DESIGN/MODELING/SIMULATION

Holistic optical metrology reduces costs, improves quality. Optical methods optimize composites and additive manufacturing (AM) for next-gen vehicles, from materials through life extension. Industry uses optical measurement systems throughout the design and manufacturing of next-generation material, structures and products. Optical metrology, Digital Image Correlation (DIC) and photogrammetry are critical measurement methods because of their ability […]

Focusing on production planning, process engineering, tool design, manufacturing. Introduction Lightweighting and safety needs have rapidly expanded applications of press hardening and newer-generation cold-forming steels, as well as warm and hot formable aluminum grades to Body-in-White components in recent years. Product design, manufacturing engineering and production technologies have delivered tremendous innovations toward efficient production of […]

What the switch to crossovers means—and much more. Two events last year dove deep into the realm of lightweighting—what’s happening now and what to expect down the road. In December, Ward’s Auto hosted a seminar on fuel economy and lightweighting. The overarching message stems from changing consumer behavior, away from small vehicles and instead, purchasing […]

The Big Three is turning to creative engineering solutions to meet demands. The popularity of the highly profitable and highly popular full-size pickup trucks in the U.S. market creates an interesting dichotomy for automakers. Customers want improved payload, towing capacity and fuel economy. Automakers want to give customers all three, but they must meet governmentmandated […]

The current industrial standard is to use a constant (coulomb) coefficient of friction. This limits the overall accuracy of the tryout’s forming process simulation. At present, the automotive industry is facing several trends, particularly the increased use of aluminium and thinner sheet materials. The trends are geared toward lightweighting, and they bring challenges, including the […]

Selective laser melting is set to revolutionize the market. Metal Additive Manufacturing, more commonly referred to as 3-D printing, grabs headlines in the aerospace, defense and medical sectors, but also continues to gain ground in the automotive industry for its ability to lightweight components, reduce assemblies and integrate performance features inconceivable through traditional machining methods. […]