In the mid-20th century came the transistor, spawning a ... · In the mid-20th century came the...

Neither ANSYS, Inc. nor Cynthia Guise Fusco guarantees or warrants accuracy or completeness of the material contained in this publication.

All ANSYS, Inc. brand, product, service, and feature names, logos and slogans including ANSYS HFSS Discovery Live, Fluent, Mechanical, Polyflow and Pervasive Engineering Simulation are registered trademarks or trademarks of ANSYS, Inc. or its subsidiaries located in the United States or other countries. All other brand, product, service, and feature names or trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

© 2018 ANSYS, Inc.

If you’ve ever seen a rocket launch, flown on an airplane, driven a car, used a com-puter, touched a mobile device, crossed a bridge or put on wearable technology, chances are you’ve used a product where ANSYS software played a critical role in its creation. ANSYS is the global leader in engi-neering simulation. We help the world’s most innovative companies deliver radi-cally better products to their customers. By offering the best and broadest portfolio of engineering simulation software, we help them solve the most complex design chal-lenges and engineer products limited only by imagination.

Executive & Managing Editor Chris Reeves

Senior Editors Tim PaluckaCynthia Guise Fusco

Editorial Advisers Amy PietzakTom Smithyman

Art Directors Gregg WeberRon Santillo

Contact Dimensions at [email protected]

Follow ANSYS on LinkedIn at linkedin.com/company/ansys-inc

A NEW ELECTRIFICATION REVOLUTION

SIMULATION REDEFINED

TIMELESS DESIGN FOR THE DIGITAL AGE

PUMPED UP: INNOVATING MATURE PRODUCTS

ELECTRIFYING THE AVIATION INDUSTRY

A HEALTHY FUTURE

TAKING HPC TO NEW HEIGHTS

RE-ENERGIZED

1

4

10

16

20

26

32

36

mailto:[email protected]

https://www.linkedin.com/company/ansys-inc

Organizations must adapt to new requirements for energy demand, production and consumption through electrification.

By Rob Harwood, Director Industry Marketing, ANSYS

The science of electricity was pioneered in the 18th and early 19th centuries by luminaries such as Franklin, Faraday, Volta, Ampere, Ohm and Maxwell. They laid the foundation for the second industrial revolution in the late 19th century, which was enabled by the engineering of such resonant names as Edison, Bell, Tesla and Westinghouse, whose inventions spanned from light bulbs to electric railways and industrial electric machines.

In the mid-20th century came the transistor, spawning a revolution in commercial and industrial electronic sys-tems — from the smartphone to the internet and now the Internet of Things and all that that encompasses.

Today, we are in an era of a new energy revolution as deep global trends shape the future of energy demand, its production and consumption. And this revolution is predominantly electrical in nature.

DIMENSIONS I SPRING 2018 1© 2018 ANSYS, Inc. ANSYS.COM

According to the World Economic Foundation (WEF), the industrial-ization and urbanization of emerging economies, cost reductions in core technologies, increased societal and political commitment to the environment, and energy security are driving game-changing developments in the energy industry.

These developments fall into three broad categories:

• Advanced energy acceleration Rapid innovation in the energy industry resulting from new technology, cost reductions and an increased commitment to the environment

• Mobility revolution Spawning autonomous and electric vehicles, and ride-sharing

• Energy system fragmentation Rise of the “prosumer” and behind-the-meter electricity generation that is primarily renewable in nature

2 DIMENSIONS I SPRING 2018© 2018 ANSYS, Inc. ANSYS.COM

In this edition of Dimensions, we hear from thought lead-ers who are embracing these game-changing develop-ments. How does Grundfos, a 70-year-old electric pump company, continue to deliver innovation and produce the world’s most energy-efficient systems? By explaining the concept of the more electric aircraft, the Institute for Aerospace Technology demonstrates that electric mobil-ity is not just restricted to ground vehicles. And coming full circle, we hear how TECO-Westinghouse continues to produce groundbreaking electrical machines that operate at new levels of speed and energy efficiency.

Simulation plays a big part in helping engineers meet the challenges of this new electrification revolution. Game-changing technologies demand game-changing solu-tions. Mark Hindsbo, vice president and general manager,

ANSYS, explains how ANSYS is redefining simulation to enable our customers to meet these challenges head on. Researchers at the High-Performance Computing Center at the University of Stuttgart explain how developments in computational power support innovation at an unprec-edented pace.

In the past 150 years, we have gone from a man who experimented with alternating current to a luxury elec-tric car that bears his name. As we embark on the next electrification revolution and leverage all the tools that support it, it is unlikely that it will take 150 years for the next quantum leap in technology to happen. Power up — it is going to be quite a ride.


For the products of tomorrow to become a reality, engineering simulation must change. It will evolve to be the tool for every engineer, for every product, across the entire lifecycle. Without this evolution, we will not be able to fully capitalize on the opportunities created by Industry 4.0. Those who do less will be out-innovated.

By Mark HindsboVice President and General Manager, ANSYS

For nearly half a century, ANSYS has been instrumental in helping custom-ers drive innovation with engineering simulation, while also reducing costs and product development time. From cars, planes and trains to consumer electronics, industrial machinery and healthcare solutions, ANSYS software has helped create products that have transformed their respective industries.

While we are amazed by our customers’ achievements, and we believe they represent only the beginning of the incredible value that simulation can generate. Today, simulation is entering a new era, characterized by three fundamental changes:

• Simulation used to be a scarce resource applied in the design of only the most complex industrial products, but now it is becoming integral to the design of every product.

• Product simulation examined single attributes: one physics, one compo- nent, one design. Now we explore a plethora of designs at the system level with interactions across multiple physical and digital domains.

• Perhaps most exciting, simulation is being leveraged not just for design validation, but from early ideation through manufacturing, operations and maintenance.

In short, engineering simulation is becoming more pervasive in its ability to positively impact product innovation and performance, drive top-line growth and deliver end-user benefits.

Because these trends are reshaping how ANSYS develops its engineer-ing simulation software — as well as how customers worldwide, in every industry, leverage our solutions — it is worth considering each of these changes in more detail.


is being leveraged not just for design validation, but from early ideation through manufacturing, operations and maintenance.

Simulation


A Simple Product? No Such Thing

When engineering simulation debuted in 1970, it represented a novel capabil-ity — but one that required highly skilled engineering specialists to set up, as well as computing resources only available to the very largest organizations. As a result, it was almost exclusively applied to the most complex and costly engineered products, such as industrial machinery, cars and aircraft.

However, in 2018, there is no such thing as a simple product. Today every design is being pushed to the limit to take advantage of composite materi-als, additive manufacturing, and the high level of connectivity and automation enabled by Industry 4.0. The result is a new generation of smart, durable and sustainable products.

You might believe that engineering macro trends are only disrupting products such as cars, by increasing electrification and autonomy. However, this digital revolution is happening in every industry and for every product. Simulation is essen-tial in this new world, because only by digitally simulating all the product options offered by these engineering trends can you gain the insight needed to innovate like the category leaders.

Today we see customers such as Mars, which makes Skittles® candy, use ANSYS software to optimize its manufacturing processes by leveraging the same simula-tion as turbine manufacturers. And startup Nebia used the same equations that govern rocket exhaust to save 70 percent of water consumption in a showerhead. No product is too small, simple or inexpensive to benefit from simulation.

Complex Analysis for a Complex World

As we push for ever-smarter and more efficient product designs, we can no longer afford to look at only a single aspect of performance or a lone part in isolation. In the past, engineering simulation teams were likely to isolate just one critical physics — for instance, Formula 1 carmakers might have focused on the vehicle’s aerodynamics, which has a profound impact on speed and performance.


