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Rolo Bikes, a company founded by Adam Wais and Anders Annerstedt, aimed to fill a gap in the market for ultra-high performance bicycles tailored to individual rider requirements. The challenge was to develop a high-performance, ultra-lightweight composite bike frame that exhibited world-leading strength and stiffness attributes while keeping weight to an absolute minimum. The design team at Rolo wanted to optimize the structure and find the ideal layout of carbon fiber that did not use any unnecessary material. However, the team lacked the in-house computer-aided engineering (CAE) expertise required to accurately analyze and optimize the frame. The objective was to achieve world-leading performance for weight, stiffness, and comfort, and to develop an efficient and cost-effective virtual testing process to analyze the performance of future bike frames.

The Sports Technology Institute (STI) at Loughborough University, a leading research group in sports engineering, was faced with the challenge of generating complex human surrogate models to simulate sports impact scenarios. These scenarios are crucial for the development and testing of personal protective equipment (PPE) in sports. The human body, with its intricate tissue structures and complex anatomical geometries, is incredibly difficult to replicate accurately. The challenge was further compounded by the need for high-quality meshes that could provide a good description of these complex geometries. The quality of a mesh significantly affects model behaviour, making it a key factor in the research. The institute needed a solution that could handle these complexities and provide accurate, high-quality models for their research.

Anterior knee pain is a significant complication following total knee arthroplasty (TKA) surgery. The inability to freely extend or flex the knee significantly impacts patients' daily activities such as walking, lifting, and rising from a chair. This knee movement inability is one of the most common indications of needed TKA procedure revisions. The challenge of this study was to quantitatively evaluate the effect of the patellar button thickness on the variation of the quadriceps tendon force during knee joint flexion/extension using computational analysis. A reduction in the force variation is directly related to the mitigation of anterior knee pain following TKA surgery. Poor sizing during surgery of the patellar knee component – a “button-like” element that increases the mechanical advantage of the extension force – was identified as a key issue.

The College of Engineering, Pune (CoEP) recognized the need to keep pace with the rapidly evolving field of engineering innovation. The institute understood that to maintain its national ranking and provide its students with the best career opportunities, it needed to align its education with the latest industry technologies. The challenge was to create an environment where both teachers and students could leverage state-of-the-art engineering technologies to meet contemporary market requirements. To achieve this, CoEP established the CAE-Optimization Lab. The next challenge was to decide which tools would best meet the center's needs while ensuring the lab's self-sustaining operation.

F.tech R&D North America, a world-class certified Tier-1 international automotive systems supplier, was facing a challenge in their reporting process. The company utilizes HyperView to investigate test results, using the data to inform decisions on methods to improve designs. This data is often used to create reports and presentations during the development process, using images and animations generated by HyperView to illustrate particular areas of a component where additional work may be required. However, exporting these assets was a highly manual process of loading in results, positioning the model and taking screenshots. This was time-consuming and took away from the engineers' time to focus on exploring and interpreting the results. F.tech R&D North America wanted a way of automating this process to reduce the time taken to produce project reports.

Re-Loc, a UK-based company, developed a new product to accelerate the construction process. The product is a clip that fits inside the cavity of a concrete brick and attaches to the steel bar, holding it securely in place. However, the manufacturing cost of the initial design was too high for mass production, given the large number of clips required for a single structure. The challenge was to reduce the material use and cost of the part, bring the design to a production level, and make it as efficient as possible. The part had to be sufficiently stiff to maintain the position of vertical and horizontal bars relative to the inside surfaces of the hollow blocks, allow the concrete to be poured through or around itself, and endure all environmental aspects during use.

