Virtual testing for vehicle components
Comfort in cars is a critical consideration to boosting sales margins. Without comfortable interiors that reduce vibration and noise levels considerably, automobiles would simply not sell effectively. To increase competitiveness, the auto industry is compelled to manufacture cars that are the proverbial "dream" in comfort levels. Low-weight cars therefore must meet with both the restrictions on fuel emissions set by the EUCAR Master Plan in Europe as well as satisfy consumer demands in comfort, performance and safety. With this in mind, a consortium of automobile manufacturers have consolidated their resources to develop a validation system in a virtual environment that will tackle such considerations as the traditional trade-off between automobile weight and structural-body integrity in regard to reinforcements and fittings, road based vibration levels, the introduction of composite, high tech materials as well as the reduction in prototyping constraints. Utilising the Multiobjective Design Optimisation methodology, manufactures are now able to simulate vehicle structures, body and sub-frames in relation to vibration tests and real characteristics of structural flexibility. Data on such is provided by either Finite Element models or experimental characterisation. Both the entire vehicle and the single component features such as shock absorbers, bushings and hydromounts can be validated and run through the simulation testing. By profiling the performance of individual parts in conjunction with overall vehicle performance, designers obtain an effective tool to validate design specs, reducing the costly, time consuming current means. As a further step, these computation and experimental methodologies should create wider applications into the vehicle design process.
