Automotive Development:

All Eyes on CAE Weight Management

Keywords: Optimization, Automotive, Lightweight
The automotive development process
is still focused on objectives such as
durability and crash safety, while weight is
often limited to the very end of the design
process. Through the establishment of the
Optimization Center (OC) concept, Altair
ProductDesign has developed an innovative
design model combining performance
features with weight reduction goals. This
article describes the OC concept dealing
with everything from the optimization
of single components to an entire
optimization process known as CAE
Weight Management.
During the last few years, an increase in
engine efficiency has been achieved across
the automotive sector but these days,
weight reduction is increasingly seen as the
next step to lower the energy consumption
and CO
2
emissions of vehicles. Automotive
manufacturers have started to not only look
at the overall fleet emissions of CO
2
[1], but
have also begun to realize the advantages
of weight reduction in a vehicles overall
lifecycle. To obtain the best possible results,
it is important to give as much priority to
weight goals as to other functional attributes
such as durability or crash safety.
An early combination of weight goals with
these attributes enables a better design of
components and assemblies while lowering
the overall development effort. In Altair
ProductDesigns OC concept, a consulting
team of highly qualified specialists follow this
strategy and are able to break a negative
weight spiral or even turn it around.
Industry
Automotive
Challenge
Minimize vehicle weight
Altair Solution
Integrate optimization methods at the
very early stages of the development
process through optimization centers
Benefits
Lightweight, high performance design
Manufacturing cost savings
Key Highlights
Authors:
Lars Fredriksson, Director
Altair ProductDesign Germany
&
Armin Veitl, Director of Design
Altair ProductDesign Europe
Article
The Gateway to Design Innovation
The successful implementation of
Optimization Centers throughout the
aerospace industry has already resulted
in significant weight savings on metallic
and composite components. Pilot projects
in the automotive industry have proved
- with similar significant weight savings -
that Optimization Centers can also bring
advantages to this sector.
Automotive engineers have different
weight reduction methods at hand, from
the development of new designs or use
of new materials to the application of an
alternative manufacturing approach. Several
of these strategies combined in an optimal
manner can reveal opportunities to reduce
unnecessary material. Form, material and
production methods can be tuned to meet
the optimal requirements.
Computer aided engineering (CAE) methods,
such as structural optimization, are being
applied to find and exploit this weight saving
potential. The success of CAE optimization
depends on how and when optimization
methods are applied to the development
process. The question how is answered
best by placing it strategically within the
context of project organization and it
should be handled as closely as possible in
collaboration with the design department.
The answer to when is simply the earlier
the better, with simulation driven design
being the term which best summarizes this
approach.
Tailored Optimization Centers
The concept of an Optimization Center
has been developed to simplify the access
to, and to enhance the benefit of, CAE
optimization. Initially introduced to reduce
the mass of individual components by
changing their form, Optimization Centers
have developed into a consulting approach
for functional concepts and material
decisions on an assembly level. The Altair
ProductDesign concept of Optimization
Centers provides close cooperation of
optimization experts (including topology,
topography, form and parameter
optimization), who are made available to
work on-site at the customer site and offer
individual services on an exclusive basis.
Under this approach, the effort of integrating
optimization into the development process
can be kept to a minimum. Every OC is
scalable as it is possible to add additional
resources to every team as needed.
Additionally, Altair ProductDesign
recommends including the customers staff
into the project team to foster knowledge
transfer within the group, and questions
such as available design space, possible
manufacturing processes or the relevant
functions can be discussed and answered
quickly, leading to a minimum loss of
communication and a maximum output.
Depending on the requested level and
integration of the Optimization Center, the
experts will work directly and closely with
each department involved.
The first level of an Optimization Center
is the direct cooperation with the person
responsible for components within each
functional group or team. Usually, since
the components' material and production
processes are already pre-defined, the
experts can directly search for unused and
removable material. An overall assessment
of cost effectiveness of components to
control resources by importance is not done
at this level.
The next level of method integration is
based on cooperation with the OEMs
project managers of the systems or of the
full vehicle. Those engineers have the power
Component Level Optimization Performed on Six Components
Screened Down from an Initial Twelve
The Optimization Center assesses decisions and their impact on
the development processes
to change functionality within the system
or vehicle, which offers a higher potential
for optimization since it is not necessary
that each component becomes lighter to
reach the systems optimum. It is possible
that single components
due to a change of
function might even
be heavier, but with an
overall optimization of
the system, this can be
more than compensated
for in other areas. At this level of method
integration, it is also possible to do an
overall assessment of cost effectiveness.
Since the entire system is analyzed, the
engineers can apply advanced selection
processes to prioritize certain topics.
CAE Weight Management
The direct support of the weight
management department of an OEM is
known as CAE Weight Management.
With the implementation of CAE Weight
Management into the weight management
department, the team gains direct access
to all available knowledge of the CAE
studies (concept optimization, feasibility
studies, robustness analysis and stochastic
assessments) and can also request these
types of studies to be made, to gain as much
information on weight and performance
as possible. In this way, the weight
management department
can draw better and
more reliable conclusions
regarding the development,
and can be more precise
on the input requirements
needed to reach the weight
goals. Information that an OC can deliver
to the weight management department
includes:
an early understanding of the optimized
basic structure and the associated
mass.
an understanding of the impact on
weight when using carry-over parts or
systems.
an early understanding of the impact on
weight of different concept and design
directions.
Early Integration
The earlier and more broadly an OC is
integrated into a development process, the
more efficient the results will be. This rather
simple formula describes the principal of the
success of an OC. Early in the development
process of a vehicle, the engineers are
usually still highly flexible in their design.
This should be leveraged, because at this
stage it is decided if cost and timing, in
relation to the defined functionality and
weight goals, can be kept until later in the
development process. In this phase, weight
management still has every possible design
freedom and can make use of it by applying
the OC and the CAE Weight Management
strategy to reach optimum results. If the
engineers can make reliable predictions
on the systems weight and direct weight
savings early, they will be able to save up to
the same amount in secondary weight [2].
The further the process proceeds, the less it
can be positively influenced. The probability
that compromises in function and weight
have to be made, or that the cost or time
frame has to be adjusted, is higher at a later
stage in the development process.
Value of an Optimization Center
What is the actual added value an OC brings
to a development process? The benefit
lies within the detailed knowledge of the
Altair ProductDesign is a global product
engineering and design company of
more than 500 staff. As a division of
Altair Engineering, Altair ProductDesign
is best known for its market leadership
in combining human and computer
creativity to fuel innovation, automate
processes and develop new methods.
About Altair ProductDesign
The above optimization process of a door at Ford led to a weight reduction of 15%
The earlier and broader
an Optimization Center is
integrated into a development
process, the more efficient
the results will be.
Altair

