An isogeometric approach to streamlining simulation-based automotive engineering

A significant problem in the automotive industry is the complexity of setting up and running Finite Element Analysis (FEA) simulations for various aspects of a design. Translating Computer-Aided Design (CAD) models to FEA models is an error-prone process commonly performed by expert users. Consequently, the FEA simulation is often relegated to the end of the design process as a “pass/fail” test which validates, for example, mandatory safety criteria, but contributes little to the overall design process. The Isogeometrx toolset promises to streamline the CAD design/FEA simulation workflow, accelerate simulations by up to 500x, and return more accurate results. Isogeometrx will deliver fundamentally new approaches to CAD and FEA through a novel multi-user cloud computing framework that will dramatically simplify the interaction between engineering design and analysis workflows. Leveraging HPC hosted in the cloud, Isogeometrx will be able to deliver scalable, customized solutions through an intuitive and simple-to-use web interface. The Isogeometrx approach leverages isogeometric analysis (IGA). IGA generalizes FEA by using the CAD description directly in the analysis. This eliminates defeaturing and mesh generation steps and simplifies the process of going from a CAD model to a simulation while improving overall solution accuracy. A recent patentable breakthrough by Isogeometrx called U-splines is key to commercializing IGA. U-splines are an interchangeable and integrated geometric representation for CAD and FEA. During this project, Isogeometrx will collaborate with Ford and LSTC (makers of the automotive industry-standard LS-DYNA crash simulation software) to validate the potential of U-splines to simplify Ford’s workflow for crash simulations, the most complex and computationally demanding application of FEA in the automotive simulation pipeline. The Isogeometrx toolset will shorten product time to market and result in better designs. By developing a cloud-based solution, Isogeometrx can provide a multi-user web interface to allow teams of engineers to collaboratively design and prepare models for analysis. Eliminating the defeaturing and meshing processes will remove the most time-intensive and error-prone parts of the simulation workflow, greatly simplifying the user experience so that even non-experts can build and run analyses. Additionally, because defeaturing is guided only by the engineer’s intuition as to which features are most important, errors can be introduced into the simulation; removing the need for defeaturing removes this source of human error. By leveraging the power of HPC hosted in the cloud, ordinary laptops can be used to prepare complex models for analysis, run the simulation, and view results. Many other industries share fundamental requirements and are traditionally served by the same CAD/FEA software used by automotive. In particular, the Isogeometrx toolset will be directly applicable in the aerospace and marine industries.