Testing & Simulation

Drivetrain efficiency of heavy-duty vehicles targeted Government/industry team to study parasitic losses derived from waste energy expended in the agitation of the lubricating oil and surface-to-surface component friction, which together can account for more than a tenth of overall vehicle energy losses. Read full story

Local Motors uses crowdsourcing to involve many developers The power of Web communications and the capabilities of modern design tools from the likes of Siemens PLM are being leveraged by Local Motors in crowdsourcing the design of vehicles and their components. The company is also using what it calls micro-factories to produce the designs and providing its services to other companies. Read full story

Lifecycle management tools help as more complex modules interact As the number of electronic functions on vehicles soars, engineers are increasingly linking them together to provide more sophisticated functionality without increasing the number of modules. As these modules work together in a more holistic fashion, it’s becoming more challenging to ensure that all the functions and interactions are integrated efficiently with high reliability. Read full story

Audi examines link between body flexibility and handling Body flexibility's influence on comfort and vibrations has been part of the development process for quite some time, but its influence on handling was apparent but had never been clearly analyzed precisely. Read full story

Synopsys enhances virtual prototyping tool for embedded software development The new release of Virtualizer improves modeling productivity through a new model authoring feature and IP specification import function. Read full story

Safety first at S-E-A A recreational off-highway vehicle roll-over system simulates both untripped and tripped real-world 90° rollovers using actual ROVs on a simulator. Read full story

Oak Ridge collaborates for cheaper carbon fiber Lightweight vehicles of the future will require strong carbon-fiber composite structures, but low-cost fibers are needed for market viability. Overcoming the challenges to cheaper carbon fiber is exactly what a research team at Oak Ridge National Laboratory is aiming to do at its new Carbon Fiber Technology Facility in Tennessee. Read full story

Dassault Systèmes delivers tools to develop smart, safe, and connected cars Delivering an ‘Experience’ from the user perspective is the new watchword from the makers of CATIA and other Product Lifecycle Tools, enabled by the V6 and the 3DExperience Platform. Read full story

SMS 3-D modeling helps Chrysler prep plant for new nine- and eight-speed automatics Using a powerful new 3-D modeling package, Chrysler Powertrain engineers and manufacturing experts are reconfiguring the Kokomo transmission plant to build the 845RFE eight-speed automatic for rear-drive vehicles beginning 4Q12 and the 948TE nine-speed fwd transaxle due to launch in 2Q13, in addition to other new powertrain programs. Read full story