Applications for Simulation

Mechanical drive systems are the core unit of most stationary and mobile machinery, machine tools, and all kinds of plants and vehicles. The engineering challenges include high speed and precise positioning requirements, depending on the type of machine. Simulation enables you to quickly come up with reliable drivetrain designs at reasonable costs for a broad range of machines – as a profitable tool for efficient commissioning and optimization. Increase the efficiency of the entire powertrain from the engine through the driving shafts and transmission down to the output shaft. A fast and reliable way to verify the behavior of the system in steady state is to run a frequency-domain steady-state analysis. Steady-state calculations are required by many licensing and certification procedures to prove a system's robustness.

Vibratory mechanical assemblies can be found in many plants and machines. The vibrational behavior from periodic excitation is as important as the impact-induced behavior of mechanical sub-systems, bearing forces and functional reliability of the design. Mechanical simulations help you develop efficient and safe inexpensive mechanical components and systems at short notice. 

Fluid power systems can be found across all industries. Whether they are used to transport liquids or gases, or to transmit power: minimum pressure losses and vibrations in the overall system along with efficient fluid transport are often decisive factors for the competitiveness of the final product. Due to the non-linear properties of fluid power systems, spreadsheet-based design approaches have their limits. In order to increase performance and efficiency of fluid power systems, you look at the fluid circuit, its controller layout and the connected mechanical as well as electrical components as a whole for the best results. Simulation of pneumatic and hydraulic systems helps improve your understanding of complex relationships and interactions within the system and raises your awareness of existing optimization potentials. 

Energy and air-conditioning processes are influenced by the mass flow, velocity, heat transfer coefficient and interdependencies between temperature, pressure and the fluid’s state of matter (e.g. air, water, coolant or refrigerant). Corresponding heat exchangers are used in a large number of various devices and installations. Apart from valves, pipes, pumps or fans, important components of such systems are compressors, condensers, capillary tubes (expansion valves) and evaporators. The thermodynamic simulation enables you to determine the optimum number, dimensions and position of these components and the most effective combination of flow direction, flow rates as well as pressure and temperature ratios. 

From wind power plants to hydraulic presses, lifts, machine tools to cars, aircrafts or robots – no modern machine today can run without a proper controller layout. In terms of complexity, they range from simple pressure controls to lane departure warning systems or even autonomous driving control functions. The scope of work for control engineers is broad, ranging from the development and analysis of new control concepts to the design of finished industrial control solutions, such as programmable logical controllers (PLC). Modeling and simulation play a key role and, in many cases, are even indispensable to meet the challenges of this task, and make it easier for the engineer to understand and estimate the dynamics between the controlled system and the controller.

Electrification is growing not only in the automotive sector but also in the offshore industry or in mechanical engineering. Electric motors replace not only classical combustion engines but also hydraulic cylinders or hydraulic pumps. Engineers must of course provide and design the necessary electrical controls – e.g. frequency converters – and electric power supply via the grid. Electrical components such as converters and transformers must be designed, both thermally and electrically, for the continuous currents and voltages resulting from the operation of the connected (mechanical, fluidic etc.) systems and for their peak loads. Another challenge is to reduce or even fully prevent undesirable interactions between the power grid and the machine. Comprehensive simulations of the entire mechatronic system give you a global picture of the system and its behavior. In a number of applications like deep-water oil and gas extraction, for instance, electric current and control signals are transmitted over the same lines. Distribution substations, consumption loads and long transmission paths can cause signal distortions or phase shifts. These effects can be captured with simulation. The results will help avoid expensive revisions and ensure the desired transmission quality.

With the general trend toward miniaturization in electronic consumer goods like cameras, mobile phones or tablets come new engineering challenges. The compact designs must cope with things like heat dissipation and sound quality in spite of reduced construction sizes and resonant volumes. The acoustic impedance and thus also the frequency response depend on the resonant volume, the geometry of the transmission channel (e.g. cross-section and length), the sound-emitting opening and the so-called speaker driver. The speaker driver is typically made up of the voice coil, the magnetic circuit (yoke, armature, permanent magnet) and a diaphragm. These parameters are also critical for the acoustic properties of headphones, loudspeakers and microphones. Acoustic network simulation enables you to check the sound of your product already during the conceptual phase and gives you direct feedback on how parameter changes in assemblies affect the acoustic properties.