Lot of manufacturing organizations support reducing TTM (Time to Market). It helps to optimize product designs to maximize reality and get optimum performance. A typical product design cycle refers to PLM (Product Lifecycle Management), which comes with phases that include:
- Tooling Design
- Conceptual Design
- Detailed Design and Validation
- Product Build and Assembly
- Manufacturing planning and implementation
- Reliability Testing
It adds essential phases covering the preliminary phases of PLM, which are costly and time-consuming. In a typical PLM, physical prototypes and end products are tested and produced for reality, performance and functionality. It usually takes a lot of design and manufacturing iterations to make acceptable test results before launching the product. Many reasons cover the preliminary phases of PLM that are costly and time-consuming. Virtual Prototyping emerged as a promising method to create virtual rather than physical prototypes. It tests with simulation software that develops into a mature technology that offers tremendous benefits to manufacturing organizations.
- To understand Virtual Prototyping, answer a few questions given below:
- How CAD technology included in Virtual Prototyping?
- To what extent does Virtual Prototyping use?
- What benefits does Virtual Prototyping offer?
HOW IS CAD TECHNOLOGY INVOLVED IN VIRTUAL PROTOTYPING?
The goal of Virtual Prototyping to use engineering simulation software that predicts the performance and reliability of product assemblies manufactured. Virtual Prototyping referred to as Systems Performance Modelling. It predicts the reality and performance that simulates software, adding complex and challenging tasks. To understand how components of a product deform individually under loadings, it deformed the assembly into a product.
It understands how the material properties of parts degrade with product life. The material properties degrade with low to high-temperature changes. It comes with chemical reactions in a corrosive environment. It supports an understanding of the nature of loadings. Let’s say cyclical loadings occur to wind forces, ocean wave forces and earthquakes. A product is subjected to vibrational forces created by neighbouring machinery.
It helps in understanding the manufacturing defects initiated with growth and propagation. It adds failure modes of parts that influence the performance of the entire assembly regarding reliability. Apart from these, it adds factors to be considered, including governmental regulations, manufacturing techniques and environmental issues for building a product. The main CAD-related tools mainly utilised Virtual Prototyping, which covers 3D CAD design and simulation tools, along with CAE analysis. These tools use designing parts that are well-known for static or dynamic loadings. It can perform crash simulations, including finite element analyses.
However, simulating the performance and reliability of an assembled product requires more sophisticated software that integrates the capabilities of these CAD tools. The main goal is Systems Performance Modelling and Virtual Prototyping.
Implementing successful simulation software predicts the reliability and performance of a product, making it possible to examine different design alternatives. It commits to specific product intent. If there’s Virtual Prototyping achievable, it benefits manufacturing organisations with ease. It points to the availability of Additive Manufacturing or 3D printing. It utilised to validate simulation software developed for Virtual Prototyping and more.
TO WHAT EXTENT IS VIRTUAL PROTOTYPING USED?
As Virtual Prototyping sounds, it’s used by specific organisations that make good progress in implementing the technology. It’s worthwhile to look at what’s been accomplished.
Mazda® use a Virtual Prototyping solution named CoMET from Synopsys®. It helps reduce the number of tests on actual automobiles to verify ECUs (Engine Control Units) and HIL (Hardware-in-the-loop) test equipment.
HIL offers simulation techniques that quickly test and develop embedded systems for automotive computer systems. Mazda credits the Virtual Prototyping tool that accelerates ECU development at lowering cost. Another company that benefits from Virtual Prototyping is Ford®.
If we talk about Optitex®, it’s an apparel manufacturer that uses a robust set of virtual fabric simulation software to create, view and edit accurate apparel patterns before putting them on the market. The virtual software offers the company a shorter time to market. It adds improved innovation and customer satisfaction. Let’s say the design parameters include fitting, pulls, buttons, zippers, pleats, buckles, seam finishes, repeats, and more parameters that manipulate a virtual environment. Another apparel manufacturer adds benefitting from virtual Prototyping is Tukatech®.
WHAT BENEFITS DOES VIRTUAL PROTOTYPING PROVIDE?
Although many benefits that Virtual Prototyping provides have been mentioned, it will be used to summarise the most important benefits. Virtual Prototyping performs repeatable tests on a virtualised product under conditions that are difficult to create. Virtual Prototyping performs design modifications on a virtualised product, testing the product and optimised design, which is cost-effective, robust, and reliable.
Virtual Prototyping makes it possible to test and virtualise products against failure modes adding effects, different loadings types, and other operating conditions like low or high temperatures. It’s used for customers who misuse products, adding corrosive environments.
Virtual Prototyping Reality?
Virtual Prototyping shortens the product design time by making it easy to introduce new products with less time to market. It offers better customer satisfaction by increasing product presence in the market. CAD/CAM software systems are integral to Virtual Prototyping or Systems Modelling software. It adds availability to 3D printing, using certain types of Virtual Prototyping simulation software that validate and develop with 3D-printed models.
What is virtual reality prototyping?
Virtual reality (VR) prototyping involves using virtual reality technology to create and test prototypes of products, environments, or experiences. Instead of building physical prototypes, which can be time-consuming and expensive, VR allows designers and developers to create digital simulations that users can interact with in a virtual environment.
In VR prototyping, designers can create 3D models of their designs and place them within a virtual space. Users can then put on a VR headset and interact with these virtual prototypes as if they were real. This allows designers to test different design ideas, gather feedback from users, and iterate on their designs much more quickly and efficiently than traditional prototyping methods.
VR prototyping is particularly useful for industries such as architecture, automotive design, product design, and video game development, where being able to visualize and interact with a design in 3D can greatly enhance the design process. It can also be used for creating virtual prototypes of user interfaces, allowing designers to test the usability of their designs in a more immersive way.
What are the techniques used in virtual prototyping?
Virtual prototyping is a method used in product development to create and evaluate a digital representation of a product before it is physically built. Several techniques are employed in virtual prototyping to simulate various aspects of the product’s behavior, performance, and characteristics. Here are some common techniques:
Computer-Aided Design (CAD): CAD software is used to create detailed 3D models of the product’s geometry. These models serve as the basis for further analysis and simulations.
Finite Element Analysis (FEA): FEA is a numerical technique used to analyze how structures and materials behave under different conditions, such as stress, heat, and vibration. It helps predict how the product will perform under various loads and environments.
Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD): CFD simulates the behavior of fluids (liquids and gases) and their interaction with solid surfaces. It is used to analyze airflow, heat transfer, and other fluid-related phenomena within or around the product.
Multibody Dynamics (MBD): MBD simulates the motion and interaction of multiple interconnected rigid or flexible bodies. It helps understand the mechanical behavior of complex systems, such as machinery and vehicles.
Virtual Reality (VR): VR technologies allow designers and engineers to immerse themselves in a virtual environment where they can interact with and manipulate digital prototypes in real-time. This enables better visualization and evaluation of the product’s design and functionality.
Simulation Software: Various specialized simulation software packages are available for specific industries and applications, such as automotive, aerospace, electronics, and healthcare. These software tools simulate specific aspects of the product, such as electromagnetic behavior, thermal performance, and structural integrity.
Optimization Algorithms: Optimization algorithms are used to automatically search for the best design parameters that meet specified performance criteria. They help optimize the product’s design for factors like weight, cost, strength, and efficiency.
Prototyping Platforms: Virtual prototyping platforms provide integrated environments where designers and engineers can collaborate, iterate, and validate their designs using a combination of simulation, visualization, and analysis tools.