By Paul Bemis, Vice President of eBusiness

The concept of using simulation early in the product design process is not new, dating back to an illfated attempt to build an “Analysis Workstation” by the now defunct Aries Corporation in the early 1980s. Widespread use of simulation did not rapidly materialize, however, because of two main issues: the desktop computer price/performance ratio was insufficient to address the task, and the simulation tools of the day were so specialized and complex that their use was limited to the advanced analyst. With the dramatic improvement in computing price/performance in recent years, combined with advances in the ease of use of CFD software, it is now feasible to consider deployment of CFD in the early stages of the design cycle to users with far less training than the CFD analysts of the past. Relying on recent and anticipated advances in software and hardware technology, this shift will become much more widespread during the next decade.

Recently, CAE software providers have begun shipping a set of easy to use tools aimed at allowing simulation to be used “up front” in the design process. These highly-automated “push-button” tools are positioned as the ultimate means of providing easily obtained feedback early in the development cycle. However, these tools are being met with some resistance in the market, primarily because of concerns that personnel at this experience level would not be able to correctly interpret the results. Moreover, when these new tools are used in isolation, it circumvents the most important element of product development: integration with existing simulation practices and processes already in use within the company.

For many companies, the application of CFD is well understood and methods of use already exist, even though these “best practices” are not necessarily well documented. One of the challenges associated with the introduction of designstage simulation products is making sure that the established best practices are followed as the new products are introduced. To meet this need, these new tools must allow best practices to be captured and incorporated into the software. In addition, the output from this new tool must be made readily available to advanced users so that they can monitor the design process as it evolves, eliminating data input redundancy.

Although the implementation of current best practices into CFD applications is non-trivial, recent improvements in software development tools have made it easier to create graphical user interfaces (GUIs) with imbedded logic to guide the user. For example, the Internet Explorer webbrowser is included with every copy of Microsoft Windows®. This browser has continued to enhance its functionality with such features as active server pages and XML support. These tools provide a basis for the rapid development of GUIs that can be put to use in the engineering simulation process. For example, advanced users can quickly and easily develop step-by-step sequences that capture both the process of simulation and the inherent application knowledge that exists within the organization. Rather than being constrained to GUIs developed for the general market, these users can create custom interfaces specific to the problem at hand that can be easily tied into the overall product engineering simulation process. In this way, the right amount of simulation can be delivered to the right people, at the right time in the product design process, in a highly integrated and efficient manner. And advanced users can use these early virtual models to pursue more advanced simulation as the product nears the final stages of development, thus incorporating these early “up front” tools into the overall work flow process.

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