Haier Group, a global leader in home appliances and consumer electronics, faced a significant challenge with its air conditioners. Despite being known for quality products, the air conditioners were frequently damaged during transportation, leading to increased costs and delivery delays. The company attempted to enhance the structure of its air conditioners and packaging to make them more resistant to drop damage by conducting physical drop tests. However, these tests significantly escalated the research-and-development costs and consumed an extraordinary amount of time. Moreover, the engineers could not easily observe the damage process as the collision between the product and the ground was an instantaneous event. They could only view the outcome but not the strains and shape changes during the fractions of seconds in which they happened. Consequently, Haier considered using excessive packaging materials, but the overall design strength of the package was insufficient.

The case study revolves around a senior design project undertaken by Christopher Van Damme, a senior undergraduate student in the Department of Engineering Mechanics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The project involved the design and analysis of a coaxial rotor craft, specifically focusing on a composite-made helicopter rotor blade. Rotor blades are critical components of helicopters, providing thrust, lift, and enabling maneuvers. Modern helicopters use rotor blades made of composite material due to their excellent strength-to-weight ratio, damage tolerance, and fatigue life. However, composite material is challenging to compute using analytical methods or reduced order models. Therefore, Van Damme had to apply suitable Computer-Aided Engineering (CAE) tools to cover the required studies, including static, modal, frequency response, and dynamic analysis of the rotor.

Prodrive, a leading motorsport and technology business, was faced with the challenge of optimizing the performance of race car engines within a compressed timeframe. The main target was to analyze and improve the fluid flow within the water jacket of Aston Martin Racing engines and achieve reliable results quickly. The task was complicated by the need to solve several iterations of a model with complex geometry, and the work was to be done by relatively inexperienced users. The complexity and level of detail of the model, due to the cavities of the casting inside the engine head and the cylinder block, added to the challenge. Furthermore, Prodrive's simulation capabilities were limited by computer hardware, necessitating a solution that could maximize processing power without increasing license costs.

Gulplug, a French startup, was faced with the challenge of creating an innovative, automatically self-plugging, magnetic-based charging solution for electric vehicles. As a spin-off of Schneider Electric Group, Gulplug aimed to revolutionize plug and charging technology used in today's electric and hybrid vehicles. However, as a startup, they had limited funds and spending a large portion of their budget on software was not feasible. Furthermore, the company was also looking for simulation tools to predict and improve the performance of their system by creating and analyzing virtual models. The challenge was not only to develop a new charging solution but also to do so in a cost-effective manner without compromising on the quality and efficiency of the product.

F.tech R&D North America, a Tier-1 automotive systems supplier, was facing challenges in standardizing their model building process with meshing and different types of weld creation automation. The complexities in vehicle design and development, including the cost of prototypes, compliance with safety standards, and emissions, posed many challenges for the engineers. The Computer Aided Engineering (CAE) team at F.tech R&D North America was struggling with tedious tasks related to model build and geometry preparation for weld creation. The need for a solution that could streamline these processes, eliminate human errors, increase the accuracy of analysis data, and save valuable development time was evident.

The aerospace industry is constantly seeking ways to reduce mass and fuel consumption, and additive manufacturing, or 3D printing, offers significant potential in this regard. However, the technology is relatively new in aeronautics and faces certification and qualification issues. Additionally, the size of 3D printing machines limits their use for larger components, such as an airplane door. The challenge was to design an aircraft access door using a combination of additive manufacturing and casting methods. The door, due to its size and complexity, presented a promising opportunity for cost reduction through a one-shot production method. However, the door was too large to be feasible using Direct Metal Laser Sintering (DMLS), it was made of AS7G06 aluminum which is not yet qualified in aeronautics using DMLS, and it had a very thin skin with very tight dimensional and geometrical tolerances.

Mabe, a Mexico-based international appliance company, was faced with the challenge of improving the performance of their washing machines by simulating subsystem interactions. The company aimed to increase the capacity and spin speed of their washing machines while reducing the cost per cubic foot. They also sought to improve the energy and water factors of their machines and reduce the product development cycle time. Mabe had been using Altair technology since 2006 for structural analysis and impact and drop-testing simulations. However, they saw an opportunity for increased value from Altair’s multi-disciplinary approach and aimed to leverage the benefits derived from simulations of ever-increasing fidelity and scope.

