Making the Most of Simulation in the Design Process

Advanced simulation techniques have gained popularity as essential tools in the product design process, enabling companies to streamline workflows, reduce costs, and enhance product quality. This comprehensive guide explores the extent to which simulation-driven product development can transform your design processes, the tools you can use to make your transition as pain-free as possible, and the best practices for organization-wide rollout.

Understanding advanced simulation in product design

What is advanced simulation?

Advanced simulation involves using sophisticated computational models to predict how a product will perform under various conditions. By integrating simulation with CAD (computer-aided design) and CAE (computer-aided engineering) tools, designers can visualize and test their concepts in a virtual environment. This integration allows for more informed decision-making and reduces the risk of costly design errors.

The business value of platform-connected simulation

The business value proposition of platform-connected simulation is clearer now than ever before. With the introduction of more stringent quality and compliance regulations, organizations are investing in developing more sustainable products. Proper, platform-integrated use of simulation tools empowers decision-makers to design more sustainable, cost-effective, and better-performing products.

Summarizing the benefits of simulation in the design process

Now, more than ever before, simulation tools are vital for ensuring sustainable product design, validation, and manufacture. And proper, platform-integrated use of simulation tools can empower decision-makers in the design of more sustainable, more cost-effective, and better-performing products.

Integration between CAD and CAE enables design engineers to explore, amend, and lock in the best design ideas at very early stages. It reduces the risk of costly design errors or oversights and supports more detailed design option exploration.

• Iterate faster and earlier in the design process.
• Reduce time, effort, and cost spent on prototyping and redesign.
• Identify potential design flaws before physical prototyping, saving time and resources.
• Minimize material waste and reduce the need for multiple prototypes.
• Optimize designs for performance, safety, and reliability.

It’s best practice to bring simulation into the design process early on. This allows engineers to explore, amend, and lock in the best design ideas at very early stages. This reduces the risk of costly design errors or oversights and supports more detailed design option exploration.

Are hand calculations and physical tests really more reliable?

Existing products

Many companies employ a methodology that looks at their existing, working product and makes it bigger or smaller. While the historical data is useful and experience gained from this product gives some confidence in the ability of others, it doesn’t necessarily guide the design in a way that will make it better. It simply allows the development to make another version of something that is good enough, rather than something best suited to current requirements. In turn, this provides a very stagnant development process and is unlikely to yield cost, timing, or performance gains that ensure the company remains competitive.

Spreadsheets and Hand Calculations

A traditional approach to assessing a design, engineers are comfortable with hand calculations and trust the feeling of reliability and accuracy they can achieve. This is especially true when compared with unfamiliar simulation tools. Hand calculations often require the engineer to make significant assumptions on geometry, materials, or load criteria. This limits their impact and places them more in line with a rough estimation than an accurate analysis. However, there is still a feeling that the tried and tested method is more suitable, which leads to questions about the validity of a simulation result. The value of the simulation lies in its ability to highlight other relevant areas of the design, though, allowing visualization of the stress in a system of the full path of a load.

Testing prototypes

As with hand calculations, many engineers believe that test results are more real and often hold them in higher esteem than simulation results. But even though tests give excellent data and the desired realism of the situation, they give only one result and reference point. If the design passed the test but was about to fail, it would not be shown. What if the part passed the test and could realistically take twice the load? Is this something to shout about to give a competitive advantage, or is the product overengineered and cost savings could be made? What if you needed to assess a product against the upper and lower boundaries of its tolerances in wall thickness or material properties, for example?

This single point of reference can’t answer that, and when testing can be so expensive to conduct, it’s not feasible to repeat this process many times over. With integrated simulation, engineers can parametrize their data points and assess the product over a far greater range of variables, usually in far less time than a single physical test. With simulation built into the design process, continuous iteration, and understanding of the bigger picture, most risks can be designed out of parts earlier in the lifecycle.

Where in the design process can simulation be most effective?

