Prior to using Inspire, the compliance check of the stress criteria was the responsibility of CAE engineers only, because the designer did not have the right tools. Scania’s new directive allows the designer to also handle structural tasks within their CAD tool, i.e. by using Catia analysis.

A recent example of Scania’s new process involved the redesign of a steering arm. In this case, the designer first defined the design space of the new component in Inspire and applied the loads and boundary conditions he had received from the CAE department. This enabled the designer to use Inspire to create multiple design proposals. These proposals were then refined and analyzed in Catia. A final design was handed over to a CAE engineer for verification. The design fulfilled the criteria and tooling for production was ordered based on the simulation results. Since the steering arm is a safety article, physical testing was mandatory. The new design passed all required tests. The selected new design reduced the part’s mass by 30% and allowed the team to significantly reduce its development time. Part of the success of the project was the close relationship between the designer, CAE, and testing which were enabled by the application of simulation early in the design process.

By deploying an optimization tool (Inspire) and simulation into the design process designers no longer have to wait for the CAE or test engineer’s evaluation of their design. This reduces iteration time between different departments. Now a design from the design department only has to undergo a final verification since the designer already has made sure that the design meets weight and stiffness criteria, leading to a lean and more efficient development process.

The input criteria such as loads and other boundary condition still come from the CAE engineer, who answers those questions on a day to day basis during his work. The CAE engineer also verifies if the design really meets all criteria before the component is built and also physically tested. Prior to the use of Inspire, the CAE and testing engineers led the process, now the design engineer owns it and helps to create the simulation driven design process philosophy.

What's Next?

With its new process in place, Scania is already seeing that fewer iteration cycles between the CAE and the design departments are needed to come to a final design. Key to the success of this process is the way software such as Inspire is used successfully. "If you want to lose weight, it's not enough to buy new running shoes, you need to get out jogging also. It is the same thing here: we do not only have to buy some Inspire licenses to get the process started, but we also have to use the software in an efficient way. Once that is secured you'll receive all the benefits of a simulation driven design process," said Mikael Thellner. These benefits are a leaner development process, lighter and stiffer components, and a closer collaboration between designer, CAE and testing engineer, all leading to significant savings in development time, costs, and the creation of better products.