Today, thanks to improvements in simulation software, hardware and processing speeds, it has

become much easier for engineers to study multiple physics and assess overall product

performance. This is critical because, to use the Formula 1 example, overall speed and performance

do not only depend on aerodynamics. The efficiency of combustion, the ability of the tires to withstand wear,

the reliability of electronics — all of these factors, and more, affect overall performance. Because optimization in one area might lead to a trade-off in another, it becomes increasingly important to simulate all influences together. Today, 96 of ANSYS’s top 100 customers worldwide use three or more physics solutions, applied across the ANSYS platform.

Improvements in computing power and simulation software also allow the evaluation of many more design options, to the point where the design process can be turned upside down. Rather than asking simulation to verify a specific design, engineers are asking simulation to analyze thousands of possible designs, early in the ideation process, to identify the optimal one. This is perhaps most obvious in topology optimization, where the engineer sets up, for example, the structural criteria for a part, and simulation automati-cally iterates to find the best design.

Increasingly, simulation will start from the requirements and generate the design, instead of being applied after most of the design choices have been made. This is the only way to tame the complexity inherent in modern product design, and to capitalize on the opportunities created by the rapid innovation required to be successful today.

Generating Returns Across theProduct Lifecycle

Probably the most important change today is a more pervasive, consistent use of simulation at all stages of a product’s lifecycle. Once a specialized activity wedged between initial design and physical testing, today simula-tion is recognized for the significant strategic value and financial returns it can deliver from the earliest design phases through the product’s working life in the field.

Even today, the majority of product decisions are made using rules of thumb, and simulation is primarily used by specialists within the engineering team. Others still rely on the most used engineering tool, which is Microsoft® Excel. As simulation advances to become as easy and as fast to use as Excel, this opens a whole new era of innovation, in which every engineer can benefit from detailed simulation insights at any time in the design process. When products are in the earliest ideation stage, designers can apply digital exploration to test their initial concepts and gain insights that lead to preliminary product designs targeted at meeting highly defined customer needs, as well as earning strong profit margins.


In a world where millions of rows of data are updated, calculated and charted in real time in Excel, and where Google gives us immediate access to billions of websites, it is almost incomprehensible that simulation is not equally accessible to every engineer. At ANSYS, we are making breakthroughs with Discovery Live and other products to make this a reality. In a few years, it will be unimaginable to innovate without pervasive use of simulation by every engineer.

Simulation is also increasingly applied to the manufacturing phase, where it significantly improves the efficiency, cost-effectiveness and flexibility of production. With the rise of mass customization of products — made possible by additive manufacturing, or 3D printing — simulation helps ensure that the finished product has the optimal shape and is made accurately, cost-effectively and with a high degree of consistency over time.

Additive manufacturing might enable us to produce almost any imaginable shape, but which is optimal? Can the human mind even conceive of the optimal shape? And, with mass customization, how do we ensure that every variation still preserves product integrity and performance? Simulation is key to unlocking the potential of 3D printing on a large scale, by making it easy for companies to analyze on-demand and answer these questions to deliver unique, reliable, high-quality products with an extraordinary degree of confidence.

As the product moves from design and manufacturing into operations, simulation can continue to play a pivotal role in delivering the best possible results in the field. By using remote sensors to gather data on a product’s working conditions, analysts create a virtual replica — a digital twin — of that product and then apply the same physical forces and other environmental conditions to the digital model. Applying simulation as part of a digital twin can provide vital insights in the form of virtual sensors, in situations where no physical sensor exists or would even be possible. Simulation also can run what-if studies for optimal performance, and can predict critical failure or maintenance requirements.

Digital twins are in their infancy today, but as Industry 4.0 matures they will become increasingly commonplace, running on demand either in the cloud or on the asset itself. Increasingly, simulation will become an in-product experience in which the digital twin is an inherent part of the product’s design and operation, working alongside artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms.


Pervasive Simulation: The New Imperative

While not all companies are applying simulation to every product, studying the effects of multiple physics or leveraging simulation throughout the entire product lifecycle, these three trends signal the future. Leaders are already employing these best practices. Soon, leveraging engineering simulation pervasively will no longer be just a competitive advantage of the few, but an absolute imperative for all.

Ongoing improvements in simulation software make it easier than ever for a broad range of users through-out a business to apply these best practices. If you are currently using simulation only in your product develop-ment function, or only on certain designs, you are failing to realize the full potential of ANSYS software to deliver strategic and financial benefits for your business.

When engineering simulation software made its debut nearly 50 years ago, early adopters quickly distinguished themselves from those companies who were slower to recognize and embrace its potential. Tomorrow it will be part of the toolbox for every engineer.


With a luxury design aesthetic and a reputation for the highest product quality, Sub-Zero is also focused on groundbreaking innovation. Today, that means the addition of smart product functionality and connectivity. Anderson Bortoletto, the company’s principal engineer, recently spoke with Dimensions about how the Sub-Zero product development team is taking this 70-year-old business into the digital age, while retaining its products’ traditional appeal.

DIMENSIONS: Sub-Zero has been a premier refrigeration brand for over 70 years. Why do you think your brand has been so successful with consumers?

ANDERSON BORTOLETTO: Sub-Zero was founded in a spirit of innova-tion, and we’ve always had the goal of taking refrigeration performance to a new level. Sub-Zero Freezer Company was created in 1945 by Westye Bakke, a Wisconsin entrepreneur who was looking for a more reliable way to store his son’s insulin. Refrigerators of that time period did not regulate or control temperatures very well, so Sub-Zero represented a revolutionary idea. By launching the concept of dual refrigeration — in which different zones are kept at extremely precise temperatures — our company changed the industry.

Since then, Sub-Zero has continued to lead with high levels of product performance, including exceptionally accurate temperature control and outstanding food freshness. Our company is also known for its timeless, uncompromising design aesthetic. When we have made innovative changes to meet market needs — for example, adding high-performance air filtration systems inspired by NASA — our engineering team has ensured that the prestige look and feel of our appliances remains unchanged. We need to combine cutting-edge performance with a timeless appearance.


DIMENSIONS: One of the biggest product development trends, across all industries, is the addition of “smart” digital features. Is Sub-Zero embracing that trend?

AB: In keeping with our commitment to innovation, Sub-Zero is certainly exploring how we can leverage the Internet of Things (IoT), connectivity and other new tech-nology concepts to deliver on our core mission of under-standing and meeting consumer needs.

I do not want to discuss any of our specific product devel-opment efforts since they are confidential. But I can say that any future smart functionality will be aimed at meeting demonstrated user needs, as opposed to being “gimmicky.” Any design improvements will be targeted at making consumers’ lives easier or better, without changing our foundational principles. For instance, we are never going to mount a television screen on our refrigerator doors. We are never going to compromise the privacy of our customers by sharing their grocery needs with third parties. Similarly, we are not going to change our overall design aesthetic and our traditional appeal to luxury consumers. Even as our products get smarter and offer more features, they will still retain the aesthetic appearance and luxury feel that are so valued by our consumers.

DIMENSIONS: How is your engineering team making trade-offs between new functionality and traditional design aesthetics?

AB: Since 2011, we’ve relied on engineering simulation to make these kinds of trade-offs quickly, without sacri-ficing product reliability or quality. Today more than ever, our product development team needs to work fast and efficiently to drive innovation and maintain our industry leadership. Simulation helps us accomplish that.

We began in 2011 with two users of simulation software, who were studying fluid flows inside the refrigerator. Today we have more than 15 users across the engineering department, and we rely on high-performance comput-ing (HPC) and cloud technology to support our aggressive simulation efforts.

TODAY MORE THAN EVER, OUR PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT TEAM NEEDS TO WORK FAST

AND EFFICIENTLY TO DRIVE INNOVATION AND MAINTAIN OUR INDUSTRY LEADERSHIP.

SIMULATION HELPS US ACCOMPLISH THAT.


