Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, a leading research university in biomedical sciences and bioengineering, was tasked with developing highly detailed, finite-element human body models for vehicle crash simulation. The Center of Injury Biomechanics (CIB) at the university was to investigate injury mechanisms following trauma resulting from vehicle crashes to develop a greater understanding of human tolerance to injury and to engineer enhanced safety countermeasures. The challenge was to mathematically quantify fundamental human body organs, skeletal members, and body extremities that are subject to trauma. The resulting medical image data had to accurately represent a range of vehicle occupants: adults (male & female), children (3-6 years old), and infants. The human body data then had to be discretized to generate accurate finite element (FE) models of the varied human body systems. These models then had to be integrated to formulate a model of the entire human body, which then had to be validated in vehicle crashworthiness simulations with occupant and pedestrian impact conditions.

The Form Finding Lab at Princeton University was faced with the challenge of designing expressive structures that can safely be employed in seismic areas. The focus was on shell structures, which are thin, curved, and typically large span structures made out of a wide range of materials ranging from steel and glass, to concrete and even bricks or mud. These structures have empirically shown their excellent performance during earthquakes, as exemplified by the undamaged survival of the shells by the acclaimed shell builder Félix Candela during the great 1985 Mexico City earthquake. However, powerful computational tools were needed to analyze the behavior of these structures under earthquake loading. The researchers needed to investigate the effects of a shell’s shape on a buildings’ performance during an earthquake and to simulate the influence of thickness variations on the response due to shaking caused by the earthquake.

The University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute (UMTRI) was faced with the challenge of developing finite-element human body models that account for the effects of age, gender, and obesity on injury risk in vehicle crashes. The existing injury assessment tools, including finite-element human models, did not account for different body shape and composition variations among the population. This was a significant issue as analysis of crash injury databases by UMTRI showed that occupant characteristics, such as age, sex, and body mass index (BMI) significantly affect the risks for thoracic and lower extremity injuries in vehicle crashes. The challenge was to broaden vehicle crash protection to encompass all vehicle occupants by developing detailed, parametric-based finite element human body models that represent a wide range of human attributes.

The aerospace industry is constantly seeking ways to reduce aircraft weight for improved performance and reduced fuel costs. SOGECLAIR aerospace, a major supplier for the aerospace industry, was faced with the challenge of finding a new development and manufacturing approach to reduce weight while ensuring safety. They were particularly interested in exploring a new concept for an engine pylon, a critical component that holds an aircraft engine to the wing or fuselage. The challenge was to create a design that would not only reduce weight but also maintain the part’s stiffness and reduce the overall number of system parts, leading to reduced assembly time.

The challenge faced by NuVasive Inc., a medical device company specializing in the surgical treatment of spine disorders, was to predict how a device will perform while ensuring they are safe and effective, before a single prototype is built. The company wanted to leverage computational modeling and simulation to eliminate bad ideas and refine the good ones long before they leave the drawing board. The objective of this project was to take anatomic geometry obtained from a CT scan and develop a finite element model that could evaluate the biomechanical stability of different interbody cage footprints that is typically performed using cadaveric testing. Since bone geometry is unique to each individual, and bones are not symmetric, a manual hexahedral (HEXA) meshing approach needed to be established in order to build models with a repeatable process.

Train collisions, though not common, can have devastating impacts, especially on the often unprotected rail engineer. The interior of the front rail car is built to withstand a moderate to severe impact, but the engineer console is virtually unprotected, leaving the engineer vulnerable to potentially life-threatening impact injuries. Sharma & Associates (SA), a provider of engineering solutions to the railroad industry, initiated research into creating an Engineer Protection System (EPS) concept. However, SA was not familiar with the necessary safety requirements, available systems, or overall performance tuning of impact environments and needed a partner to help develop the new system. The EPS had to meet specific criteria: it could not be triggered by the engineer and could not interfere with the engineer exiting the control car.

The Integrative Simulations & Computational Fluids Lab researchers at the School for Engineering of Matter Transport and Energy (SEMTE) at Arizona State University (ASU) were faced with the challenge of using the commercial code HyperMesh as a general preprocessor to mesh complex geometries for use with the spectral element CFD code Nek5000. The Nek5000 code requires 3D hexahedral elements, which posed a difficulty as most CFD tools use tetrahedral meshes that are easier to generate for conventional geometries. The researchers wanted to benefit from the rich functionality of advanced meshing tools like HyperMesh, capable of producing high-quality hexahedral meshes, while using the Nek5000 solver code. Before the project started, the researchers had no general process for meshing in place. Most of the meshing was handled with custom-made tools that were developed 15-20 years ago and have seen minimal updates since that time. Other users created their own meshing tool for specific problems in software such as MatLab.