Zaha Hadid Architects, a design atelier founded in 1979, has always been at the forefront of innovation, adopting theoretical guidance, systemic knowledge generation, and collaborative design. The company’s Computation and Design research group (co|de), initiated in 2007, aims to develop early-design methods that enable a directed search for physically, economically, and ergonomically feasible solutions within the vast universe of architectural possibilities provided by digital design and construction methods. For the 2015 Design Miami exhibition, the Zaha Hadid co|de team was commissioned to create a contemporary dining pavilion that combines computational design, lightweight engineering, and precision fabrication. The challenge was to create a unique dining environment, the Volu Pavilion, that was visually stunning, cost-efficient, and made use of advanced design and fabrication technologies.

In 2016, Zaha Hadid Architects and its Computation and Design research group (Zaha Hadid co|de) sought to explore the potential of 3D printing and topology optimization for their projects. They collaborated with Stratasys, a renowned 3D printing company, to conduct a study for the design and fabrication of a 3D printed chair. The challenge was to optimize and ensure the feasibility of their design. The team aimed to integrate advanced optimization techniques into their workflow, which required a software suite for computer-aided engineering. The goal was to make complex shapes feasible and drive innovation in architectural processes. The design atelier of Zaha Hadid, founded in 1979, is one of the world’s most innovative architecture studios and an early pioneer of innovative design. The Computation and Design research group (co|de) of the company investigates new design and construction methods to solve architectural problems, exploring various simulation and design techniques as well as software.

Mahindra & Mahindra, a global pioneer in the transportation business, faced a significant challenge in managing and analyzing the vast amounts of data generated by multiple IT systems. These systems, which include Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Product Lifecycle Management (PLM), Systems, Applications and Products (SAP) and Tool Data Management (TDM), are integral to the company's automotive, aerospace, and agribusiness operations. Each system generates specific data throughout the product life cycle, requiring collection and analysis to facilitate key decision-making. The challenge was to create a standardized decision support system that could consolidate data from these multiple sources and present the right information at the right time to the right person. The company needed a solution that could interlink all these systems for a properly functioning parent system, enabling collaboration between product and manufacturing engineering, cost and legacy systems.

The Technical Research Centre of Finland Ltd. (VTT) was tasked with the optimization and design of a valve box with regard to additive manufacturing requirements. The project was part of a larger initiative to explore the feasibility of additive manufacturing in Finland. The valve block was provided by Nurmi Cylinders, a Finland-based manufacturer of hydraulic cylinder products. The goal was to showcase what a design specifically targeted for additive manufacturing had to look like in order to fully benefit from the manufacturing method. The objectives were to reduce the size and the amount of material needed for the valve block, and to optimize and improve the valve block’s internal channels to produce a better component for the customer. However, not every component or product is suitable for 3D printing, depending on its size, form and design as well as the quantity needed. A valve block is very suitable for 3D printing and has a high potential for improvement in weight, performance, and design freedom when additively manufactured.

Duratec, a Czech company known for its innovative handmade bike frames, was faced with the challenge of developing and optimizing a lightweight composite racing bike frame. The main objective was to create a world-class performance bike frame by minimizing mass while maintaining or increasing stiffness and strength. The bike frame, being the backbone of a reliable bike, had to be made with high-strength, high-modularity fibers laminated with the best resin. The challenge was further complicated by the need to comply with European standard EN 14781, which specifies performance and safety measures requirements. The Computer Aided Engineering (CAE) department at Advanced Engineering, Altair’s channel partner in the Czech Republic, had to optimize layer stacking and the number of plies necessary to meet all structural targets.

