research team based its resulting 'global thermal comfort index' on several local indices: the thermal equilibrium of the human body, discomfort caused by drafts and horizontal and vertical temperature gradients. Various facto...

Ansys has brought out ANSYS 12.0, its engineering simulation platform and integrated technology that supports Simulation Driven Product DevelopmentGBP. Smart Engineering SimulationGBP from ANSYS 12.0 dramatically compresses design and analysis cycles, enabling parametric studies and design optimisation across multiple physics, increasing the accuracy and completeness of virtual prototypes and capturing and re-using simulation processes and data. The ANSYS 12.0 software suite supports fast product-design and validation in a complete, highly usable virtual environment that captures complex and coupled physical phenomena - providing a high degree of confidence in product designs. ANSYS 12.0 allows engineers to access an unequalled depth and breadth of technology to compress their design processes and to create innovative products rapidly and cost effectively - while reducing the time and money invested in physical-prototype development and testing. At the foundation of ANSYS 12.0 is t...

SMC has appointed Idac to develop a macro that will allow SMC engineers to predict the deflections and stresses seen by the telescopic communication masts the company manufactures. SMC is regularly required to design and manufacture telescopic communication masts, which are customised to handle customer-specified load configurations. The deflections of the mast must be kept within a very tight tolerance for proper operation. Stresses also need to be kept within specified limits. SMC required an automated procedure to analyse different design configurations based on a number of predefined design variables under a given set of loads. This would require a set of input design variables to be supplied by a 'user' to the Ansys software, which would then create the Finite Element (FE) Model to be analysed, solve the FE Model and post-process the results into a set of text files and graphical plots for final assessment by SMC. Idac was required to develop a macro that would allow SMC ...