We are applying multiple physics and studying our designs at the system level, because that really enables us to see the impact of any change on the whole product system. For instance, if we are considering the addition of a new interior feature like an icemaker, we can imme-diately see the impact on the appliance’s exterior. We can understand important design implications rapidly, at a very early stage, through digital exploration. In fact, we have reduced our early feasibility studies from months to weeks. We have been able to reduce our physical proto-types by 25 percent, which allows us to work much, much faster and more cost-effectively.

DIMENSIONS: Increasing the number of simulation users is a challenge faced by many companies today. Have you identified any best practices or lessons learned from this experience?

AB: Certainly one key at Sub-Zero has been establishing a group of enthusiastic “champions” who communicate the value of simulation and mentor new users. Not every-one needs to be a simulation expert; it is valuable to have engineers with limited simulation skills who can work on small, well-defined projects with clear deliverables. But you really do need those expert users who can lead the effort and demonstrate the tangible benefits of engineer-ing simulation for long-term, highly innovative design efforts. They can coach others and ensure that simulation is consistently being applied in the highest-impact way, for even the smallest design projects.

We have also found it critical to partner with ANSYS for ongoing training and support. There are so many capa-bilities of simulation software, and we want to remain at the leading edge of engineering by leveraging all of those


capabilities. As ANSYS adds new features, our goal is to master and apply those features rapidly, to continually optimize our product development work at Sub-Zero.

Finally, Sub-Zero could not have grown its simulation expertise and capabilities so quickly and successfully without the support of our top management team. Our executives recognized early on that simulation represents a strategic and competitive advantage for our business — and they continue to provide the resources we need, including dedicated technology investments, to increase the impact of simulation not only in product develop-ment, but across the business.

DIMENSIONS: What you’re describing — expanding the reach of simulation beyond the engineering function — is often called “pervasive simulation.” Is that a focus at Sub-Zero today?

AB: Though pervasive simulation is a new term, I think it’s an old idea at Sub-Zero. Since 2011, simulation has actually caused a cultural change at Sub-Zero. Our prod-uct developers routinely show their simulations to execu-tives, to the operations team, to distributors — and our entire business now has a shared language to talk about product performance and quality. We have meaningful technical discussions every day, across multiple func-tions, and they are not abstract. They are grounded in the real world. We also routinely show new features to customers via simulation. Everyone can look at the exte-rior of our products and see their beautiful appearance, but now they can see the hard-working technology inside via engineering simulation.


Simulation has also helped Sub-Zero pursue a manu-facturing strategy of mass customization. Our products begin with the same basic exterior design, but then we offer consumers many choices. For example, our Wolf line of ranges — which we acquired in 2000 — can be ordered with gas, induction or dual-fuel heating technol-ogy. Via simulation, we can design our products for fast, cost-effective customization in the production facility.

In the future, we strongly believe that simulation is going to help Sub-Zero capitalize on 3D printing and other emerging technologies that are set to change the face of manufacturing. If we can design our appliances specifically for tomorrow’s manufacturing environment, we can remain at the forefront of production quality and efficiency.

Looking ahead, we also think simulation might help us collect and apply field data, which will increase our products’ performance and reliability to an even greater extent. While the IoT may help us gather information from actual households, we always need to be mindful of our consumers’ privacy and data security. If we do collect data, only Sub-Zero would be able to see and access that information. As a possible alternative, we are exploring the concept of creating digital twins of our products that replicate real-world conditions in a safe, virtual environ-ment. By feeding that data back into product develop-ment, we can better understand how our products work over time in the field.

There are so many exciting possibilities for expanding our use of simulation in the future, and Sub-Zero is inter-ested in all of them. Just as our products have relied on technology innovation since 1945, our team must utilize the most advanced engineering technologies available in 2018 and beyond to maintain our leadership.


About Anderson BortolettoAnderson Bortoletto joined Sub-Zero in 2009 as senior systems engineer. Today he is principal engineer, with responsibility for leading the development of advanced refrigeration technologies and implementing a simulation-driven design architecture. He holds four patents for his innovations at Sub-Zero. Prior to joining the company, he held engineering positions at Whirlpool and Multibras. Bortoletto earned a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, an MBA from Fundação Getulio Vargas, and a master’s degree in mechanical engineering from KTH Royal Institute of Technology.

Sub-Zero at a GlanceBrands: Sub-Zero refrigerators, Wolf ranges and Cove dishwashers Headquarters: Madison, Wisconsin


When you think of smart products, you probably think of phones or other consumer devices — but not industrial machines. Today Denmark-based Grundfos, a world leader in designing industrial

pumps, is changing that. Dimensions spoke with Senior R&D Manager Jakob Vernersen about how the company is differentiating itself in an increasingly competitive market through new digital functionality and increased

energy efficiency — all to deliver added value to its customers.

DIMENSIONS: Grundfos has been a world leader in designing industrial pumps since 1945. What business challenges do you face today?

JAKOB VERNERSEN: It is a great challenge to ensure the world’s best energy-efficiency and robustness in our products. That is the goal for both our product development team and our entire company, which has a well-known commitment to sustainability. Pumps account for 10 percent of the world’s electrical energy

consumption, which means Grundfos can make a huge impact on quality of life and environmental sustainability simply by improving the energy efficiency of the 16 million pumps we manufacture each year. At the same time, we can save money for our customers by reducing their energy costs.

Another strategic goal at Grundfos is to continuously increase the overall performance and reliability of our product designs, so our customers can minimize their

INNOVATING MATURE PRODUCTS


operating and maintenance costs over the life of a pump. The pump market is becoming more crowded every year as up-and-coming businesses learn how to manufac-ture basic products designed to serve the global market. We need to create next-generation product designs that deliver more customer value than our competitors’ products.

DIMENSIONS: How is Grundfos leveraging its engineer-ing talent to respond to these business challenges?

JV: While these requirements place pressure on Grundfos, they also create an opportunity for our company to innovate and move beyond the accepted, mature pump designs that have been in use for decades.

With over 1,000 employees at Grundfos focused on research and development, we are embracing the challenge of making industrial pumps more energy-efficient and reliable by making them more automated, more intelligent and more digital. By leveraging our 70-plus years of industry experience and our advanced engineering technologies — as well as state-of-the-art electronic components — our goal is to add new customer value and differentiate our products. By introducing a new generation of pumps with more digital function-ality, we can rewrite the rules of the pump market and maintain our historic market leadership.

DIMENSIONS: How exactly do you make an industrial product like a pump “smarter”?

JV: Unlike a consumer product, where engineers sometimes focus on adding cool new features just to keep the brand trendy or fashionable, our added electronics must add practical value and serve real-world needs.

Since energy efficiency is our primary concern, most of the digital functionality we add focuses on energy consumption. Our pumps are designed to be more self-adjusting, so they can intelligently adjust their operation to changes in demand. Since many of our pumps operate in remote locations, we develop digital interfaces that make it easier for humans to monitor and control all aspects of pump performance, including their energy consumption.

Our pumps are becoming more self-aware, so they can monitor and adjust their performance as conditions change. By responding automatically to issues like high pressure, high temperatures, low flow rates and water leakage, our products can maintain high levels of perfor-mance and energy efficiency with little to no human intervention. They can also signal when preventive maintenance is needed to address an emerging issue. All this added functionality is aimed at fulfilling our goal of minimizing maintenance and extending the life of our products.

DIMENSIONS: How is Grundfos applying advanced technologies, including engineering simulation, to support product differentiation?

JV: Grundfos has relied on engineering simulation since the 1980s to design and troubleshoot our products in a virtual environment. We achieve significant results from simulation by reducing the number of prototypes we need to produce. In fact, for just one new pump design Grundfos was able to cut 30 percent in overall develop-ment time and achieve significant savings in physical prototyping costs.

