Abstract
Keywords: virtual development, body development, CAE analysis, simulation, Audi A4
Increasing demands made on vehicle properties driven by legislation and consumer tests in the area of passive safety, requirements in terms of noise, vibration and harshness (NVH) which have similarly become more stringent, the increasing number of customised vehicle models and fiercer competition demand an integrated and synchronised deployment of CA technologies (virtual development) in the development process, and especially a CAE-based and -driven design process during characteristic development. The CAE-based and -driven design process enables specified functional properties of the vehicle to be tested and approved early on, taking into account costs, weight and package. Functional concepts can be drafted and evaluated in the early development phase. Conflicts in functional objectives will be detected in the course of multi-disciplinary function design, and possible solutions will be found. This characteristics-oriented design process has in the meantime become well established in Audi vehicle development. This is illustrated by the example of body development of the current Audi vehicle models.