The Square Kilometer Array (SKA) project, led by the SKA Organization from Jodrell Bank Observatory in the UK, aims to challenge Einstein’s seminal theory of relativity, study the formation of the first stars and galaxies, explore dark energy and vast magnetic fields in the cosmos, and answer the age-old question, 'Are we alone in the Universe?' The SKA will be a collection of various types of antennas, including large dish reflectors and aperture antennas, spread over large distances and working together as an interferometric array. The SKA will be 10,000 times faster and 50 times more sensitive than any existing radio telescope. However, the proximity of adjacent antennas and other systems can result in unwanted inter-coupling, even from low-level emissions, due to currents on cables. This inter-coupling needs to be minimized, which requires identifying the coupling mechanisms and applying measures to improve isolation. On-site radio frequency (RF) coupling investigations are required, but they can only be done after installation. During the design, planning, and installation stages, characterization of the electromagnetic (EM) environment has to be done on scale models and through simulations.

Gestamp, a global chassis component supplier, was faced with the challenge of reducing the mass and increasing the durability of a rear twist beam (RTB) suspension system. The RTB design is a complex task that requires careful consideration of elastokinematic performance in addition to meeting stiffness and durability targets. The design of experiments (DOE) and optimisation methods were being used to explore the available design space and minimise the mass of a low cost RTB design. The durability requirement was identified as one of the main mass drivers for this type of RTB design. The design of a “U Section” RTB typically requires consideration of several interlinked targets, including Roll Stiffness and Roll Steer, which are strongly influenced by the shape, position and gauge of the torsion element.

3D Systems, a pioneer in 3D printing technology, was approached by the Cooper Hewitt – Smithsonian Design Museum in New York to participate in an exhibit highlighting innovative software and new manufacturing methods. The challenge was to design and 3D print a structurally sound, lightweight skateboard, a product that has remained largely unchanged for many years. The team at 3D Systems aimed to revolutionize the way a skateboard is designed and produced, with the goal of creating a skateboard lighter than others on the market.

Dorel Juvenile, a market leader in child safety in cars, was tasked with the development of a new child seat, the Maxi-Cosi 2wayPearl. The challenge was to redesign a two-way facing safety child seat that could withstand increased loads, fit into a reduced packaging space, and meet the new European I-size safety requirements. The project's initial goal was to modify the existing Maxi-Cosi FamilyFix seat base to add rearward-facing functionality. The increased loads due to the two-way functionality and the reduced and modified packaging space for the seat base presented significant engineering challenges. The more forward position of the support leg required major structural changes. The introduction of a new European wide standard for child safety seats – the I-size regulation – during the course of the project added another layer of complexity, necessitating an almost complete redesign of the seat base.

The challenge was to assess the capability of a ship's rudder assembly to withstand the shock loading following a nearby blast event. This was a critical task as the engineers in the Marine, Shipbuilding, and Offshore industries face many design challenges including physical space constraints, extreme weather conditions, deep water and remote locations. These constraints create an extreme environment for the engineer to develop a sound, reliable and safe operating platform. Prior to the installation of a modified design of a ship's steering gear, it was required to assess the capability of the rudder assembly to withstand the shock loading following a nearby blast event.

FIAT, one of the world’s largest vehicle manufacturers, faced a significant challenge in accurately simulating and eliminating squeak and rattle noise in their passenger cars. These noises, which occur when two parts of an assembly are in relative motion due to a specific excitation load, were often interpreted by customers as a lack of quality in the product. Previously, FIAT had only been able to study the potential for these noises by testing physical components produced using near-final designs. If any noise issues were discovered, the team could only apply quick fixes, which were often time-consuming and costly. FIAT’s NVH (Noise, Vibration, and Harshness) Department wanted to explore the potential of studying squeak and rattle during the virtual design stage, using a simulation-based methodology that could be implemented inside a tool around which they could build a new design process.

Baker Hughes, a leading supplier of oilfield services, products, technology, and systems, faced a significant challenge in validating an advanced oil well liner. The company's customers operate in a challenging market, drilling offshore in deep water and arctic regions, perfecting shale and hydraulic fracturing techniques, and consistently complying with strict environmental and safety regulations. They also have to manage technological challenges such as ever-deeper wells, extreme pressures and temperatures, and unconventional geological variations. Product reliability, safety, speed to market, and cost control are all vital to the industry’s success. To remain competitive, oil and gas service companies must ensure that the right products are built reliably and meet customer expectations ahead of those from competitors. The challenge of creating a cost-effective, safe, and reliable expandable liner hanger required the use of simulation throughout the product development process.