However, some of the greatest benefits of simulation are hard to measure. By applying simulation at a very early stage — which is often referred to as digital exploration — we can arrive at some extremely innovative ideas without incurring a lot of risks or expense.


Product concepts that prove too expensive to manufacture or have other drawbacks can be discarded easily. The earlier we can assess a product design, the more strategic choices we can make in terms of performance features and final product cost.

Simulation brings our entire engineering organization together in a collaborative design environment. By leveraging a common, easy-to-use technology platform like the one from ANSYS, everyone can play a role in product development, no matter their physics discipline or their specific train-ing. From experienced simulation specialists to design engineers, various groups at Grundfos can participate in simulation-driven product devel-opment. Electrical engineers working on digital functionality are using the same technology platform, and accessing the same data, as hydraulic engineers. This accelerates the pace of our innovation and ensures that our product solutions are creative because so many perspec-tives are considered.

DIMENSIONS: As a longtime user of simulation technology, what do you see as the future of simulation-driven product development?

JV: Our business challenges become more complex every year, as we try to eke out every bit of performance improvement in terms of our products’ energy efficiency. Simulation technology has responded to those challenges with system-level simulation capabilities, faster solution times and other enhance-ments that enable us to predict and optimize the energy efficiency of our pumps over time and under a wide range of operating conditions. Simulation software has also improved in its ability to consider production requirements simultaneously with product performance — and this kind of integration is a necessity as Grundfos seeks to combine lower costs with higher product functionality. Overall, we’ve been pleased with the way simulation technology has evolved to help us launch more complex, value-added product designs while still launching new offerings rapidly and cost-effectively — which is critically important as our global competition continues to grow.

brings our entire engineeringorganization together in one collaborative design environment.

Simulation


Today, Grundfos is also increasingly relying on simula-tion to minimize maintenance requirements, reduce warranty costs and extend the working life of our products. Grundfos is currently exploring the concept of creating digital twins of our pumps as they operate in the field via engineering simulation. By placing sensors on installed machines and collecting performance data in near real time, we can simulate a working pump under actual field conditions. This will help us study and

improve such key metrics as energy efficiency.

It also allows us to predict any issues such as vibration, leakage and wear — and sched-

ule preventive maintenance to extend the product’s life. Our product development team

can use this operating data from the field to inform future pump designs.

We are in the very early stages of exploring the concept of the digital twin with ANSYS and its partner in Denmark, EDRMedeso, but we believe this could have a significant impact on our ability to serve our worldwide customers and further differentiate Grundfos. Many of our product installations are difficult to access and service, and downtime can be very costly. So it makes a lot of sense to monitor performance remotely and identify any issues. Right now, we are in the process of mounting sensors and collecting operating data, and we are in the very early stages of creating product simulations that are informed by this data. The biggest challenge is figuring out how to gather, manage and apply the large volume of informa-tion we have.

DIMENSIONS: Why is it so important for Grundfos to invest in the most advanced engineering technologies?

JV: Grundfos is a leader in a mature market, with well-established pump designs that have been in place for decades. We cannot maintain our global leadership with incremental improvements; dramatic innovations like highly digitalized products that change the industry are required. We are not going to get there with legacy engineering tools and processes. In the same way that we apply the latest thinking and the most sophisticated technologies to our pump designs, we must equip our global R&D group with the newest, best-in-class engineering tools. We will never arrive at ground-breaking product improvements unless we engineer them in a groundbreaking way.

About Jakob VernersenJakob Vernersen is senior R&D manager in the technol-ogy and innovation organization of Grundfos. He holds university degrees in mechanical engineering and technology management, and has 12 years of R&D experience, particularly within the fields of mechanics and computer-aided engineering. He has a lead strate-gic role in the digitalization of product development at Grundfos.

Grundfos is currently exploring the concept of creating digital twinsof our pumps as they operate in the field

via engineering simulation.

Grundfos at a Glance2016 revenues: 24,677 DKKm Number of employees: 18,000Headquarters: Bjerringbro, Denmark


The University of Nottingham, a global leader in the development of the more electric aircraft, has

assembled the world’s largest research group in power electronics and controls for aviation. As

the former director of the University’s Institute for Aerospace Technology, Hervé Morvan has

a unique perspective on the engineering and business challenges involved in achieving this

vision. Recently, Dimensions spoke with Morvan about the ongoing efforts to electrify traditional

aircraft designs for lower environmental impact and greater energy efficiency.

© 2017 IAT, The University of Nottingham.

Courtesy Richard Glassock.


DIMENSIONS: Tell me about the Institute for Aerospace Technology, which has emerged as

a world leader in advanced aviation technolo-gies. Why has the University of Nottingham

invested so heavily in this focus area?

HERVÉ MORVAN: The Institute for Aerospace Technology, or the IAT, was founded in 2009

because the university recognized that it had devel-oped a critical mass in aerospace research. The goal

was to consolidate all these efforts and bring them together under a single umbrella so the university

could accelerate its progress. Today we have more than 400 researchers working on more than 70 projects, with a research investment of more than US$80 million.

We also benefit from a broad interest and great dynamism in aerospace in the United Kingdom today. The U.K. already has the world’s second largest aerospace sector, and global demand for air travel is accelerating. It is estimated that, by 2030, there will be around 27,000 new large commercial airliners in the skies. Air travel is projected to grow from 3.4 billion passengers in 2015 to more than 16 billion by 2050.

The European Commission, industry and the British government provide funding to our program and other initiatives that will help the nation capitalize on this opportunity — as well as meet the more stringent environmental regulations for aircraft that are so criti-cal to achieving global sustainability and in-service efficiency. As just one example, we have 14 projects, worth €38 million (approx. US$43.5 million) that are directly tied to meeting the goals of Europe’s Clean Sky 2 initiative, which spans 24 countries and focuses specifi-cally on reducing CO2 and other gas emissions, as well as the noise levels associated with aircraft. We also host national facilities for the Aerospace Technology Institute (ATI), the U.K. aerospace research agency.

DIMENSIONS: In addition to government support, do you also collaborate with industry?

HM: We collaborate with industry all the time; this is core to us. We cannot be taken seriously as a global research center if we do not partner with industry to understand business needs, and transfer innovative technologies and knowledge to aircraft manufacturers.

We are working at a technology readiness level (TRL) in the mid range, or a 4–6 level. This means we can verify our ideas in our laboratories, but also support the testing and validation of critical system functionalities in a realistic and industry-relevant environment. We can help our partners conduct all research activities up to the pre-test flight demonstration. This means we can make a significant contribution to those businesses that collabo-rate with the IAT.

We are fortunate to partner with a number of inter-national aviation leaders — including Rolls-Royce, GE Aviation, Airbus, Boeing, BAE Systems, Bombardier and GKN — as well as small- and medium-sized enterprises that support the aerospace industry, e.g., Romax. These collaborators help us ensure that our work boosts innova-tion for real-world problems, and that our solutions have significant practical relevance.


To accomplish this, we must have roots in fundamental engineering science and academe, but also the capability and desire to work at the TRL 4–6 level and, in some cases, even at TRL 7. For example, we aid the formulation of novel models and explore emerging methods such as smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH). But we also support design project work with Rolls-Royce and host national test facilities that enable us to achieve validation and demonstrations on aero-engine modules.

Recently, we were awarded a Clean Sky 2 Core Partnership with Rolls-Royce, based on simulation via ANSYS software, that allows us to consolidate a number of our models and numerical methods developed by my team over the past 10 years (time flies!) for industrial applications. This core partnership was awarded based on our track record in the field, but also because we have the capability to conduct this work in-house, at relevant scales — including the ATI-funded test bench onto which a Rolls-Royce engine module can be mounted so that we can collect data for demonstration purposes.

DIMENSIONS: Certainly one of the most exciting areas of aerospace engineer-ing today is the development of a “more electric aircraft.” What exactly does that mean — and how is the IAT helping to make it a reality?

