This post was taken from Altair Enlighten and contributed by my colleague, Regu Ramoo, Director of Engineering at Altair ProductDesign.

Many studies on automotive mass reduction have been undertaken over the years by various steel, aluminum, magnesium, and composites consortia, all expounding the virtues of substituting a particular material. Altair has participated in studies with all these organizations over the years and has understood the strengths, limitations, and constraints of working with various materials.

AHSS, HSS, Al, Mg, Ti, GFRP, CFRP…

High Strength Steels, Aluminum, and Magnesium all have certain advantages in specific applications. Understanding when to exploit the unique advantages of these materials while concurrently minimizing the associated cost penalty is key in any weight reduction challenge. Read More

Recently, the team and I spoke with Digital Manufacturing Report to discuss the ways manufacturers’ growing reliance on CAE is challenging the industry to continue to evolve its software offerings. Driving factors like innovations in HPC and cloud technology are paving the way for technology advancements that enable manufacturers to solve more complex problems and deliver better usability across the enterprise. We discussed how the recent release of HyperWorks 12.0 addresses this evolution in “Altair Takes HyperWorks to the Cloud.”

Here’s an excerpt: Read More

This post was taken from Altair Enlighten.

In my new role as Altair’s Vice President of Global Automotive, I look forward to sharing automotive trends and news with you. To kick off my posts, I wanted to provide my insights on advancing composites in the auto industry by answering some of the most important questions about Altair’s role in the use of composites for today’s vehicles.

Success in developing the new generation of cars and trucks has demanded advancements in many arenas, including powertrains, fuels, materials, manufacturing methods and design. Computer-aided engineering tools from Altair have advanced as well allowing design engineers to improve vehicle efficiency and performance while at the same time lightening the vehicle structure.

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This post was taken from Altair Enlighten and contributed by my colleague, Panduranga Rao Chirala, Vice President of Altair ProductDesign, India.

It has been a constant human endeavour – across the globe – to make things better and last longer.  In the developing economy, the culture is one of “Reduce, Reuse and Recycle.”  The availability of pure research or development funds may be scarce but not the quest to cut cost and / or to get more out of something for little investment.

At Altair, we talk a lot about the need for optimization and its impact on reducing the weight of products but for me optimization can do much more than just provide weight advantages. Read More

As noted in the 2012: Simulation’s Year of Discovery post that I wrote last December, the impact of simulation continues to reveal itself, enhancing everyday products and our daily lives. From innovations in speed and crash modeling to light-weighting vehicle, aircraft and consumer packaging designs, industries are continuing to discover new ways to use simulation technology as we move through a new year. But what does that mean for simulation in 2013? How is the definition of “everyday” being shaped by technology? Read More