Schneider Electric, a global leader in power management and automation systems, faced a challenge when they identified a new market opportunity for their circuit breaker business in a region where they had no presence. The challenge was to adapt an existing standard design for a circuit breaker’s automatic recloser to be used under different operating conditions, including different voltage levels and types (DC rather than AC), and varying temperatures. The product variant had to meet all-new specifications and the window of opportunity was short, requiring the development of a viable product within only four months. The challenge was further compounded by the need to maintain Schneider Electric's high product standards, superior customer satisfaction, and an excellent corporate reputation for providing products that perform with high reliability.

Griiip, an Israeli motorsport company, aimed to popularize motorsport in Israel and globally, outside the Formula 1 circuit. The company designed a new, fast, and professional race car, the G1, that combined efficiency in racing with a competitive purchase price and low running costs. However, the challenge was to create a race car that was both very strong and very light. All parts of the car needed to be optimized for loads, stress, weight, and endurance. The company also wanted to reduce the development time and the many iterations needed before getting to the final product and each component. Another challenge was to create a new and exciting viewing experience for motorsport fans.

Zodiac Seats France (ZSFR - now Safran Seats), a supplier of upscale passenger seats, aimed to improve seat comfort in airplanes. The challenge was to develop a new kind of airplane seat that would significantly increase passengers’ comfort. The development of airplane seats involves several key factors such as ergonomics, cabin layout, and eco-design. ZSFR also wanted to consider environmental issues and put eco-design and light-weighting at the forefront of its product development plans. Lighter seats help to reduce an aircraft’s fuel consumption and the seats are predominantly produced using recyclable materials. A major concern for the company was the optimization of the comfort of aircraft passengers. The airplane seat market is highly competitive and new, high-quality seats have to be brought to market as quickly as possible. To assess the ergonomic quality of a seat, the engineers needed a tool with which they could simulate all biomechanical discomfort sources for factors such as internal thighs soft tissue compression for a seated passenger.

Roth McFarlane Hand and Upper Limb Centre (HULC) in London, Ontario, faced a significant challenge in evaluating the biomechanics of bone stresses. The center, under the direction of Dr. Louis Ferreira, PhD, was using human bone specimens that were CT scanned with a high-resolution scanner. This process preserved much of the internal trabecular bone’s microstructure geometry. However, the challenge lay in the fact that many measurements from the experimental models were either prohibitive or impossible to measure directly on the specimen. This was particularly relevant in the case of patients with shoulder arthritis who were often treated surgically by replacing the diseased joint with implants. The center needed a way to simulate how different implant types influence bone stresses, which can influence the longevity of the surgical procedure.

Serapid, a company that designs systems for the transfer of heavy loads, often works with dummy geometries of parts from suppliers. These parts, which are to be installed on the platform, are essentially hollow solids. While these dummies are crucial for Serapid to properly size the platform and position the parts, they pose a challenge when simulating the complete structure. The company needs to load the structure with the weights of the installed devices, a process that can be time-consuming and complex. The weight of each part is applied in its center of gravity (COG), which is a remote load application point. This means that the COG of each part needs to be evaluated and spots on the platform where the remote load will be brought to need to be created. This process can be particularly challenging and time-consuming when many devices are installed.

Sharda Motor Industries Limited (SMIL), a market leader in the manufacturing of exhaust systems and other automobile components, was faced with the challenge of reducing product design and development cycle time, effort, and cost. The company aimed to provide innovative products to clients by using simulation, automation, and optimization technologies in the development of exhaust components and systems. The challenge was to evaluate the durability of exhaust system components within a given time frame with high accuracy. They were expected to carry out finite element analysis and explain the results for typical exhaust system components. They also had to consider durability loads such as engine vibration loading and proving ground road-loads. Other durability issues associated with exhaust system components such as the muffler-pipe system, brackets, and hanger designs were required to be analyzed.