HM: Developing a more electric aircraft means replacing many of the traditional systems of the aircraft with smarter, more connected, more digital — and, of course, more electric — technology. One of the main challenges is eliminating or reducing reliance on some of the oldest and most widely accepted components, such as gas turbines, as direct drives or propulsors. They are replaced with, or used in conjunction with, cleaner and higher-performing alternatives. Another challenge is developing larger generators and integrating the whole system.

Of course, the problem is that no one fully knows what such an architecture will eventually look like. We have to throw out a lot of what we know and imagine new engineering solutions that include a broader spectrum of physical phenomena. This is where research institutions like the IAT can play a role. Many industries are pressed for resources. They have 10 years’ worth

of customer orders to fulfill and require heavy financial investments to support their current development efforts. They also have products to maintain and a booming sector to run and support. This means they need partners to help them invest in and investigate some of these new ideas in a collaborative context. By bringing together 400 experts in diverse technology areas, the IAT can act as a think tank, but also be a delivery vehicle that focuses on innovations that might not be commercialized for years, yet are crucial to the future of the aerospace industry. And then there are the certification challenges of these new solutions … maybe for another interview!

DIMENSIONS: What are some of the biggest engineering challenges that must be solved in order to realize the vision of the more electric aircraft?

HM: The single greatest engineering problem is generating and storing

More electric aircraft is a key initiative in the aerospace and defense industry.

The aim is to create more-efficient and safer aircraft by converting

hydraulic systems to electric and electromechanical ones, thus bringing

simpler, lighter and more-reliable technologies on board.


enough energy to support long-haul flight. An enormous amount of energy is needed not just during extremely high power-consumption events like takeoffs, but to propel the aircraft over hundreds or thousands of miles.

We all know conventional jet fuel has its financial and environmental drawbacks, but it has a high energy yield compared to its weight — about 12 kilowatts per kilogram for Jet A fuel. In contrast, current electric battery technol-ogies generate less than one kilowatt of energy per kilogram of weight. That’s simply not a practical answer, because batteries could never support the new energy needs created by their own massive weight. In addition, the materials currently used to manufacture electrical systems might not survive the harsh operating condi-tions required. And then, there are also integration issues and strict certification guidelines about what can and cannot be done on board an aircraft, as well as reliability and redundancy issues to address. The design framework also has to evolve.

As a short-term solution, we are working to develop new hybrid systems that combine gas turbines to generate electricity with storage systems on board the aircraft that

distribute energy to power electrical fans. This is just one example. We are also looking at electromechanical coupling of conventional mechanical systems with more electric components. Such coupling requires a multi-physics simulation approach, to look at thermal manage-ment and other challenging issues. These systems will at least allow the turbines to be switched off sometimes to lessen their environmental impact. But in the long term, we need to engineer well-integrated propulsion systems, lightweight battery technologies and more efficient energy storage mechanisms that may, one day, enable the progressive replacement of gas turbines. We are already seeing the creation of new electric battery technologies that can support short flights, so that is encouraging, even if they are not yet sufficient for commercial flight.

Some of the other engineering challenges we are addressing at the IAT include reducing the weight of many aircraft components — for example, landing gear is extremely heavy — as well as exploring new fuselage materials and manufacturing methods for building planes. Today’s aircraft are extremely complex systems, and we need to look at every aspect in order to one day achieve the vision of the more electric aircraft. The issue


is not simply replacing technologies, but rethinking what a whole system might look like, including an aircraft using the new technologies. Tomorrow’s aircraft is unlikely to be a tube, wing and pods, for example. It is also going to be far more electric and digitally enabled and operated.

DIMENSIONS: The aerospace industry is known for its long development and lead times, even for conventional planes. How is the IAT working to accelerate its develop-ment cycle for the aircraft of the future?

HM: While the Institute for Aerospace Technology does have some full-scale physical testing facilities, more and more of our development work is accomplished via engineering simulation. Obviously, this saves us signifi-cant time and money versus building and testing multi-ple physical models of aircraft. The industry is naturally looking at this too, and the concepts of “high value design,” “whole system design” and “fail fast” simula-tions are becoming more and more prominent. Digital design and reduced testing are very appealing and are the focus of significant attention in the industry. Here, we can work with and learn from the startup industry and institutions such as the Digital Catapult in the U.K., for example.

Simulation enables IAT researchers to take risks, limit the impact of compromises and redundancies, and ask what-if questions. When you are replacing a foundational technology like a gas turbine or conventional propulsion system with something completely new, you’re asking, “How might this work?” You need the freedom to ask bold questions and come up with bold answers. The majority of those solutions may not work out in the long term, and simulation gives researchers at the IAT the oppor-tunity to study and discard many proposed innovations quickly and limit expensive testing down the line, and across multiple physics as well — while focusing on those few ideas that hold more promise. It provides our team with a high degree of creative freedom, which is a neces-sity when you’re essentially trying to reinvent an entire industry.

DIMENSIONS: Looking ahead, when do you think we will see the first all-electric aircraft? And what’s the key to achieving that vision?

HM: We are never going to achieve the all-electric aircraft with the technologies we have in place today; it is simply not physically possible yet. It is one thing to engineer a relatively small electric car that has to travel hundreds of miles, but it’s quite another thing to move an aircraft weighing tons across thousands of miles using electric propulsion — achieving not only the required energy and power levels, but also the needed reliability level. Someone is going to have to arrive at revolutionary new power-generation and storage technologies before that can happen. And then we will also need to reimagine the infrastructure necessary to support aircraft that are more or all electric. We can already see future, relevant steps on the horizon with projects like the Airbus–Rolls-Royce–Siemens collaboration in E-FanX, and the very vibrant and potentially disruptive electric flying taxi scene. In the U.S. in particular, there is great vibrancy in the 9–10 seater and the training market. These are exciting times!

In the meantime, we can continue to increase the number of electric components in our aircraft and gradually elimi-nate those components that have the greatest negative impact on the environment and the highest financial costs. Hybrid propulsion systems represent one solution. We also need to understand how to achieve certification of these new systems.

The key to making continued progress is to create an environment of continuous innovation that spans aerospace manufacturers and their suppliers, government agencies, research centers like the IAT and technology providers like ANSYS. We also need to learn from disrupters and startups. By working together to share both our requirements and our advances, we can continue to make progress and create a meaningful impact. While the all-electric aircraft may be decades away, the more electric aircraft is becoming a reality right now, thanks to ongoing advances in technology and an atmosphere of strong collaboration across the global aviation industry.

University of Nottingham at a GlanceFounded in 1881Sixth-largest university in the U.K.Number of students: 33,000+Campus locations: Nottingham, U.K.; Ningbo, China; Semenyih, Malaysia


About Hervé MorvanHervé Morvan joined the faculty of the University of Nottingham in 2003 as a professor in applied fluid mechanics. Since then, his positions at the university have included founder and head of the Gas Turbine and Transmissions Research Centre (G2TRC), a 50-person strong organization with a $20 million portfolio, as well as lead for the aerospace and transport technologies research priority area. In addition to directing the Institute for Aerospace Technology, Morvan also served as associ-ate pro-vice chancellor for Innovation, Business Engage-ment and Impact. For the past decade, he has served as a consultant to Rolls-Royce and to Speedo during its 2008 and 2012 Olympics campaigns. Morvan holds master’s and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Glasgow.

“We need to engineer well-integrated propulsion systems, lightweight battery technologies and more efficient energy storage mechanisms that may, one day, enable the progressive replacement of gas turbines.”


Engineering simulation has been used for decades to develop healthcare devices. Today, simulation is increasingly being leveraged to demonstrate product performance during the regulatory approval process — where it can significantly reduce time and costs. Dimensions recently spoke with a number of thought leaders about the opportunities and challenges involved in applying simulation to help secure regulatory approvals.

