Why design simulation is gaining popularity

This is an observation that Femtec, a computer-aided engineering (CAE) service provider based in Eindhoven in the Dutch province of Brabant is pleased to make. Femtec goes even further and notes that these days inspection agencies almost always require a simulation based performance prediction, and sees the emergence of digital simulation as an essential product development tool. The increased interest in CAE also means that more companies are seeing the benefits.

So what lies behind these trends?

Digital simulation used to take place at the end of the product development phase as a final check of the product’s behavior. While Femtec still performs the final check, as it’s a requirement of the inspection agencies, digital simulation is now performed much earlier and progressively more often in the design process. This increased use of CAE software requires that the digital simulation process be very efficient, particularly as product development is almost always under pressure to meet deadlines.

Femtec comments that factors that contribute to the increased efficiency of the simulation process include the openness of the FEA software, such as the ability to import CAD geometry easily and export models for customer scrutiny, as well as the availability of tools that can automate repetitive tasks and perform time consuming calculations.

Femtec selected Femap for its FEA modeling needs. You can read the Femtec case study to find out more about how Femtec uses Femap and other approaches to increase the efficiency of the simulation process.

Alastair

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