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THE AUTOSIM PROJECT
the effective use of conventional materials as well as the development of
novel materials to meet new challenges in vehicle performance and price.
This will be realised chiefly through digital modelling methods.
Where developments in material technology are led solely by the material
suppliers there is often a delay in their introduction for use in vehicle
manufacture. This can arise from uncertainty in many areas such as cost,
manufacturing methods and issues such as recycling - but also,
significantly, from uncertainty in how to correctly characterise these new
materials for the digital model. Here, by correct characterisation, we mean
the ability to describe the key characteristics of the material under the load
cases of concern to generate accurate, reliable results – particularly under
non-linear loading where bifurcation in results makes it essential to choose
the best model from the very start of development. In many cases material
properties are dependent on the manufacturing process, further
complicating the ability to predict their response in the vehicle.
Many parties are involved in defining materials characterisation for
simulation – including the material supplier, component manufacturer,
testing house, the software developer and the CAE engineer in the end user
organisation. Closer collaboration will allow the benefits from new material
technology to be accrued sooner. There may be a new requirement for a
“CAE Material Specialist” within the automotive OEM or Tier 1 supplier; the
role would include coordination of activities between the key parties,
establishment and maintenance of a materials database, guidance on the
effects of forming and choices of assembly methods, and how to choose the
best practice material model for a particular load case. Of course, any
proposal for use of a new material must also consider cost – any change in
practice has to be justified in terms of cost saving and/or revenue increase.
This must reflect not just the raw material cost (and availability issues) but
the total cost to the enterprise – including aspects such as recycling,
environmental impact, legislative restrictions and applicable manufacturing
methods.
A key requirement (and an area also highlighted in the confidence topic) is
the need for a more powerful material database. This must provide the
essential traceability but also would offer several other benefits such as
controlled access to key data, support for choosing the best material,
guidance on which parameters are needed for specific load cases,
automatic updates via PDM/SDM systems, and simply avoiding wasted time
searching for or re-generating missing data. Such a system will eventually
need to include probability-based definitions of material properties.
A clearly defined materials characterisation methodology would permit new
materials to be adopted with increased confidence. The methodology
SIXTH FRAMEWORK PROGRAMME PRIORITY [6.2] [SUSTAINABLE SURFACE TRANSPORT]
012497 AUTOSIM
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