M-TEC Engineering Projects can offer a wide range of CAE/FEA support, with experience in Aerospace, Automotive, Military and Consumer Product industries. Our experienced and highly motivated team use the best available hardware and advanced application software to provide a full range of CAE capabilities across a wide range of materials (e.g. Polymers, Steels, Alloys, Composites, Fluids and more). Here are the key areas we are able to assist in numerical analysis and simulation.

CRASH SIMULATION

Simulating crash scenarios to show their impact on components and whole vehicles. The energies and deformations produced by a crash and their effects on the structure are calculated, analysed and simulated. This delivers invaluable knowledge for new vehicle development, saves on costs and prototypes for real crash tests and reduces impact on the environment.

VEHICLE OCCUPANT SAFETY

Occupant safety simulation is used to design and optimise vehicle modules which have an impact on driver and passenger injuries in a crash. Such modules include belt systems, dashboards, air bags, interior trim and seats.

PEDESTRIAN PROTECTION

Pedestrian accident simulation is used to design and optimise vehicle components which have an impact on pedestrian injuries if a vehicle hits a pedestrian. The simulation process examines the entire vehicle front end, the front hood, the windscreen and other components.

COMPUTATIONAL FLUID DYNAMICS (CFD)

Numerical computational fluid dynamics (CFD) calculates phenomena which occur as gases and fluids flow over surfaces. Uses in the automotive industry include improvement in efficiency for fuel pumps, external aerodynamics, heat management in engines and equipment assemblies, air conditioning in passenger compartments, component testing, brake cooling, defrosting and de-icing of windscreens, contamination simulation and control hydraulics simulation.

DURABILITY

During the early stages of structural component development, long before elaborate, expensive testing is possible, durability analyses are used to evaluate and enhance designs with regard to structural strength and, above all, cyclic resistance. This allows weak points to be identified and eliminated from a design at an early stage. This process often also reveals weight optimisation and minimises the number of necessary laboratory tests.

MULTI-BODY SYSTEM SIMULATION

Multi-body system simulation is primarily used for rigid body calculation for powertrains and chassis components as well as kinematic simulation of articulated joints and drives of all types. The calculation speed of multi-body system simulation enables complex modules such as entire chassis to be easily mapped and integrated into control circuits.

SYSTEM SIMULATION

System simulation is used to examine highly complex overall systems in which many sub-systems interact. Mapping and simulating such a system is a supreme discipline: the physical properties of all components and sub-systems which are interconnected with each other and exert influence on one another must be described in a mathematically correct way and their behaviour evaluated. It is essential not to lose sight of the overall system as a sum of all parts for all details.

NVH (NOISE, VIBRATION, HARSHNESS)

NVH calculations allow conclusions to be drawn on how to implement improvements with regard to acoustics, vibrations and comfort. Typical fields of application include investigating steering wheel shake, gear lever vibration and sound propagation in the passenger compartment. 

OPTIMISATION

The use of different mathematical calculation methods identifies optimisation potential for individual components or component groups regarding their weight or mechanical properties. Analysis results are incorporated into the development process just the once or as part of a continuous improvement process. In automotive engineering, analyses typically look at components in the powertrain, vehicle body and passenger compartment, or in overall structures.

COUPLED OR MULTI-PHYSICS SIMULATION

Sometimes it is simply not enough to examine the physical properties of components in isolation. Wherever several physical phenomena are examined regarding their interaction with another, this is referred to as multi-physics simulation. Findings established in such simulations often present a truer picture than separate studies. Multi-physics simulations play an increasingly important role in all stages of a product’s life cycle, from the analysis of new material properties, their mapping in virtual material models and parameters, through to production process simulation and calculation of product resistance under the effect of flow.

VIRTUAL BENCHMARKING

Virtual benchmarking allows detailed comparisons with competitors’ full products or individual vehicle components and component assemblies. This method enables product development to be speeded up considerably while reducing costs at the same time.

Below are a list of the typical application software used;
:: NASTRAN
:: ABAQUS
:: NCODE FATIQUE
:: DYNA
:: RADIOSS
:: PAM-CRASH
:: FLUENT
:: OPTISTRUCT

Our service is backed (If required) by full engineering and project management support, helping clients interpret results to achieve optimum product capabilities and can also be offered as a ‘Stand-Alone’, on or off-site to meet your requirements. If this or any of the services mentioned above is of interest to you please feel free to ‘Contact Us‘.