What if engineers could design and analyze their models at the same time? And do both while working in three dimensions? Thanks to virtual engineering—a burgeoning field of technology—that could become a reality in the not-too-distant future.

Virtual engineering combines virtual reality software with analytical functions such as computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and finite element analysis (FEA). The integration of these capabilities will someday enable engineers to design, analyze, revise their designs and watch as those changes take effect in the virtual model—all in real time.

According to Mark Bryden, an assistant professor of mechanical engineering at Iowa State University in Ames and a developer of virtual engineering, a key strength of the new technology is its assimilation of analytical capabilities. This means engineers can execute finite element or CFD analysis—or a mix of the two—and get the results instantly. In fact, they won't see the analysis as a long string of numbers and graphs; instead, it will be observable, represented by objects. For example, after performing a CFD problem, engineers will watch—and perhaps even feel—the way the air flows around an automobile. They could then make a change to a part of the auto body to see how airflow responds.

"Those types of calculations are very challenging," Bryden tells Mechanical Engineering. "If you're doing a CFD calculation now, it can take from 10 minutes to three weeks. We're asking ourselves: 'Can I make this calculation faster? And how can I make it faster?'"

Bryden's efforts to make CFD even more accessible to nonspecialist users is noteworthy because not too long ago only specially trained analysts could perform functions like FEA or even CFD. Only in recent years have some firms in the computer-aided design and computer-aided engineering markets started endeavoring to push analysis capabilities to the initial stages of product design, says Vincent Harrand, director of software technology at software developer CFD Research Corp. of Alabama. Now, Bryden and his team are working to dramatically expand the capabilities of CFD, FEA and visualization.

With virtual engineering, engineers would be better able to decipher problems, without lavishing time on collecting data, modeling the information and then performing an analysis, Bryden says. In short, the technology could usher in a future in which all parts of product design, manufacture and repair will be completed in the virtual world, before the product is made.

Source:

Flowing into the Future
Jean Thilmany
Mechanical Engineering, February 2004
www.memagazine.org/contents/current/features/flowinto/flowinto.html