The Department of Mechanical Engineering at Brigham Young University (BYU) was faced with the challenge of reworking an advanced engineering design course, ME 471, which had been taught for over 30 years. The course, which consisted of classroom and laboratory components, emphasized theoretical concepts and practical CAE skills. The objective for reworking the course was to add the ability to network design projects so that term projects could be completed collaboratively by teams from various global engineering universities. The main challenge in course networking was to globalize the student learning experience by adding intercultural competency requirements. These included providing experience with working in or directing a team of ethnic or cultural diversity, understanding cultural influences on product design and manufacturing, and comprehending how cultural differences affect how engineering tasks are performed.

The University of Nottingham, a world-class institution, is home to over 43,000 students and more than 100 research groups. The University's high-performance computing (HPC) facility supports research in various fields such as Science, Medicine, and Engineering. However, the University faced a challenge in managing the diverse computational workload efficiently. The HPC Service Manager, Dr. Colin Bannister, was keen on maximizing the benefits from the University's investment in HPC equipment. The University needed a powerful, flexible workload management suite that could ensure efficiency, usability, and performance. The desired system should enable efficient scheduling of computational workload, monitor and analyze workload, provide an easy-to-use interface, and produce straightforward management reports.

The production of carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) components in high volume and economically is a significant challenge due to complex design shapes and primarily manual manufacturing processes. This has limited the production of fiber composite materials to small series or single products. Despite the desirable properties of CFRP components, such as their lightweight potential and excellent mechanical properties, their complex design and cost-intensive manufacturing processes have been a disadvantage. The Fiber Patch Preforming (FPP) method, developed under the leadership of Airbus Group Innovations, enabled the automated production of composite preforms from a software lay-up plan. However, the next challenge was creating a manufacturing facility suitable for mass production and efficient processing of the fiber patches. This led to the SOWEMA research project, which aimed to develop a flexible and fully automated manufacturing process using the FPP method.

Rolo Bikes, a company founded by Adam Wais and Anders Annerstedt, aimed to fill a gap in the market for ultra-high performance bicycles tailored to individual rider requirements. The challenge was to develop a high-performance, ultra-lightweight composite bike frame that exhibited world-leading strength and stiffness attributes while keeping weight to an absolute minimum. The design team at Rolo wanted to optimize the structure and find the ideal layout of carbon fiber that did not use any unnecessary material. However, the team lacked the in-house computer-aided engineering (CAE) expertise required to accurately analyze and optimize the frame. The objective was to achieve world-leading performance for weight, stiffness, and comfort, and to develop an efficient and cost-effective virtual testing process to analyze the performance of future bike frames.

The Sports Technology Institute (STI) at Loughborough University, a leading research group in sports engineering, was faced with the challenge of generating complex human surrogate models to simulate sports impact scenarios. These scenarios are crucial for the development and testing of personal protective equipment (PPE) in sports. The human body, with its intricate tissue structures and complex anatomical geometries, is incredibly difficult to replicate accurately. The challenge was further compounded by the need for high-quality meshes that could provide a good description of these complex geometries. The quality of a mesh significantly affects model behaviour, making it a key factor in the research. The institute needed a solution that could handle these complexities and provide accurate, high-quality models for their research.

Anterior knee pain is a significant complication following total knee arthroplasty (TKA) surgery. The inability to freely extend or flex the knee significantly impacts patients' daily activities such as walking, lifting, and rising from a chair. This knee movement inability is one of the most common indications of needed TKA procedure revisions. The challenge of this study was to quantitatively evaluate the effect of the patellar button thickness on the variation of the quadriceps tendon force during knee joint flexion/extension using computational analysis. A reduction in the force variation is directly related to the mitigation of anterior knee pain following TKA surgery. Poor sizing during surgery of the patellar knee component – a “button-like” element that increases the mechanical advantage of the extension force – was identified as a key issue.

The College of Engineering, Pune (CoEP) recognized the need to keep pace with the rapidly evolving field of engineering innovation. The institute understood that to maintain its national ranking and provide its students with the best career opportunities, it needed to align its education with the latest industry technologies. The challenge was to create an environment where both teachers and students could leverage state-of-the-art engineering technologies to meet contemporary market requirements. To achieve this, CoEP established the CAE-Optimization Lab. The next challenge was to decide which tools would best meet the center's needs while ensuring the lab's self-sustaining operation.

F.tech R&D North America, a world-class certified Tier-1 international automotive systems supplier, was facing a challenge in their reporting process. The company utilizes HyperView to investigate test results, using the data to inform decisions on methods to improve designs. This data is often used to create reports and presentations during the development process, using images and animations generated by HyperView to illustrate particular areas of a component where additional work may be required. However, exporting these assets was a highly manual process of loading in results, positioning the model and taking screenshots. This was time-consuming and took away from the engineers' time to focus on exploring and interpreting the results. F.tech R&D North America wanted a way of automating this process to reduce the time taken to produce project reports.