While all product development processes are rigorous, time-consuming and resource-intensive, this is especially true in the healthcare industry — where devices have the potential to impact the well-being of millions of patients. For decades, engineering simulation has helped reduce the time, cost and risk involved in designing these devices. By engineering and testing patient solutions in a virtual design space, healthcare companies can propel products to the launch phase much faster, and with a higher degree of confidence that they will perform as expected in the real world.

By building 3D models of products and the human body in a virtual design environment, healthcare product developers can test and verify performance, using

simulation and digital exploration to make modifica-tions quickly and easily. Simulation is much faster, more cost-effective and less invasive than building and testing physical prototypes.

However, product development is only the first step in launching innovative healthcare devices — which must next undergo a lengthy process to secure regula-tory approvals from government agencies. Historically, simulation has been largely ignored during this phase. However, healthcare companies and regulatory agencies alike are now recognizing that, because it can replicate and demonstrate the way devices will actually perform under real-world conditions, simulation is critical to support the regulatory approval process.


Called in silico clinical trials, this approach is rapidly gaining ground. The United States Congress, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the European Parliament are now urging healthcare companies to explore its potential. In 2016, the FDA released a document detailing exactly how simula-tion results should be submitted as part of the regulatory approval process. In early 2017, the European Parliament approved text stressing that any simula-tion results submitted within the framework of a regulatory approval process must be considered.

A Prescriptive Approach to ChangeWhile large healthcare companies are already investigating in silico trials for regulatory approvals, this could prove difficult for small and mid-sized companies to implement. To help a broader range of healthcare businesses to leverage simulation, in 2016 a group of industry and academic stakeholders formed a collaborative international group called the Avicenna Alliance.

Named for the Persian philosopher and scientist who is often considered the founder of modern medicine, the Avicenna Alliance was created by four founding members: ANSYS, a developer of simulation software; medical device manufacturer Medtronic; consulting group Rohde Public Policy (RPP); and the Virtual Physiological Human (VPH) Institute, a European initiative that aims to enable collaborative investigation of the human body as a single complex system. Today the Alliance has incorporated other healthcare stakeholders, including private companies, lobbyists, consultants and medical experts who are committed to the use of simulation for regulatory approvals.

Adriano Henney, secretary general for the partnership, holds a Ph.D. in medicine and worked for years in pharmaceutical and biological research before helping to form the Avicenna Alliance. He first became passionate about modeling devices and the human body while working for AstraZeneca, establishing one of the first Systems Biology departments in the industry. He subsequently led a collaborative, government-funded study on liver

is much faster, more cost-effective and less invasive than building and testing physical prototypes.

Simulation“ “


dysfunction. “Modeling a healthcare device inside the human body, and looking at interactions in a simulated environment, just makes sense,” notes Henney. “It reduces costs, it saves time and it minimizes the impact on human patients. The potential benefits of using this process over traditional clinical trials are enormous.”

“The only problem is that this idea is so new,” Henney continues. “Private companies, researchers, government regulators — we’re all working to understand how in silico trials can be implemented consistently on a global basis. That’s why we formed the Avicenna Alliance, to create a bridge between all the stakeholders, inform policy decisions and begin to articulate a structure for leveraging simulation that everyone can agree will produce the highest-quality results.”

A Prescriptive Approach to ChangeOne of the Avicenna Alliance’s most critical activities is working with policymakers around the world to educate them about the benefits of in silico medicine, so they can make informed decisions as they draft new regula-tory guidelines. James Kennedy is associate director with Rohde Public Policy Group, which serves as the secretar-iat of the Alliance and leads this effort.

“It’s very unusual for a consultancy to invest heavily in a scientific topic,” points out Kennedy. “But if we can take

the same technology that Formula 1 carmakers use to develop fuel injection systems — and apply it to optimize blood flows inside the human body — why wouldn’t we want to do that? Advanced modeling technology opens up so many doors and holds the potential to improve the health and well-being of millions of people.”

Kennedy regularly meets with both government regula-tors and healthcare executives to promote the need for practical guidelines for the use of in silico clinical trials. “The policy structure we have today simply can’t take the weight of all these new in silico approaches,” states Kennedy. “Policy needs to evolve along with technology.”

Henney notes that legislators and regulators are extremely enthusiastic about healthcare simulation, which supports the general trend toward patient-specific treatments and personalized medicine. “I think everyone realizes that customized treatment approaches represent the future of the healthcare industry,” he says. “If we can use simulation and modeling to verify not just that a device works, but that it works for a specific individ-ual, we are now taking product safety and confidence to a new level. We can design devices aimed at a specific patient. This represents a quantum leap in quality of care, which can reduce overall treatment and insurance costs significantly.”


Diagnosing and Meeting Technology Needs In addition to supporting the development of clear legis-lation and regulatory guidelines, the Avicenna Alliance is working to ensure that user-friendly simulation technol-ogy is available to a new group of healthcare customers. As a founding member of the Alliance and an industry leader in simulation software, ANSYS is spearheading this effort.

“Simulation is a standard practice in developing health-care products,” says Thierry Marchal, industry director for healthcare at ANSYS. “To begin employing simulation as part of the regulatory process, most businesses simply need to bring their simulation experts together with their regulatory experts — and investigate how their efforts can be combined.”

In Silico Trials: Getting Started

To help small and mid-sized healthcare companies capitalize on the benefits of in silico trials, Adriano Henney and James Kennedy of the Avicenna Alliance offer these practical guidelines:

+ Identify the simulation experts within your company. “Chances are, someone in your product development organization is already using engineer-ing simulation to model products,” Henney says. “Find out who they are, and discuss integrating the existing results into your existing regulatory approval process.”

+ Explore opportunities for collaboration beyond your own organization. “By partnering with compa-nies who are further along in the in silico journey, you can make faster progress and benefit from the lessons they’ve learned,” notes Henney.

+ Open a dialogue with local regulatory officials. “Many businesses view government agencies as adversaries, when in fact they can be valuable partners,” Kennedy states. “Because simulation is still a relatively new topic for regulators, they are eager to learn — and to partner with healthcare companies to advance this practice.”


ANSYS partners with technology startups like Promeditec to develop special-ized apps and portals that help integrate simulation into accepted clinical trial workflows (see sidebar, “Promeditec: Facilitating In Silico Trials”). “By identifying and collaborating with innovative companies like Promeditec, ANSYS simulation software is placed into the hands of healthcare specialists who already require regulatory approvals,” explains Marchal.

“We’re not suggesting that in silico trials will completely replace traditional clinical trials in the short term,” Marchal adds. “But, to remain competitive and begin to accelerate the approval process, healthcare companies must define new practices for sharing simulation data and establishing simulation expertise outside of the product development function.”

While the Avicenna Alliance was founded in 2016, this collaborative effort is already making great strides in promoting the use of simulation for regulatory approvals. This could mean significantly reduced healthcare costs, more personalized medical treatment and improved well-being for patients worldwide.

Promeditec: Facilitating In Silico Trials Based in Milan, Italy, Promeditec is a technology startup that supports healthcare companies in executing clinical trials — including the management of data, processes and workflows, and documentation for regulatory compliance. To add value, Promeditec has partnered with ANSYS, the industry leader in simulation software, to support its customers’ use of in silico trials for regulatory compliance via an interactive website called inSilicoTrials.com.

“inSilicoTrials.com represents a new concept for the small and mid-sized companies we serve,” explains Luca Emili, CEO of Promeditec. “Our goal in collaborating with ANSYS is to create an easy, cost-effective tool that enables them to capitalize on simulation technology and model their healthcare products in a low-cost, risk-free virtual environment.”

Promeditec hosts ANSYS software in the cloud, and has also devised an extremely user-friendly app that gives customers easy access to the power of simula-tion — while also offering compatibility with the company’s apps for data management and other functions.


