FCMS, a subsidiary of Contact Software, and the CAE specialist Tecosim are sharing their expertise to develop a new process solution for the transport industry. It is hoped that this new collaboration will speed up the early design process, and thus make virtual vehicle development even faster.
Contact Software specialises in product lifecycle management (PLM) software as well as product data management (PDM) and project management software. Ahead of the Product Innovation Congress in Munich next month, this new tie-up represents a further widening of the reach of PLM technology.
Ever more vehicle models are being launched on the market in ever shorter design cycles. This demands the fastest possible validation of the vehicle designs with regard to customer requirements, functionality, reproducibility and compliance with statutory requirements during the early development phase. This is where the joint offering from Fast Concept Modelling & Simulation (FCMS) and Tecosim can help designers to reduce production cycles. TEC|CONCEPT is a new method for analysing and recalculating complete vehicle designs or individual module designs that significantly speeds up the virtual development process.
This software can be used to identify the possible impact of individual process-specific aspects, such as paintwork adhesion, deep drawability, casting and cost increases, which can be taken into account during virtual recalculation. The CATIA-CAA-based Fast Concept Modelling (FCM) software is used for interdisciplinary harmonisation between simulation and design engineering.
The FCM tool suite supports the simple, rapid creation of geometrical models and the automatic export of FE models for crash, NVH and static analyses. The use of a parametric CAD model allows a large number of possible designs to be created automatically within a short period of time. ‘Whereas before five or six optimisation geometries were calculated, TEC|CONCEPT now allows over 100 new concept solutions,’ said Udo Jankowski, member of the management board at Tecosim. For automakers and their system suppliers this not only means savings in terms of time and money, but also a product advantage over the competition.
TEC|CONCEPT marks another milestone in the cooperation between the two companies. To date, FCMS and Tecosimhave helped develop the StreetScooter electric car, which is now part of Deutsche Post’s fleet of vehicles, and worked together on a joint Robust Design Optimisation project at MAN Bus & Truck. In Japan, the CAE specialist acts as a reseller for Contact’s subsidiary, and it is using the FCM tool suite at several automobile manufacturers.
‘Together, we can provide the mobility industry with a unique offering,’ said Maximilian Zachries, General Manager of FCMS. ‘TEC|CONCEPT enables companies to move more rapidly from the initial product idea to functionally validated model variants and concepts. This improves the productivity of their innovation processes and creates clear competitive advantages.’
