Innovation Through Simulation 1

Process Automation for Chassis Design

Sharad Pandey
Dv. Manager Product Design &
Development
Eicher Motors
102, Industrial Area No. 1
Pithampur 454 775, Dist. Dhar
(M.P.), India
spandeyeicher.co.in
Vimal Mulchandani
Sr. Manager Product Design &
Development
Eicher Motors
102, Industrial Area No. 1
Pithampur 454 775, Dist. Dhar
(M.P.), India
vmulchandanieicher.co.in
Rishi Shah
Software Engineer EPM
Altair Engineering India Pvt Ltd
101, City Tower,
Dhole Patil Road,
Pune 411001, India
rishi.shahaltair.com


Abstract

Design and development oI automotive chassis is a highly intricate and extensive process, oIten spanning months
to reach a validated design. To help shorten the design and simulation time a process automation toolkit has been
developed by Eicher Motors and Altair Engineering, based on HyperWorks Process Manager.
This paper discusses the use oI Process Manager in carrying out upIront CAE in the concept selection phase Ior
chassis design Ior reducing the overall chassis development time and cost, and at the same time arriving at an
optimized design. The tool works on the use oI standardized sections and mesh morphing Ior optimization.
Extensive mesh libraries have can be created to quickly analyze add replace, what iI scenarios. Also the post
processing aspect has been automated and standardized using HyperView. Implementation oI the toolkit has
resulted in enhancement oI design productivity by up to 70 in some cases.

Introduction

In today`s competitive environment, one oI the most powerIul business competencies is a Iast product design and
development process. Innovative ways oI making design process more eIIicient are constantly being discovered
and implemented. Particularly, industries are keen to leverage advancements in CAE to shorten development
cycle times. The objective is to achieve a competitive advantage in getting better products, Iaster to market.
At Eicher Motors, chassis design was one oI such areas identiIied Ior improvement. Design and development oI
automotive chassis is a highly intricate and exhaustive process, oIten spanning months to reach a validated design.
To help shorten the design and simulation time a process automation toolkit has been developed by Eicher Motors
and Altair Engineering, based on HyperWorks Process Manager.

Methodology

Traditional chassis design and validation process Iollows the build test Iail iterations, consuming considerable
time and money. In the conventional design process, FEA does not start until late in the design process, when
CAD assemblies are ready, leading to iterations in CAD and physical prototype. Additionally Iinal parts might be
over designed, as optimization studies take a backseat in the already extensive program.
This process is Iollowed largely due to limited availability oI design evaluation tools at the concept Iinalization
stage. Most oI the compliances to be checked Ior a chassis are through FEA, and to improve upon the design
eIIiciencies, it becomes essential to exploit CAE right in concept selection stage.
A simple yet robust toolkit driven by HyperWorks Process Manger was proposed to carry out Iirst pass
compliance analysis, allowing designer to quickly iterate through various options and reach at an optimize design
much beIore prototype testing and detailed analysis can take place.



Innovation Through Simulation 2
Working

The tool works on the use oI standard sections and leverages the mesh morphing capabilities oI HyperMesh. It has
various tasks, such as mesh generation, building assembly, connection and mass deIinition and application oI
boundary conditions. A brieI overview oI the chassis design process automation tool is shown in Iigure. Most oI
the work has been automated through programming interIace with HyperWorks Process Manager using Tcl/Tk.
This automated tool shows the combinational capabilities oI Process Manager, Tcl/Tk, HyperMesh, HyperMorph
and HyperView. Submission oI deck to the solver and automated report generation is also possible through the
GUI.

Figure 1: Tool Structure
Some oI the most time and eIIort saving tasks are explained with respective GUI as below:

Chassis Member Librarv.


Figure 2: Chassis Member Library


Innovation Through Simulation 3
Task to create library oI chassis members. The purpose oI this task is to create a host oI chassis members through
morphing and store them into the library. GUI comprises oI two pages: Member page where user selects the type
oI member & Geometry page where user morphs the member as per the user speciIied value and store them.

Assemblv Build Tool.


Figure 3: Assembly Build Tool
Tool to build the assembly oI chassis members. User places the required member by providing the required
parameters Ior the respective member. Assembly detail image provides Ieedback to user which members are
placed properly or not.

Orient / Translate.
User can rotate or translate the selected member by user speciIied value.

Trim / Fill Holes.
Trimming and Iilling oI holes is possible at user speciIied locations.

Connector.


Figure 4: Connector
Create the connections to simulate the welds, rivets and bolts.

Mass Elements.
Create point mass oI user deIined mass value at user speciIied location to simulate the diIIerent masses
oI vehicle. Like Iuel tank mass, pay load, tire mass, etc.


Innovation Through Simulation 4
Boundarv Conditions.




Figure 5: Boundary Conditions
Simulate actual physical running condition by applying constraints and Iorces at user deIined location.

Applv Materials.


Figure 6: Apply Materials
This task allows user to apply material to the selected components. User can also import the material library Ior
material application.

Mass Calculation.
II material is applied properly, total mass oI the chassis assembly can be calculated on a single click. It
also calculates the CG and centroid oI the chassis.





Innovation Through Simulation 5
Export / Solve.


Figure 7: Export / Solve
Once chassis assembly is setup Ior analysis, model can be directly submitted to the Optistruct.

Report Generation.


Figure 8: Report Generation
Once model is solved, result report can be generated on a single click. User can also select the type oI results Ior
individual sub-assembly. This tool requires minimum time and negligible work eIIort to generate standardized
report.


Innovation Through Simulation 6

Figure 9: Standardised Plot
Benefits Summary

As discussed earlier substantial gains in design eIIiciency have been achieved by arriving at a much more mature
design early on in the concept Iinalization stage. Improvements oI up to 70 in the design cycle time have been
observed in some cases, besides leading to a more optimized design. Other generic beneIits include setting up oI a
standardized streamlined process Ilow, comprehensive knowledge base creation, and better FEA awareness in the
organization.

Future Plans

The Iuture development work mainly Iocuses on mesh reIinement and post processing improvements. For better
mesh morphing, a Iunctionality that can generate diIIerent type oI cross sectional ruled members is being
incorporated. Regarding post processing automatic extraction oI stiIIness and stress plots along the length oI
chassis will be available. Integration oI the tool with HyperWorks CAE data manger is also being looked at.

Conclusion

With Iirst-pass analysis being carried out in the concept Iinalization phase, signiIicant design maturity is
achieved upIront in the design process preventing time consuming and costly iterations later on.
Due to the vastly simpliIied GUI designer can quickly perIorm numerous iterations to Iine tune the
chassis design, reducing the material cost.
Process automation has lead to better distribution oI the FEA work with in the organization with initial
analysis being carried out by designers and specialists perIorming more complex analysis work like
Iatigue etc.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT
Authors would like to acknowledge the constant support and encouragement oI Mr. Rajinder S Sachdeva (Head,
PDD, Eicher Motors) and the eIIorts oI Mr. Badarinath Ambati (Director-Enterprise Process Management, Altair
Engineering) in making this project a success.

REFERENCES
1. R.J.Menne & M.N.Rechs, 'The System Integration Process Ior Accelerated Development, 2002, SAE International
2. Altair HyperWorks 7.0 suite manuals