For those that employ this tool in the early stages of development, large gains can be achieved. Integrating simulation software with your design engineers gives them another dimension to explore with their developments and ensure that they have the right tools at the right time to inform their decisions. We often view product development cycles as linear processes where we deliver the final design to a simulation or manufacturing engineer to ‘build’ it and assess its suitability. By this time, a host of important questions have already been answered, and the product goes through a simple pass-or-fail gateway. But what if those previous decisions affect the cost, manufacturing time, or performance? What if they could run in parallel with development to improve one or many of these aspects?

Passing a simple gateway at this stage to say the product is ‘good enough’ would mean missing out on these gains entirely. Although the cost commitments at the design stage are low compared to the project’s overall expenditure, the shadow cast by the design commitment is easily the biggest. Investing a little more at this stage empowers your engineers, allowing them to create better designs for more suitable products that are likely to reap greater rewards further along this lifecycle.

Finding the shortest development route

The cheapest way to develop a new product is for the process to be as linear as possible between concept and manufacture. Each time designers make decisions on the project, there’s a chance that the path they take may lead them off on a tangent. Integrating simulation tool sets into the process means that these decisions can be validated sooner rather than later. This means that although they may have taken a path that deviates from this perfect development direction, it can be quickly assessed and, if needed, resolved. The length of the ‘line’ between concept and solution can be interpreted as either time or cost. And, by using an iterative verification process, it’s easy to see how the total length could reduce significantly, as shown in the graphic below.

Another benefit to a combined process is the amount of experience that the engineer gains as they go through this journey. When able to check their own decisions as they go along, they better understand why they are making them and how they affect the development. It’s then easier to see why an engineer with more experience will introduce certain features into their designs. The feedback loop that’s generated means the engineer can ask a question of the system, receive a valid response, and then take that knowledge on board for future developments.

How best to use CAE tools during your design process

Which tools and techniques to use?

Simulation tools such as FEA (finite element analysis) and CFD (computational fluid dynamics) simulate real-world conditions. These techniques allow for detailed analysis of structural integrity, thermal performance, and fluid dynamics. By simulating, validating, and optimizing designs, engineers can bring the powerful predictive capability of advanced simulation to the forefront of the design process.

Iterative verification and feedback loops

Methods development emphasizes the use of iterative verification processes, which are essential for reducing both the time and cost associated with product development. These processes create feedback loops that enable continuous learning and improvement. Engineers can validate their decisions in real-time, gaining insights into the impact of their choices on the overall development trajectory.

Enhancing engineer experience and expertise

As engineers navigate through the development process, methods development provides them with the tools and frameworks to check their decisions continuously. This not only enhances their understanding of why certain decisions are made, but also how these decisions influence the final product. Over time, this experience becomes invaluable, as engineers with a deeper understanding of the development process can introduce innovative features and improvements into their designs.

Creating a feedback loop for continuous improvement

The feedback loop generated through methods development is a powerful mechanism for continuous improvement. Engineers can pose questions to the system, receive valid responses, and incorporate this knowledge into future projects. This iterative learning process ensures that the development team is constantly evolving, leading to more efficient and effective product development cycles.

Overcoming challenges in simulation implementation

Implementing simulation as part of the design process can present several challenges. We’ve spent a lot of time over the past few years addressing these with various organizations and found that the following approaches tend to yield the best results.

• Ensure adequate resources are dedicated to simulation activities, including software and skilled personnel.
• Invest in training and development to equip your team with the necessary skills.
• Establish a culture of innovation and openness to new technologies.

How can TECHNIA help?

Our team of experts works closely with organizations around the world to design and implement ModSim strategies tailored to specific needs. We provide end-to-end project management, ensuring seamless integration of simulation tools into your existing workflows.

We’ll help you to connect all aspects of product development, from design and simulation to manufacturing and data management, enabling real-time collaboration and data-driven decision-making. Throughout this process, our team of simulation experts will provide top-tier consultancy, helping you navigate any engineering challenges with confidence.

From there, we’ll offer ongoing support through our comprehensive customer care and a wide range of training programs designed to equip your teams with the skills needed to maximize the benefits of your brand-new concurrent engineering solution.

If you’re interested in learning more about simulation-driven design, reach out to our experts to discuss how platforms like 3DEXPERIENCE deliver simulation tool sets directly to your engineers, making integration straight-forward and simple.