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OC team, in a profound prediction of the
consequences of decisions that need to
be made early in the development process
and in the standardized approach of an
OC. Properly applied, the OC will check the
outcome of the options that have to be
evaluated as early as possible and detects
the available weight reduction potential.
All suggestions the OC makes will consider
the robustness of the predictions. An OC
will constantly work with the customers
engineering staff to streamline processes.
CAE Weight Management offers an improved
understanding of the development progress,
as the results of the CAE analysis and the
intensive exchange with weight functions
will provide the project management with
predictions concerning performance, cost,
and timing. As the project management
is able to react earlier to erroneous
development directions and can lead
the project into the desired direction,
development risks are minimized.
Real World Examples
Altair ProductDesigns OCs have already
been successfully implemented at several
companies within the aerospace industry
including Airbus. Based on these successes,
pilot projects have been carried out in the
automotive industry for clients such as Ford.
The major goal of these projects was the
demonstration of the potential performance
of the first level of integration of an OC.
During the pilot projects, two existing
vehicles (platform F250/350 and Ford
Transit) were analyzed and 50 components
of the F250/350 as well as 12 components
of the Transit have been identified for
further research. To save time and money,
the project was handled in two steps. In a
first step, Altair ProductDesign and Ford
engineers checked
each component for
weight saving potential.
Subsequently, the OC
team created a ranking
system, comparing
the cost and customer
benefits achieved by saving material to the
effort, new tools or production methods
that changes in the design would require.
In a second step, the engineers then
chose which components should undergo
a detailed weight optimization (17 of the
F250/350 and 6 of the Transit).
The team engineers further specified
production and assembly restraints for
these components, before applying the
topology, topography and size optimizations.
A subsequent finite element (FE) analysis
proved that all mechanical functions
concerning strength and stiffness were
unchanged. The result: all in all it was
possible to save an average of 19% weight
for the F250/350 components and 13% of
those from the Transit.
Summary and Outlook
To receive profitable material savings and
to truly meet CO
2
emission targets, weight
goals consequently have to be followed up
even more. Based on Altair ProductDesigns
OC concept, the OEM can be supported to
reach those goals of weight reduction with
several levels of integration. The OC finds the
weight potential in each vehicle, combines
them with the necessary changes of material
and production processes, and
enables the assessment of cost
and value. Especially for existing
weight management functions
at the OEM, the CAE Weight
Management program is a
valuable addition. To truly exploit
the maximum potential of weight reduction
it is important to include the OC as centrally
as possible within the vehicle development
team and to start with the optimization as
early as possible. But even if implemented
at a later point in the development process,
an OC can still deliver significant successes.
The pilot projects at Ford and other OEMs
show that the implementation of even the
first level of an OC can already lead to
double figure weight savings.
References:
[1] Lutsey, N., 2010. Survey of Vehicle Mass-
Reduction Technology Trends and Prospects.
PowerPoint Prsentation, El Monte, California.
[2] Bjelkengren, Catarina, 2008. The Impact of
Mass Decompounding on Assessing the Value
of Vehicle Leightweighting. Thesis Dual Degree
of Master of Science, Massachusetts Institute of
Technology.
www.altairproductdesign.com
It was possible to save
an average of 19%
weight for the F250/350
components and 13% of
those from the Transit.