Re-Loc, a UK-based company, developed a new product to accelerate the construction process. The product is a clip that fits inside the cavity of a concrete brick and attaches to the steel bar, holding it securely in place. However, the manufacturing cost of the initial design was too high for mass production, given the large number of clips required for a single structure. The challenge was to reduce the material use and cost of the part, bring the design to a production level, and make it as efficient as possible. The part had to be sufficiently stiff to maintain the position of vertical and horizontal bars relative to the inside surfaces of the hollow blocks, allow the concrete to be poured through or around itself, and endure all environmental aspects during use.

Haier Group, a global leader in home appliances and consumer electronics, faced a significant challenge with its air conditioners. Despite being known for quality products, the air conditioners were frequently damaged during transportation, leading to increased costs and delivery delays. The company attempted to enhance the structure of its air conditioners and packaging to make them more resistant to drop damage by conducting physical drop tests. However, these tests significantly escalated the research-and-development costs and consumed an extraordinary amount of time. Moreover, the engineers could not easily observe the damage process as the collision between the product and the ground was an instantaneous event. They could only view the outcome but not the strains and shape changes during the fractions of seconds in which they happened. Consequently, Haier considered using excessive packaging materials, but the overall design strength of the package was insufficient.

The case study revolves around a senior design project undertaken by Christopher Van Damme, a senior undergraduate student in the Department of Engineering Mechanics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The project involved the design and analysis of a coaxial rotor craft, specifically focusing on a composite-made helicopter rotor blade. Rotor blades are critical components of helicopters, providing thrust, lift, and enabling maneuvers. Modern helicopters use rotor blades made of composite material due to their excellent strength-to-weight ratio, damage tolerance, and fatigue life. However, composite material is challenging to compute using analytical methods or reduced order models. Therefore, Van Damme had to apply suitable Computer-Aided Engineering (CAE) tools to cover the required studies, including static, modal, frequency response, and dynamic analysis of the rotor.

Prodrive, a leading motorsport and technology business, was faced with the challenge of optimizing the performance of race car engines within a compressed timeframe. The main target was to analyze and improve the fluid flow within the water jacket of Aston Martin Racing engines and achieve reliable results quickly. The task was complicated by the need to solve several iterations of a model with complex geometry, and the work was to be done by relatively inexperienced users. The complexity and level of detail of the model, due to the cavities of the casting inside the engine head and the cylinder block, added to the challenge. Furthermore, Prodrive's simulation capabilities were limited by computer hardware, necessitating a solution that could maximize processing power without increasing license costs.

Gulplug, a French startup, was faced with the challenge of creating an innovative, automatically self-plugging, magnetic-based charging solution for electric vehicles. As a spin-off of Schneider Electric Group, Gulplug aimed to revolutionize plug and charging technology used in today's electric and hybrid vehicles. However, as a startup, they had limited funds and spending a large portion of their budget on software was not feasible. Furthermore, the company was also looking for simulation tools to predict and improve the performance of their system by creating and analyzing virtual models. The challenge was not only to develop a new charging solution but also to do so in a cost-effective manner without compromising on the quality and efficiency of the product.

F.tech R&D North America, a Tier-1 automotive systems supplier, was facing challenges in standardizing their model building process with meshing and different types of weld creation automation. The complexities in vehicle design and development, including the cost of prototypes, compliance with safety standards, and emissions, posed many challenges for the engineers. The Computer Aided Engineering (CAE) team at F.tech R&D North America was struggling with tedious tasks related to model build and geometry preparation for weld creation. The need for a solution that could streamline these processes, eliminate human errors, increase the accuracy of analysis data, and save valuable development time was evident.

The aerospace industry is constantly seeking ways to reduce mass and fuel consumption, and additive manufacturing, or 3D printing, offers significant potential in this regard. However, the technology is relatively new in aeronautics and faces certification and qualification issues. Additionally, the size of 3D printing machines limits their use for larger components, such as an airplane door. The challenge was to design an aircraft access door using a combination of additive manufacturing and casting methods. The door, due to its size and complexity, presented a promising opportunity for cost reduction through a one-shot production method. However, the door was too large to be feasible using Direct Metal Laser Sintering (DMLS), it was made of AS7G06 aluminum which is not yet qualified in aeronautics using DMLS, and it had a very thin skin with very tight dimensional and geometrical tolerances.

Mabe, a Mexico-based international appliance company, was faced with the challenge of improving the performance of their washing machines by simulating subsystem interactions. The company aimed to increase the capacity and spin speed of their washing machines while reducing the cost per cubic foot. They also sought to improve the energy and water factors of their machines and reduce the product development cycle time. Mabe had been using Altair technology since 2006 for structural analysis and impact and drop-testing simulations. However, they saw an opportunity for increased value from Altair’s multi-disciplinary approach and aimed to leverage the benefits derived from simulations of ever-increasing fidelity and scope.