Multidisciplinary Design Exploration Drives Innovation

The real value of engineering simulation comes from its ability to improve a design through multiple design iterations by providing a stream of engineering data to drive the design process. Ultimately, this results in higher quality products that better fulfill customer expectations. However, in order to accurately simulate the behavior of the product when exposed to real-world operating conditions, engineering simulation tools that span a multitude of engineering disciplines are required.

Automated Simulation Process

CD-adapco has pioneered “Multidisciplinary Design Exploration,” through which multidisciplinary engineering simulations, including STAR-CCM+, are intelligently driven through a range of operating scenarios using HEEDS MDO (from Red Cedar Technology) and/or Optimate+.

HEEDS MDO is first used to integrate multiple software tools, such as STAR-CCM+, to define an automated simulation process, allowing you to represent the full multidisciplinary nature of the problem you are exploring. HEEDS MDO then uses the SHERPA search algorithm (developed by Red Cedar Technology) to efficiently search the entirety of complex spaces. As SHERPA is executed, it learns about the design space and alters its decision making as the solution unfolds.

Optimate+ is a STAR-CCM+ add-on that provides a scriptless solution for automation of design exploration helping engineers quickly set up, execute and post-process design studies, which include parameter sweeps, DOE and optimization using the SHERPA algorithm from within STAR-CCM+.

Powerful Licensing

POWER TOKENS are a needs-based licensing scheme that match license resources to usage patterns. Using POWER TOKENS, the licensing cost of simulating multiple derivatives of a single design is reduced, allowing engineers to explore the whole design space at a fraction of the cost of traditional licensing schemes.

MDXploration can be used to gain a complete understanding of the performance of the product across the whole design space, accounting for all the factors that will influence performance of the product during its working life.