Already, Promeditec customers have begun realizing the benefits of in silico model-

ing to support their regulatory approval processes. For example, the first application

publicly available on inSilicoTrials.com is a tool for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)

safety analysis for implanted metal stents. The simulation, developed by the U.S. Food and Drug

Administration (FDA) as part of a joint five-year collaborative agreement with Promeditec, is acces-

sible through a user-friendly web interface and runs in the cloud. This tool will provide users with a

report that follows FDA guidelines and is suitable to be submitted for regulatory approval.

Another example is a specific web process developed for the simulation of a novel, patient-specific orthope-dic device for treating early stage osteoarthritis of the knee. The aim of the in silico trial is to evaluate the safety equivalence between a well-established existing generic device and the novel patient-specific device, ToKa, which was designed by a collaboration between the University of Bath, the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital, and 3D Metal Printing Ltd.

Based on the 3D anatomy of a cohort of 30 patients, a multi-objective robust design optimization and multi-criteria decision analysis was implemented, while the computational time required was reduced. The simula-tion report will be part of the regulatory submission package for the new medical device.

Simulation of the original device for treating osteoarthritis of the knee (A) and patient-specific device (B).

MRI safety simulation for implanted metal stents

This could mean significantly reduced healthcare costs, more personalized medical treatment and improved well-being for patients worldwide.


For over 20 years, the High-Performance Computing Center Stuttgart (HLRS), located at the University of Stuttgart, has helped

leading companies like Daimler and Porsche address their complex engineering problems via the strategic use of high-performance computing (HPC) resources. Today, HLRS is preparing these and other companies to optimize their use of HPC across the business. Dimensions recently spoke with Michael Resch, director of HLRS, about current and future trends in HPC.

DIMENSIONS: What services does HLRS provide — and who are your customers?

MICHAEL RESCH: HLRS was established in 1996 as the first national German high-performance computing (HPC) center. It is a research and service organization affiliated with the University of Stuttgart, offering HPC services to both academic users and corporate product development teams. Not only do we offer computing resources that allow scientists and engineers to run massive simulations, but we consult with them about how to solve their problems strategically. We want to ensure that they are achieving fast solve times and cost benefits, but also that they are attaining the high degree of accuracy and fidelity needed to deliver product reliability and safety.


We have a wide range of customers, with two of our largest being Daimler and Porsche. Obviously, automak-ers face incredibly complex, numerically large engineer-ing problems, especially as the number of electronic components in cars increases. At the same time, car manufacturers work under very stringent regulatory and safety standards. They rely heavily on engineering simulation to solve these problems without the high cost of repeated physical tests. This makes automakers ideal customers for HLRS — but we can help any business that wants to leverage simulation and HPC to combine a high degree of speed with a high degree of product confidence and reliability.

DIMENSIONS: For companies just beginning to leverage the power of high-performance computing, what is the most common pitfall?

MR: Without a doubt, the biggest mistake companies make when they invest in HPC is focusing on the number of technology components, or the size of the cluster. If the product development team is not solving problems fast enough, the typical reaction is, “We need to add more computing nodes or processors.” While a certain level of resources is obviously required to run a large simulation, what’s more important to achieving speed is the manner in which those resources are deployed.

At HLRS, we have pioneered advanced numerical methods, parallel processing schemes, big data manage-ment practices and other innovations that allow any business to maximize the effectiveness of its HPC efforts. We help customers define their computing problems and create a strategic plan for solving them in the most time-, cost- and resource-effective manner.

DIMENSIONS: In addition to lacking a strategic approach, what are some other obstacles engineering teams face in implementing HPC?

MR: Many businesses, especially small and mid-sized companies, are challenged to manage user licenses for all the specialized tools needed for product devel-opment. Solutions like ANSYS software are growing increasingly easy to use — and the best practice of perva-sive simulation means they are being applied by more people across the business. For technology managers, this means providing flexible access to the software and ensuring it is available when people need it. Fortunately, ANSYS has pioneered a concept called elastic licensing to address this.


The growing popularity of cloud computing is also helping these same small and mid-sized companies access technology on a flexible basis. But that brings its own challenges, primarily the need for uninterrupted connectivity and fast data-streaming speeds.

To maximize their use of high-performance computing, companies of all sizes need a plan for sustained perfor-mance over time. In today’s competitive market, product development can’t be held back by employee downtime caused by a lack of licenses, or by failed internet connec-tions. These are administrative issues our experts can help manage, whether we are licensing and managing the technology for them, or simply devising an optimal plan for their internal ownership of resources.

DIMENSIONS: What do you see as the single greatest trend in HPC today?

MR: Probably the most important trend we’re witnessing is the democratization of high-performance computing, as more people across the business need access to HPC resources to support pervasive simulation — but also to carry out other work. High-performance computing used to be the domain of engineers and researchers, but today the whole enterprise is becoming more digital in nature. Employees in many functions now need to manage large amounts of data and solve complex problems — and that means they need processing power and speed.

With only about 20 to 30 supercomputing centers world-wide and fast-growing demand for HPC resources, I expect cloud services to expand to answer this market need. As access to high-performance computing increases, costs will be driven down. In three to five years, I expect that most professionals will have daily access to HPC resources, including those at small and mid-sized compa-nies. Instead of being seen as a specialized activity, HPC

will be integrated into many daily business activities and will be a part of many corporate functions — not just product development.

DIMENSIONS: Looking ahead, do you see the speed of high-performance computing increasing significantly?

MR: I believe that processing speeds may continue to increase for the next several years, but in the 2020s we are actually going to see a stabilization of high-performance computing speeds. Just as auto engineers gradually shifted their focus from horsepower gains to overall performance gains, computing experts are going to focus more on managing data and solving problems more strategically — not just on processing speeds.

There is so much data available today, and that volume is only going to grow as the world becomes ever more digital in nature. As one example, factories are going to be much more automated, which will generate a huge volume of numerical data about production costs and efficiency. These insights will have enormous value across the


business, including the product development function. In keeping with the concept of pervasive simulation, this manufacturing data will be considered during product engineering to keep production costs low and efficiency high. But which data is important? And which is trivial?

The same applies to the emerging concept of the digital twin — a simulated product system that mirrors a real product that is working in the field. As engineers apply real-world physical forces and environmental conditions to the model, a very large amount of performance data is generated. Someone needs to look at that information and figure out what is important for predictive mainte-nance, repair, future product development and other applications.

Looking ahead, the high-performance computing indus-try is going to focus on managing and applying data more strategically, resulting in smarter simulations, not necessarily faster ones. Today, the emphasis for many companies is on speed — “How soon can we get the results?” — but, in the near future, more emphasis will be placed on the value of the results. Not just for the engineering team, but the business as a whole.

DIMENSIONS: What role do you see HLRS playing in the evolution of HPC?

MR: I see HLRS playing an essential role because we partner with leading software companies like ANSYS to understand simulation technology, which relies on HPC, as well as with leading companies that use ANSYS solutions in an HPC environment on a daily basis. By helping to optimize the performance of ANSYS software and other HPC-enabled tools, we can meet industry’s real-world needs.

As businesses grow increasingly digital and rely on HPC more and more, HPC centers must support sound decision-making for our corporate partners. Companies need to address data security, cloud access, software licensing and other technical issues — but, even more important, they need to ensure they’re getting the maximum return from their technology investments.

Experts at HPC centers have worked with some of the world’s leading companies to solve these problems already. There are a number of best practices that can be applied to help companies make significant improve-ments in their product development processes. For example, HLRS recently helped a German manufacturer use HPC-enabled simulation to reduce physical testing costs by two-thirds. Over the course of 20 years, HLRS has accumulated many “lessons learned” that we can lever-age to help customers make similar improvements.