Imperial Auto, a leading manufacturer of ‘Fluid Transmission Products (FTPs), faced a significant challenge in their product design and development processes. The company, which supplies parts to some of the world's most reputed Engine, Automotive, and Off Highway and Farm Equipment OEMs, found it crucial to be innovative in their design processes, particularly in the manufacturing of fluid transmission pipes. The company was struggling to optimize fluid flow and minimize fluid loss. They also needed a secured, predictable, and confirmed process that would generate accurate results in their innovation efforts. One of the major challenges they faced was in the design and building of an assembly component where they had to check the 'O' ring leakage that could withstand required air pressure of 3 kg/ cm2. The team had to build several prototypes to confirm the 'O' ring leakage, a process that was unreliable and time-consuming.

INTECH DMLS, a leader in the field of metal-based DMLS 3D printing in India, was faced with the challenge of reducing the weight of a camera holder to be placed on a satellite. The company needed to get the weight right the first time, eliminating the need for prototype iterations. This was a unique challenge as the company did not have the luxury of making errors and iterating. The team had to focus on product design optimization, analysis, mechanical integrity, heat transfer, and other criteria while developing Bionic, Dynamic, and Cellular structures and carrying out lightweight analysis for their products. The camera holder had to be lightweight but still withstand a predefined load and assist in the smooth functioning of the satellite. The customer also wanted the holder to be of a specific weight - not too light nor too heavy - and stiff enough to withstand dynamic load.

Pranav Vikas (India) Private Limited (PVL), a leading heat-exchanger manufacturer in India, faced several challenges in their manufacturing process. The rapidly changing vehicle market and customer requirements necessitated the use of lightweight materials for components to maintain compact product sizes. This required thorough testing and implementation of every new material for product optimization, pushing the team to innovate and develop new manufacturing processes and engineering techniques. Additionally, PVL had to address warranty issues in existing products. Two distinct challenges were faced in recent projects: an oil cooler failure on the Pad-Plate joint for a model that had been in operation for five years, and the need for a design overhaul of the inlet/outlet pipes of a heat exchanger product that required weight reduction without causing warranty failure issues.

Pragati Engineering, a leading press tool design and manufacturing company in India, faced a significant challenge in their product development process. The company was struggling with the formation of cracks and wrinkles in one of their products during the manufacturing process. The traditional method of trial and error that the team used was unable to predict these occurrences. This method forced the team to manually correct the dies and rebuild new tools, leading to unplanned iterations and physical die tryouts. This not only substantially increased the product development time and cost but also impacted delivery schedules. Furthermore, product quality and output accuracy were compromised due to this traditional method.

Andron Handling Ltd., a UK-based company specializing in the design of bespoke mechanical equipment, was developing a custom handler for a major automotive supplier. The handler was designed to transfer wheel sets from a conveyor system to delivery pallets within tight space constraints. A pneumatic clamping system was used to grip up to four wheels at a time, allowing rotation of the wheels while clamped. The challenge was to assess the strength of the welded fabrication and vertical clamping arms for both lifting and clamping loads. In previous analyses of this type, Andron would have removed the wheels from the model and applied reaction forces at the bottom of each of the clamp arms. However, for this project, they needed a different approach that would not have been possible with previous FEA toolsets.

Integrated Design and Engineering Solutions (IDES), a Melbourne-based engineering product development and systems integration company, was tasked with a challenging assignment by the Australian Defence Organization (ADO). The project, known as LAND 121 Phase 3A, involved the procurement of around 2,200 Mercedes-Benz G-Wagon light trucks for the Australian Army. One of the variants of these vehicles was intended to be used as a surveillance and reconnaissance (S&R) vehicle. The IDES team was required to design a module for this vehicle that would provide adequate protection for the rear observer in the event of a vehicle rollover. The team decided to build a vehicle rollover protection structure (ROPS) in the form of a tubular roll cage structure. However, the traditional method of developing such a structure, which involves iterative physical testing, was deemed too time, effort, and cost-intensive for the project's tight timeline.