Altair Case Studies Digital Architects: Leveraging Altair SimSolid™ for Sustainable Architectural Design in Prosthesis Lab

	Digital Architects: Leveraging Altair SimSolid™ for Sustainable Architectural Design in Prosthesis Lab Altair

Digital Architects: Leveraging Altair SimSolid™ for Sustainable Architectural Design in Prosthesis Lab

Altair

Applicable Industries	Cement Healthcare & Hospitals
Applicable Functions	Product Research & Development Quality Assurance
Use Cases	Construction Management Construction Site Monitoring
Services	Testing & Certification
Challenge	Digital Architects, an Austrian-based architectural firm, was tasked with the challenge of building a simple, robust, and sustainable roof structure for a prosthesis lab at the Centre medico-chirurgical de l'Ulcère de Buruli, a hospital in Bouaké, Ivory Coast. The hospital specializes in treating Buruli Ulcer, a skin and soft tissue infection common in tropical and subtropical climates. The project was initiated by two Masters’ degree students at the University of Innsbruck, who had gathered charitable contributions and their own savings to design and build a workspace for the construction and use of prostheses for the patients at the hospital. The project was coordinated with the Vatelot Foundation, a non-profit organization that built the hospital in 2013. The challenge was to operate within an extremely tight budget and use available materials for building the roof of the laboratory. The team needed to calculate the use of variations of small L-shaped profile steel for a simple and robust setup that would not immediately require full assembly. Read More
About Customer	The customer in this case is the Centre medico-chirurgical de l'Ulcère de Buruli, a hospital in Bouaké, the second-largest city on the Ivory Coast, Africa. The hospital specializes in the treatment of “Buruli Ulcer”, an infection of the skin and soft tissue, caused by Mycobacterium ulcers, which is fairly common in countries with tropical and subtropical climates. The hospital was built in 2013 by the Vatelot Foundation, a non-profit, non-governmental organization certified by the Luxemburg Ministry for foreign affairs and its development cooperation. The architectural project was initiated by two Masters’ degree students at the University of Innsbruck, who had gathered charitable contributions and their own savings to design and build a workspace for the construction and use of prostheses for the patients at the hospital. Read More
Solution	To overcome the challenge, Digital Architects decided to explore possibilities beyond the scope of existing standards and an experienced-based approach. They opted to begin with a full assembly model to test and compare the standard approach, while evaluating any limitations of a faster approach. The team used Altair SimSolid, a structural analysis software developed specifically for rapid design feedback. SimSolid eliminates geometry simplification and meshing, the two most time-consuming and expertise-extensive tasks done in traditional FEA. This enabled the analysis of fully-featured CAD assemblies in minutes without meshing. With its ability to analyze complex parts and large assemblies not practical with traditional FEA, the team was able to conduct a very fast, full assembly test. The results of the testing showed the slightly higher efficiency of the full assembly model approach, which provided them with the ability to modify the profile thickness, evaluate where it could be reduced/made thinner without compromising strength, thus saving the team money. Read More Log in to view content
Contents

Applicable Industries

Cement

Healthcare & Hospitals

Applicable Functions

Product Research & Development

Quality Assurance

Use Cases

Construction Management

Construction Site Monitoring

Services

Testing & Certification

Challenge

Digital Architects, an Austrian-based architectural firm, was tasked with the challenge of building a simple, robust, and sustainable roof structure for a prosthesis lab at the Centre medico-chirurgical de l'Ulcère de Buruli, a hospital in Bouaké, Ivory Coast. The hospital specializes in treating Buruli Ulcer, a skin and soft tissue infection common in tropical and subtropical climates. The project was initiated by two Masters’ degree students at the University of Innsbruck, who had gathered charitable contributions and their own savings to design and build a workspace for the construction and use of prostheses for the patients at the hospital. The project was coordinated with the Vatelot Foundation, a non-profit organization that built the hospital in 2013. The challenge was to operate within an extremely tight budget and use available materials for building the roof of the laboratory. The team needed to calculate the use of variations of small L-shaped profile steel for a simple and robust setup that would not immediately require full assembly.

About Customer

The customer in this case is the Centre medico-chirurgical de l'Ulcère de Buruli, a hospital in Bouaké, the second-largest city on the Ivory Coast, Africa. The hospital specializes in the treatment of “Buruli Ulcer”, an infection of the skin and soft tissue, caused by Mycobacterium ulcers, which is fairly common in countries with tropical and subtropical climates. The hospital was built in 2013 by the Vatelot Foundation, a non-profit, non-governmental organization certified by the Luxemburg Ministry for foreign affairs and its development cooperation. The architectural project was initiated by two Masters’ degree students at the University of Innsbruck, who had gathered charitable contributions and their own savings to design and build a workspace for the construction and use of prostheses for the patients at the hospital.

Solution

To overcome the challenge, Digital Architects decided to explore possibilities beyond the scope of existing standards and an experienced-based approach. They opted to begin with a full assembly model to test and compare the standard approach, while evaluating any limitations of a faster approach. The team used Altair SimSolid, a structural analysis software developed specifically for rapid design feedback. SimSolid eliminates geometry simplification and meshing, the two most time-consuming and expertise-extensive tasks done in traditional FEA. This enabled the analysis of fully-featured CAD assemblies in minutes without meshing. With its ability to analyze complex parts and large assemblies not practical with traditional FEA, the team was able to conduct a very fast, full assembly test. The results of the testing showed the slightly higher efficiency of the full assembly model approach, which provided them with the ability to modify the profile thickness, evaluate where it could be reduced/made thinner without compromising strength, thus saving the team money.

Impact #1	The use of Altair SimSolid allowed the team to conduct very fast, full assembly tests, saving time and money while providing increased flexibility, without compromising accuracy. The software's ability to eliminate geometry simplification and meshing, the two most time-consuming and expertise-extensive tasks done in traditional FEA, enabled the analysis of fully-featured CAD assemblies in minutes without meshing. This resulted in a more efficient use of available resources and the ability to evaluate multiple alternatives. The resultant cost savings, while seemingly small, had a significant impact, equating to the ability to provide food for the children at the hospital for days to months.

Impact #1

The use of Altair SimSolid allowed the team to conduct very fast, full assembly tests, saving time and money while providing increased flexibility, without compromising accuracy. The software's ability to eliminate geometry simplification and meshing, the two most time-consuming and expertise-extensive tasks done in traditional FEA, enabled the analysis of fully-featured CAD assemblies in minutes without meshing. This resulted in a more efficient use of available resources and the ability to evaluate multiple alternatives. The resultant cost savings, while seemingly small, had a significant impact, equating to the ability to provide food for the children at the hospital for days to months.

Benefit #1	Time and cost savings due to the use of Altair SimSolid
Benefit #2	Increased flexibility to evaluate multiple alternatives
Benefit #3	Efficient use of available resources

Benefit #1

Time and cost savings due to the use of Altair SimSolid

Benefit #2

Increased flexibility to evaluate multiple alternatives

Benefit #3

Efficient use of available resources

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Overview

Digital Architects: Leveraging Altair SimSolid™ for Sustainable Architectural Design in Prosthesis Lab

Operational Impact

Quantitative Benefit