Posted by: Mehul Patel | Posted on: November 17th, 2016

Design simulations are increasingly becoming important in real-world applications. Be it about obtaining a driver’s license or learning to fly an aircraft, simulators are used in diverse business settings for different purposes. Through simulation, outcomes can be predicted mathematically, so that risks can be assessed, products can be improved and failures can be avoided before even performing physical tests. To improve the equipment fabrication, design simulations are extremely useful in improving the outcomes.

Let’s look at them in detail:

Evaluate New Product Designs

New products must be tested for their strength, functionality and safety, before they are distributed in the market. Testing also helps in knowing about the potential problems in the product and determining ways to improve the product design, increasing customer’s value for money as well as manufacturer’s reputation in the industry. It is however difficult and time consuming to create prototypes by fabricating parts and then running tests. This is where simulation tools like finite element analysis (FEA) and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) can assist in reducing the test time and making the process more efficient.

Although simulations will require human intervention, proper inputs in the software will ensure that computing power will perform most of the tasks. Iterations become quicker and you do not have to start yourself from scratch with the drawings and fabricate the part again for every single change in the design, as everything happens virtually in the software.

Improve Production Processes

Production processes often undergo several refinements with changes in the product design, and as such it is not an easy point-A to point-B process. Since human brain works on knowledge and experience to extrapolate ideas, the possibilities of innovation are limited. But this is not the case with computers; simulation programs can generate different possibilities that engineers might have never thought of. As such, it allows engineers and designers to test different theories and identify an appropriate design and fabricate the equipment.

Determine Potential Problematic Regions in Design

A product design that might look perfect in theory would not necessarily behave the same in real world conditions. There are possibilities when customers use the product in ways it is not intended to. Determining what-if scenario is then critical to develop functional, durable and safe products. With the use of design simulators, it is possible to find exact regions in the design causing problems and more prone to failure, and this is usually done through fatigue analysis. It is much easier to determine the problems virtually rather than performing prototyping trials and increasing production scrap.

Reduce Cost

Developing new products is often an expensive task, involving a huge cost of making prototypes for physical test trials before finalizing the product design for mass production. This investment doesn’t necessarily payoff. However, through simulations it is possible to significantly reduce the development costs and prevent you from fabricating products that aren’t viable for the market. There’s a straight savings in materials and labor, while ensuring a better product and in turn better revenues.

Simulate before your fabricate your designed equipment. Reach out us for your design simulation requirements at info@hitechcae.com