HLRS serves as a bridge between how companies are using HPC today versus what is possible in the future. That’s a role that will become even more important as the number of processors worldwide grows and HPC becomes ever more commonplace in the business world.

HLRS at a GlanceFounded in 1996Number of Employees: 125

About Michael ReschSince 2003, Professor Michael Resch has been director of the High-Performance Computing Center Stuttgart (HLRS), one of the fastest civil computing systems in Europe. He also heads the University of Stuttgart’s Institute for High-Performance Computing. Resch has received numerous awards, including the National Science Foundation’s Award for High-Performance Distributed Computing, the HPC Challenge Award and the Microsoft Early Contributor Award.


Dramatic innovations in electrical systems are underway to increase the energy efficiency of the

millions of industrial motors that power fans, pumps and compressors used around the globe.

The targeted improvements represent a significant percentage of the world’s overall energy usage.

A longtime leader in industrial motor design, TECO-Westinghouse continues to produce groundbreaking electrical machines that operate at new levels of speed and energy

efficiency.

Industrial motors are ubiquitous products that work behind the scenes in every production facility around the world. Motors are used in all industrial fields and account for over 68 percent of

the electrical energy used in manufacturing and process plants. The technology and design principles underlying industrial motors have been established and accepted for decades. However, the demand for more reliable, energy-efficient motors that provide higher levels of power and a broader range of performance is challenging the designers and manufacturers of rotating electrical systems.


TECO-Westinghouse, a leader in motor design and application for over

100 years, invests heavily in innovative new motor designs — and with good

reason. The thousands of industrial motors in operation today account for an

enormous percentage of the energy demand placed on the worldwide grid. As consumers,

businesses and government regulators alike insist on greater energy efficiency and a lower

environmental impact, the Design Center and R&D team at TECO-Westinghouse is working on

dramatic engineering innovations that can have a significant impact on global energy usage and

environmental sustainability.

The Drive for Greater EfficiencyHow can energy efficiency be increased dramatically

in a mature, accepted product design such as an indus-trial motor? The answer is straightforward: The perfor-

mance of the product must be taken to a new level. Even the most basic design principles need to be re-examined to arrive at a breakthrough product design that reimag-ines the way the product consumes energy.

The ambitious design goal at TECO-Westinghouse is to introduce a fully integrated, high-speed, megawatt-class motor and high-frequency, variable-speed drive system that dramatically impact the machine’s energy needs. This next generation of large electric machines would increase today’s maximum rpm speed of 3,600 to 15,000 or even 20,000 rpm, enabling them to be coupled directly to high-speed machines such as gas compressors.

In addition, variable-frequency drives allow a motor to adapt flexibly to changing load demand. New power converter technologies can enable these variable drives to take energy from the grid at one frequency — say 60 Hz — and convert it to the frequency needed to power these high-speed motors.

These new drives not only would provide the power demanded by the motor at the target frequency, but can also provide reactive power to the grid, supporting grid resiliency. This is a highly desirable feature when a greater percentage of power comes from inconsistent, variable sources such as wind and other renewable energy sources.

Making Complex Design Trade-OffsTECO-Westinghouse’s leadership in developing the next generation of industrial motors is recognized by the industry, as evidenced by the grant the company recently received from the United States Department of Energy. In partnership with researchers at Clemson University, TECO-Westinghouse is currently building a prototype of a new motor and variable-frequency drive that will be tested at full power on a dynamometer at the Clemson University Duke Energy eGRID lab in the fall of 2018. If this test is successful, the product might be commercially available as soon as the fall of 2019.


The TECO-Westinghouse Design and R&D team, along with its academic research partners, had to overcome a series of complex design challenges during the development cycle. For example, if rotors spin at extremely high speeds, what effect does that have on motor cooling and temperature? How does that affect stresses in the rotor? What new dynamics and physical phenomena will come into play — and how does that affect the vibration, wear and rotordynamic behavior? How does high frequency affect motor losses? Which trade-offs are acceptable, and which are not?

Designing a variable-frequency drive is a complex task. Engineers must consider issues such as the effects of high switching frequencies at high voltages, power losses, thermal management of the drive, and safety concerns, such as how the drive handles faults and contains their effects. The extreme innovation required to design the new variable-frequency drive is evident in the fact that TECO-Westinghouse owns 22 patents on this technology alone.


Minimizing Development Time, Risk and ExpenseLike many manufacturers, TECO-Westinghouse was motivated to introduce this

dramatic level of product innovation very quickly, in order to address growing concerns about equipment energy demands. And the emergence of international

competitors meant that they needed to keep development costs low for competi-tive pricing.

Just as TECO-Westinghouse needed to rely on advanced technology to reinvent its core product, the company’s engineering team relied on state-of-the-art engineering

solutions to bring its design to the prototype stage. The company leveraged advanced design and development tools, including ANSYS simulation solutions, to minimize the

time, money and risk involved in exploring extreme product innovations such as the variable drive.

For example, engineering simulation enabled TECO-Westinghouse to make critical perfor-mance trade-offs at a very early stage via digital exploration. Product developers were able

to answer key questions about thermal management, mechanical stress and electromagnetic performance by applying physical forces and replicating real-world operating conditions in a

risk-free virtual design space.

ANSYS simulation tools enabled the development team to test the performance of new, nontraditional materials without investing in full physical prototypes. TECO-Westinghouse

engineers were even able to examine various production scenarios so that manufacturing costs could be understood and controlled upfront.


While TECO-Westinghouse is currently constructing a full motor proto-type for the test at Clemson University, the build team is working with a high degree of confidence — because the design has been tirelessly tested and verified in a simulated operating environment that repli-cates real-world conditions with a high degree of accuracy. This is expected to support positive performance results when the proto-type goes into testing in the fall of 2018.

Implications Beyond Industrial ManufacturingTECO-Westinghouse is focused on delivering innovative motors to the global industrial market. While the company does not engineer propulsion systems, the high-speed rotors, variable drives and other innovations developed by its R&D team could have implications in other industries where energy efficiency is of paramount importance — including auto-motive and aerospace.

Motors — or, more broadly, rotating electric machines — are now at the heart of industrial manufacturing, elec-tric and hybrid vehicles, and more electric aircraft. As TECO-Westinghouse solves the problem of extremely high-speed rotation and variable speed controls, it’s only reasonable to assume that these innovations could inspire product development engineers in other industries as well, leading to energy-efficiency improvements that go well beyond industrial environments.


About TECO-WestinghouseWith a legacy dating back to George

Westinghouse and headquartered in Round Rock, Texas, TECO-Westing-

house is a global leader in manufactur-ing electric motors. These high-quality

machines are used to drive pumps, fans, compressors, rolling mills, grinders, crush-

ers and a variety of other rugged applica-tions. The company’s motors and genera-

tors are utilized in petroleum, chemical, pulp, paper, mining, marine propulsion, steel,

electric utility and other industries throughout the world.

About Paulo Guedes-PintoAt TECO-Westinghouse Motor Company (TWMC), Paulo

Guedes-Pinto directs a team of 56 engineers and designers responsible for the design of large AC and DC

machines, the development of medium voltage drives, and research and development for electric machines and

power converters. Guedes-Pinto has 32 years of experi-ence managing technical teams with responsibility for

product design, research and development, and manufac-turing processes for highly complex products. He has

experience in the design and manufacture of large AC and DC motors, axial flux permanent magnet generators, high-speed

permanent magnet motors for subsea and land applications, and medium voltage drives. He holds eight patents related to

permanent magnet machines and carbon composite structures applied to those machines. In the past 10 years, Guedes-Pinto has

managed teams working on complex projects where engineering simulation software was employed to predict system performance,

identify technical risk and improve designs.


Date post:	18-Jun-2020
Category:	Documents
Upload:	others
View:	1 times
Download:	0 times

In the mid-20th century came the transistor, spawning a ... · In the mid-20th century came the...

Documents