ProSIM R&D Pvt Ltd and Intec GmbH of Germany have entered into an alliance for virtual prototype vehicle testing tool, ‘SIMPACK’. Dr Shyamasundar, director of ProSIM, said: “ProSIM has brought this tech to India, customising it for Indian customer requirements. Using SIMPACK, engineers can quickly create models of all the components of a vehicle model. Databases and templates of engine, steering, suspension, transmission, differential, wheel and all such assemblies are readily available. The model can be created rapidly and digitally prototyped. This digital/virtual prototype can either be of an individual system or entire vehicle. Compared to the physical prototype which costs months to produce and several lakhs of rupees, a digital prototype can be generated within a matter of few days and at about five percent of the cost of a physical prototype.”
Virtual test bed
The prototype can be tested using SIMPACK as a virtual test bed. Designs can be changed to rectify faulty zones and once optimised and finalised by virtual prototyping, can be taken to the physical prototyping and testing stage.
Throwing more light on the tool, Intec director Marcus Schittelnham said, ‘’With SIMPACK it is possible to do 80 percent of the tests before a prototype is developed. This reduces the development cycle to just a few weeks or months. Moreover, one is sure how each part would function, the stress points, steering jerks on humps and sharp curves.’’
Dr Shyamasundar added, “SIMPACK as a multi-body dynamics (MBD) tool links seamlessly with all existing software tools. Furthermore, it links seamlessly with fatigue and durability analysis tools such as FeSAFE to predict the fatigue life of models
or systems.”
Talking about the company’s automotive clientele, he said: “We deal with all the major OEMs, both domestic and overseas, including car, truck, and off-road vehicle manufacturers. They comprise Ashok Leyland, GM, Mahindra & Mahindra, Maruti, Hyundai and TVS and Tier-1 suppliers such as American Axle, Delphi, GKN, Bosch, Rane, Kalyani and Sona. We are working with these companies to optimise their products and processes. For instance, we have optimised the wheel assembly of a HCV to reduce its weight by 12 percent. This optimised design had a higher safe speed limit and also longer life compared to the original design. We have also recently worked to optimise the door of a SUV and helped reduce its weight by 1.7kg. We have also optimised the forming processes to reduce two-stage operations to a single-stage operation, thus nearly doubling the productivity. Basically, we use simulation technology to add lot of value to our customers."
He added that Tata Motors uses its HEEDS optimisation tool and was able to effect significant design improvements in LCV and HCV cross-members. ProSIM is now working on longmembers using high-strength steels.
Dr Shyamasundar said, “Similar products in India are low-end; SIMPACK is the only product that can handle high frequency analysis, NVH and durability assessment. It has highly robust solvers that are accurate and fast. SIMPACK is the only software that has capabilities such as Software-in-loop (SIL), hardware-in-loop (HIL) and man-in-loop (MIL). Again SIMPACK is the only simulator that can export the physical model to control models to MATLAB/SIMULINK. SIMPACK is a product of its own kind in the market that can address some high end needs of auto industry.”