ACADEMIA

Advanced CAE Software Automates Assembly Process for Virtual Truck Models in Finite-Element Simulations: Altair Engineering, Inc., a leading global provider of technology and services that strengthen client innovation and decision-making, today announced that Sweden's Scania, one of the world's leading manufacturers of trucks and buses for heavy transport applications as well industrial and marine engines, has chosen the HyperWorks suite of computer-aided engineering (CAE) software for pre-processing tasks in their truck customizing process. Scania began implementing the Altair HyperWorks products after an intensive benchmark study. The first HyperWorks product to be introduced to Scania's development cycle was HyperMesh, and then a custom, semi-automatic pre-processing manager toolbox, used for pre-processing tasks was implemented. In the future, Scania plans to extend their use of HyperWorks and include such products as OptiStruct for component optimization. HyperWorks products are currently in use at Scania in the Chassis, Engine, Transmission and Bus Calculation Departments. "In order to be faster and more productive in the model-building phase of our development cycle, we had to choose a new pre-processor. We looked at a number of different products," said Martin Edberg, manager, Calculation Group Chassis Department at Scania, Sweden. "Finally, after extensive benchmarking, we chose HyperWorks because it appeared best-suited to our tasks. Before using HyperWorks, we spent a great deal of time pre-processing our data. Now, with HyperWorks, I expect to save a lot of time in this phase of the development process. The saved time can then be spent on other important tasks, such as on more analysis runs later in the development cycle. The change to HyperWorks has significantly increased our simulation efficiency and robustness, which is especially critical to the truck-customization process. In addition to the product, Altair Sweden also impressed us with their outstanding support and their work on the semi-automatic pre-processing manager toolbox. We use the toolbox in the chassis department to further automate pre-processing tasks in virtual truck model assembly." Altair HyperWorks is an integrated CAE framework containing best-in-class solutions for complete virtual product development. It delivers an open, programmable platform that is easy to integrate into existing processes. HyperMesh is a high-performance finite-element pre- and post-processor that allows engineers to analyze product design performance in a highly interactive and visual environment. "We are very pleased to see Scania using the HyperWorks suite for their truck modeling processes," said Dr Hakan Carlsson-Ekman, managing director at Altair Engineering AB, Sweden. "All of our customers see the need to improve their productivity and the need to save time within their development processes. HyperWorks offers great potential for time savings from the use of its meshing tools for advanced solid geometries and morphing capabilities. In addition, it offers a comprehensive solver-neutral data model for easy conversion into various formats and helps eliminate the need for manual edits. The results are better FE models, a more consistent CAE process and reduced time within the development cycle. Custom manufacturers such as Scania soon see a return on their investment in HyperWorks."