Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and finite element analysis (FEA) have traditionally been the domain of specialists. However, recent advances have radically changed who is diving into simulation and analysis work.
It's not necessarily that the science behind fluid dynamics or structural integrity has become easier. It's more that such computer-aided engineering (CAE) tools have become tightly woven into the fabric of traditional CAD programs and mainstream engineering workflows. This masks some of their complexities and makes them accessible to a broader engineering demographic.
Click on the slide below to see 11 examples showcasing this mainstreaming of CAE:
Predictive Engineering tapped Autodesk Simulation to conduct FEA and CFD analysis to simulate air flows on a firefighter respirator mask project, as part of an effort mandated by the National Institute of Science and Technology (NIST).
Image courtesy of Predictive Engineering Inc.
CAE features are becoming commonplace on several levels. For one thing, most current CAD tools support a base level of CAE functionality, and some have gone even further by offering full FEA and sometimes CFD capabilities as part of the extended platform. The simulation vendors are doing their part by delivering advanced meshing and solver capabilities that can be run directly from within an engineer's CAD platform of choice.
This reduces reliance on siloed engineering systems, eliminating the need to navigate between tool sets and reducing training, since engineers can work within their most familiar environment. There are also efforts under way to leverage the simplicity of direct modeling CAD tools for preparing CAE models -- an approach that removes one of the more glaring pain points from simulation.
Ultimately, it's not necessarily about making everyone a CAE expert. Rather, it's about making simulation more accessible in the early part of the design process, so developers do more of it sooner and, as a result, optimize products when it's far cheaper and easier to make changes.
My apologies for the oversight. Thanks for putting COMSOL LiveLink on our radar screen. It's exactly that kind of integration with leading CAD tools that is helping put CAE applications in more engineering toolboxes.
You missed one. The COMSOL Multiphysics LiveLink modules also allow users to run Multiphysics simulations within their preferred software of choice. We currently have plugins for Solidworks, Pro/Engineer, Inventor, Spaceclaim, Creo Parametric, and Autocad. http://www.comsol.com/products/multiphysics/
You pegged it, Alex. The idea is that tightly-integrated FEA/CFD capabilities as part of CAD platform allow design engineers to do casual analysis throughout all stages of development as opposed to coming up with a design, throwing it over the proverbial wall to the CAE specialists for simulation, and then trying to incorporate those findings back into the design.
What happens with this traditional, siloed approach is that simulation is performed a couple of times in the process and typically too late when it is far too costly and complex to make changes. With the tools easily accessible, from the CAD platform or in the cloud, a design engineer can iterate and optimize their design continually throughout the process and hand off the end result to the specialists to do the final optimization. That way, more designs are tested and optimized, enabling teams to hone in on the best option and resulting in far more innovative and cost-effective products. At least that's the goal.
I've always found FEA and CFD to be fascinating, and use to write about them in the old days when I was at Mechanical Engineering magazine. At that time, one of the impediments to doing serious analysis on PCs was the availability (or lack thereof) of processing power. Today, cycles are free, so it makes sense to incorporate FEA and CFD analysis capabilities within core CAD products. The aspect which still requires work, as you mention in this piece, is user training, because there are deep experts among users and there are newbies. I suspect though that what the broadened availability of FEA and CFD does is to allow casual users to run occasional analyses. The people dedicated to this as their core discipline having highly tuned setups and do this on an ongoing basis in any case.
The 3D printing revolution seems to have a knack for quickly moving technology ahead by way of collaborative effort and even a little friendly competition -- all of course in the name of scientific advancement.
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