SCIENCE

HyperWorks template-based approach accelerates engineers through the analytical NVH process from start to finish

Design and testing engineers will have their first opportunity to view Altair Engineering's next-generation NVH Director during the 2011 SAE Noise and Vibration Conference in Grand Rapids, Mich., May 16-19 at the DeVos Place Convention Center. Altair Engineering, Inc., a leading global provider of simulation technology and engineering services, developed NVH Director as a tailored optimization and process automation application to improve vehicle noise, vibration and harshness (NVH) performance.

Altair will demonstrate NVH Director in booth 222 at the conference, as well as during an evening reception on May 17 from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. in the convention center Overlook Rooms G and H. Conference attendees can register for the reception by visiting the events section of the Altair HyperWorks website.

As a specialized solution offering within Altair's HyperWorks computer-aided engineering software suite, NVH Director unites all the pertinent HyperWorks applications within a user profile tuned specifically for the needs of the NVH engineering community. Its purpose is to help engineering teams reduce the time required to build a simulation model, analyze test and simulation data, and optimize performance. NVH Director offers a customizable built-in workflow that allows the user to see the right information required for developing the NVH attribute at each step of the process and brings the most critical functions and features for each task to the forefront.

NVH Director is available at no additional cost for HyperWorks clients, and draws the same number of HyperWorks licensing units normally used to support daily design and optimization activities.

"This latest addition to our Director solution series spans modeling, assembly, load set-up, solving, post-processing of test and simulation data and optimization - all the elements of CAE-driven NVH development," said Altair Executive Director - Global Automotive Anthony J. Norton. "NVH Director is built exclusively around the use case of NVH engineering for the full vehicle, supporting engineers through the process, from start to finish, more efficiently than ever before."

The NVH Director process incorporates HyperMesh, HyperView, HyperGraph, OptiStruct and the solver power of RADIOSS--all part of the HyperWorks suite--to build, view, analyze and optimize the simulated vehicle. Noise and vibration solutions in NVH Director benefit especially from the tight integration between RADIOSS and OptiStruct, so the process incorporates optimization from the outset, bridging the gap from simply performance evaluation to optimizing the initial design.

"NVH is an important differentiator in vehicle design that can significantly shape a consumer's perception of a vehicle brand," Norton observed. "While safety is crucial, customers are increasingly seeking more refined vehicles in every automotive segment. NVH Director will assist program teams in meeting the high requirements of a demanding marketplace."

In addition to demonstrating NVH Director, Altair engineers Alan Duncan and Jianmin Guan will be among the NVH industry experts who will conduct a workshop on "Structure-Borne NVH" at the conference on May 18 from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m.  This workshop will cover the fundamental concepts of the vibratory motion of automotive structures that result in tactile and acoustic response, with strategies for assuring NVH performance during the design process, along with countermeasures for issues that may arise. The workshop includes a live demonstration of structure-borne noise concepts.