Impact of HPC and Automated CFD Simulation Processes on Virtual Product Development : A Case Study

High-performance computing (HPC) enables both academia and industry to accelerate simulation-driven product development processes by providing a massively parallel computing infrastructure. In particular, the automation of high-fidelity computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analyses aided by HPC systems can be beneficial since computing time decreases while the number of significant design iterations increases. However, no studies have quantified these effects from a product development point of view yet. This article evaluates the impact of HPC and automation on product development by studying a formula student racing team as a representative example of a small or medium-sized company. Over several seasons, we accompanied the team, and provided HPC infrastructure and methods to automate their CFD simulation processes. By comparing the team’s key performance indicators (KPIs) before and after the HPC implementation, we were able to quantify a significant increase in development efficiency in both qualitative and quantitative aspects. The major aerodynamic KPI increased up to 115%. Simultaneously, the number of expedient design iterations within one season increased by 600% while utilizing HPC. These results prove the substantial benefits of HPC and automation of numerical-intensive simulation processes for product development

Combining Structural Optimization and Process Assurance in Implicit Modelling for Casting Parts

The structural optimization of manufacturable casting parts is still a challenging and time-consuming task. Today, topology optimization is followed by a manual reconstruction of the design proposal and a process assurance simulation to endorse the design proposal. Consequently, this process is iteratively repeated until it reaches a satisfying compromise. This article shows a method to combine structural optimization and process assurance results to generate automatically structure- and process-optimized die casting parts using implicit geometry modeling. Therefore, evaluation criteria are developed to evaluate the current design proposal and qualitatively measure the improvement of manufacturability between two iterations. For testing the proposed method, we use a cantilever beam as an example of proof. The combined iterative method is compared to manual designed parts and a direct optimization approach and evaluated for mechanical performance and manufacturability. The combination of topology optimization (TO) and process assurance (PA) results is automated and shows a significant enhancement to the manual reconstruction of the design proposals. Further, the improvement of manufacturability is better or equivalent to previous work in the field while using less computational effort, which emphasizes the need for suitable metamodels to significantly reduce the effort for process assurance and enable much shorter iteration times

Correlations of Geometry and Infill Degree of Extrusion Additively Manufactured 316L Stainless Steel Components

This study focuses on the effect of part geometry and infill degrees on effective mechanical properties of extrusion additively manufactured stainless steel 316L parts produced with BASF’s Ultrafuse 316LX filament. Knowledge about correlations between infill degrees, mechanical properties and dimensional deviations are essential to enhance the part performance and further establish efficient methods for the product development for lightweight metal engineering applications. To investigate the effective Young’s modulus, yield strength and bending stress, standard testing methods for tensile testing and bending testing were used. For evaluating the dimensional accuracy, the tensile and bending specimens were measured before and after sintering to analyze anisotropic shrinkage effects and dimensional deviations linked to the infill structure. The results showed that dimensions larger than 10 mm have minor geometrical deviations and that the effective Young’s modulus varied in the range of 176%. These findings provide a more profound understanding of the process and its capabilities and enhance the product development process for metal extrusion-based additive manufacturing

Optimized One-Click Development for Topology-Optimized Structures

Topology optimization is a powerful digital engineering tool for the development of lightweight products. Nevertheless, the transition of obtained design proposals into manufacturable parts is still a challenging task. In this article, the development of a freeware framework is shown, which uses a hybrid topology optimization algorithm for stiffness and strength combined with manufacturing constraints based on finite spheres and a two-step smoothing algorithm to design manufacturable prototypes with “one click”. The presented workflow is shown in detail on a rocker, which is “one-click”-optimized and manufactured. These parts were experimentally tested using a universal testing machine. The objective of this article was to investigate the performance of “one-click”-optimized parts in comparison with manually redesigned optimized parts and the initial design space. The test results show that the design proposals created while applying the finite-spheres and two-step smoothing are equal to the manual redesigned parts based on the optimization results, proposing that the “one-click”-development can be used for the fast and direct development and fabrication of prototypes