Altair Case Studies Faraone's Innovative Approach to Architectural Component Design with IoT

	Faraone's Innovative Approach to Architectural Component Design with IoT Altair

Faraone's Innovative Approach to Architectural Component Design with IoT

Altair

Technology Category	Analytics & Modeling - Digital Twin / Simulation Sensors - Utility Meters
Applicable Industries	Glass Life Sciences
Applicable Functions	Product Research & Development Quality Assurance
Use Cases	Time Sensitive Networking Virtual Reality
Services	Testing & Certification
Challenge	Faraone SRL, an Italian provider of architectural components, was faced with the challenge of designing a new full glass balustrade with a special aluminum profile at the bottom to hold the glass structure in place. The goal was to save on development time, material, and production costs, while increasing the stiffness of the aluminum profile. The development engineers at Faraone needed a new design strategy and special optimization tools to help reach these goals. The design of architectural components such as a balustrade can be challenging, since the design does not only have to look good, it also has to meet several safety requirements and standards. In addition, all designs have to be developed within the shortest time possible. To meet these challenges the engineers, architects and designers at Faraone are always looking for solutions that can reduce their design and testing cycles. Read More
About Customer	Faraone SRL is an Italian provider of architectural components. The company is committed to continuously investing in state-of-the-art analysis tools, technology research and the development of new, innovative products. Design plays a fundamental role in all new Faraone products and designers and engineers work in teams to find the smarter solutions for every new product. The company is known for its commitment to quality and innovation, and its ability to meet the challenging demands of the architectural industry. Faraone's recent project involved the design of a new full glass balustrade with a special aluminum profile at the bottom to hold the glass structure in place. Read More
Solution	Faraone found their solution with solidThinking Inspire, a design software that allows for structural optimization and validation in one platform. The engineering team started from zero and used simulation and optimization to drive the design. They first created a simple profile and used it to perform a topology optimization of the profile in solidThinking Inspire. The optimization results inspired the final design, which was refined by the design team, and lastly validated in solidThinking Inspire. A typical optimization process follows these steps: Creation of the design space and application of loads and boundary conditions. The optimization tool uses the input to propose an optimal structure. The design proposal offers the best possible combination of lightweight and structural efficiency. Subsequently, the part is quickly refined to define the final shape, which is then again analyzed with Inspire to verify its structural performance. Read More Log in to view content
Contents

Technology Category

Analytics & Modeling - Digital Twin / Simulation

Sensors - Utility Meters

Applicable Industries

Glass

Life Sciences

Applicable Functions

Product Research & Development

Quality Assurance

Use Cases

Time Sensitive Networking

Virtual Reality

Services

Testing & Certification

Challenge

Faraone SRL, an Italian provider of architectural components, was faced with the challenge of designing a new full glass balustrade with a special aluminum profile at the bottom to hold the glass structure in place. The goal was to save on development time, material, and production costs, while increasing the stiffness of the aluminum profile. The development engineers at Faraone needed a new design strategy and special optimization tools to help reach these goals. The design of architectural components such as a balustrade can be challenging, since the design does not only have to look good, it also has to meet several safety requirements and standards. In addition, all designs have to be developed within the shortest time possible. To meet these challenges the engineers, architects and designers at Faraone are always looking for solutions that can reduce their design and testing cycles.

About Customer

Faraone SRL is an Italian provider of architectural components. The company is committed to continuously investing in state-of-the-art analysis tools, technology research and the development of new, innovative products. Design plays a fundamental role in all new Faraone products and designers and engineers work in teams to find the smarter solutions for every new product. The company is known for its commitment to quality and innovation, and its ability to meet the challenging demands of the architectural industry. Faraone's recent project involved the design of a new full glass balustrade with a special aluminum profile at the bottom to hold the glass structure in place.

Solution

Faraone found their solution with solidThinking Inspire, a design software that allows for structural optimization and validation in one platform. The engineering team started from zero and used simulation and optimization to drive the design. They first created a simple profile and used it to perform a topology optimization of the profile in solidThinking Inspire. The optimization results inspired the final design, which was refined by the design team, and lastly validated in solidThinking Inspire. A typical optimization process follows these steps: Creation of the design space and application of loads and boundary conditions. The optimization tool uses the input to propose an optimal structure. The design proposal offers the best possible combination of lightweight and structural efficiency. Subsequently, the part is quickly refined to define the final shape, which is then again analyzed with Inspire to verify its structural performance.

Impact #1	The use of solidThinking Inspire in the development process resulted in several operational benefits. The software's user-friendly interface and accurate analysis results made it a quick tool to learn and easy to work with. This allowed designers, civil engineers, and architects, who are not yet that familiar with optimization and simulation technology, to also use it. The software helped to reduce the weight of the profile by roughly 20 percent, and considering that the material used in this project is aluminum, it is a significant cost reduction. On a linear meter, which weighs around 7 kilos before the optimization, Faraone could save around 1.5 kg. Even if only counting the material saving, Inspire has already paid off with the first project we used it for. The software also helped the engineers to come to a testable product much quicker than before.

Impact #1

The use of solidThinking Inspire in the development process resulted in several operational benefits. The software's user-friendly interface and accurate analysis results made it a quick tool to learn and easy to work with. This allowed designers, civil engineers, and architects, who are not yet that familiar with optimization and simulation technology, to also use it. The software helped to reduce the weight of the profile by roughly 20 percent, and considering that the material used in this project is aluminum, it is a significant cost reduction. On a linear meter, which weighs around 7 kilos before the optimization, Faraone could save around 1.5 kg. Even if only counting the material saving, Inspire has already paid off with the first project we used it for. The software also helped the engineers to come to a testable product much quicker than before.

Benefit #1	Weight reduction of 20%
Benefit #2	Lower production costs
Benefit #3	Shortened development time

Benefit #1

Weight reduction of 20%

Benefit #2

Lower production costs

Benefit #3

Shortened development time

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Overview

Faraone's Innovative Approach to Architectural Component Design with IoT

Operational Impact

Quantitative Benefit