Abstract
In recent years the development cycle for combustion engines has been considerably shortened and the trend continues. This represents a great challenge for all parties participating in the product development process, especially for suppliers who tend to be involved rather late. Besides reducing development cycles, other challenges need to be managed.
On the one hand, new functions and variabilities for current developments of combustion processes and hybridization (e.g. for stop-start) need to be provided, which requires new simulation models to verify desired functions. To understand the effect of these new functions on the components and the interaction between the subsystems the entire system should be taken into consideration in order to find the optimal solution.
On the other hand the load on components and systems, caused by downsizing and downspeeding, increases and raise the question if additional components (e.g. decoupler) are necessary by default to reduce e.g. rotational vibrations. To define a robust design, implementing only strictly necessary components, an assured FEA method to determine the fatigue safety factor and the fatigue limit respectively is required.
In order to keep up with these technical challenges validated development tools, embedded in a supportive product development process (PEP), are required. Furthermore, the time and cost intensive iterations between the design of a prototype and testing phases should be reduced to a minimum. Ideally, in order to comply with reduced development cycles, tests should be reduced to a single and final validation test.
The presentation illustrates the demands on development and use of virtual models for calculation and simulation during the different phases of the product development process, giving a few selective examples.
Keywords: Technical Calculation, Simulation, Finite-Element Analysis, Multibody System, Product Development Process