For years, our subject matter experts and partners have written about simulation-driven solutions for climate control systems in the PowerFLOW blog, Test the Limits. See what they have to say...
The first blog in this series shared the top questions on electric vehicle design from attendees of SIMULIA PowerFLOW's recent webinar, Aerodynamic Design for Electric Vehicles, hosted by...
There’s no question that vehicle electrification and autonomy are two of the biggest trends driving automotive design and engineering today. The recent SIMULIA PowerFLOW webinar,...
By Jill Newberg, Marketing and Communications Director, Exa Corporation Whether it’s the latest driver-assist technology, the most comfortable cabin, or the best fuel economy, consumers crave...
By Vincent Le Goff In the automotive industry, it’s not what you hear – it’s what you don’t hear – that matters the most to vehicle safety and comfort. Advancements in aeroacoustics have helped...
Quiet Comfort: Acoustic Simulation to Resolve Fan Coil Cassette Unit NoiseBy Mohammed MeskineLook up and you might be able to spot a fan coil cassette unit: an active comfort unit integrated into the...
By Robert Powell Off-highway equipment challenges manufacturers to find new ways to reduce product noise. In addition to improving performance, efficiency and value in new designs, manufacturers...
By Adrien Mann If you’ve been in a new car lately, you know that automotive OEMs are focused on reducing noise from sources like the engine, wind, and rolling. This means that drivers and...
Overheating could cause permanent damages to engines. Oversized radiators are usually used to ensure that engines could be cooled down in time, on the track. On the other hand, we want to minimize...
Emissions-free vehicle racing is an exciting— and newly possible— concept. The FIA Formula E Series, whose inaugural season was in 2014, has now become a popular international racing series, drawing...
Today’s infotainment system is the brain of a modern vehicle as it provides its operating information and the information on its surroundings. It helps the driver navigate and operate the vehicle...
Industry expert and Former Chrysler aerodynamics director, Mark Gleason, discusses the limitations of physical prototyping for automobiles. He also highlights how and why the automotive...
Brake rotors are a prime target for light-weighting. Why? For starters they are heavy, around 21 lbs per wheel for a large sedan. This mass has a significant rotating inertia which needs to be...
The most far-sighted automotive companies are taking advantage of increasingly cheap computing power to leverage simulation work more heavily in their vehicle development. The technology behind...
According the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the key to attacking noise pollution is addressing it in the design stage. The Agency states it is much easier to design noise out of a machine...
We need a complete rethink about how the automotive industry measures fuel economy. The laboratory tested methods used globally today just aren’t fit for purpose. They’re riddled with loopholes that...
Demand for fuel-efficient trucks has never been higher in our current climate of sustainability and spend reduction. Since aerodynamic truck design has a critical impact on fuel efficiency, it’s...
Tesla has stated that with the new Model 3 electric car, it wants to reduce the drag coefficient to an incredibly slippery 0.21 CD (210 counts), down from 0.24 on the Model S. But the maker also...
The mystique of the wind tunnel as the ultimate place to perfect a car’s aerodynamics is blinding some makers to the superior abilities of digital simulation. Retiring head of design at GM...
Emissions testing just got a whole lot more complicated than it already was for manufacturers – but it really doesn’t need to be. The latest complication originates in Europe, where...
Noise is a duality. On one hand, it can be soothing, inspirational, even emotional, like Beethoven’s 5th Symphony, or the fine-tuned thunderstorm of a Jaguar F-Type R (see Jalopnik article). On...
In what will probably turn out to be the final game for the first quarter back in NFL history to reach an incredible 200 career wins, Peyton Manning’s Denver Broncos put on a defensive...
Le Mans-based endurance race car designer, Onroak Automotive, recently secured famous victories in the 2015 FIA World Endurance Championship with its LMP2 prototype race cars...
Exa's Dr. Brad Duncan is interviewed regarding how engineers can model ever-changing road conditions to best predict real-world performance using Exa's software, PowerFLOW, for accurate...
Vehicles powered by internal combustion engines are seldom short of excess heat. In fact, SIMULIA PowerFLOW® simulation software is often used by the world’s leading car manufacturers to find the...
No car will stay clean, especially at this time of the year, but some cars unfortunately get filthy more quickly than others. So how do you figure out whether a new model is going to attract dirt in...
We’ve all experienced turbulence on an airplane, but back on terra firma those troublesome, swirling pockets of air can have just as great an impact on how a car moves along the road and how much...
Global competition for market share is fierce in the automotive industry. Automotive manufacturers work hard to make their vehicles attractive to consumers to suit tastes and meet regulations in a...
In his ‘Confessions of a Capital Junkie’, Head of Fiat-Chrysler, Sergio Marchionne, paints the picture of an industry that increasingly struggles to make money. But the idea that car...
It’s been a three and a half year tease from Tesla CEO Elon Musk, but many will say it’s been worth the wait as the Model X was unveiled last night at the company’s...
Makers love SUVs because they’re a global phenomenon. The same car will be snapped up in Milwaukee, Milan or Nanjing with comparatively few changes. The resulting economies of scale are great...
One of the amusements when holidaying in exotic countries has always been (for petrolheads anyway) spotting local versions of cars that the maker has long since stopped selling in your home market....
Regulatory requirements for emissions reduction are increasing the importance of vehicle aerodynamics. A further reduction in drag is key: it’s thought that most OEMs are targeting a drag...
It’s July, and getting hotter every day. Spending time in the car can provide a welcome respite from the soaring temperatures outside. That said, a car’s heating, ventilation and air conditioning (...
The news out of Germany is that the owners of the Nürburgring have effectively banned timed runs, by insisting that manufacturers adhere to track speed limits. The desire to be fastest around...
Race car drivers feel the need for speed. Whether they’re hugging the curves at Circuit de la Sarthe or accelerating down the final stretch at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, race car...
The emergence of autonomous cars will present many interesting technical challenges, not the least vehicle aerodynamics. Due to the nature of the problem, many of the aerodynamics challenges will...
As manufacturers seek to strip ever more weight out of vehicles to meet emissions standards, they’ve worked to ensure the thinner panels don’t deform at speed. But what if a certain...
As part of traditional product development, car manufacturers build a fleet of pre-production vehicles in special facilities, incurring a huge level of cost – easily in excess of $1 million per...
Lithium-ion batteries are like humans – they don’t like to be too cold and they don’t like to be too hot. Achieving this equilibrium creates a problem for manufacturers working on...
A major theme, common to a number of manufacturers, at this year’s Geneva Motor Show was the continuing popularity of halo performance editions. Cars like the Ford GT supercar, Ford Focus RS,...
Emission regulations are changing in a way that is going to have huge impact on car manufacturers. The Worldwide harmonized Light vehicle Test Procedures (WLTP) replaced the current New European...
Companies using cloud technology are accessing software that they previously did not have the bandwidth to support. Teams that are collaborating on common data in the cloud are gaining valuable...
A-pillars used to be a simple strip of metal holding up the roof and providing a fixing point for the windscreen. Now they’ve become one of the most fiercely contested battlegrounds in the...