LG Reduces Time to Conduct Drop-Test Simulations using Altair
Phone CAD and drop-test results.
Few things sting as badly as cracking your smart phone screen just days after signing your new contract. To prevent such user angst, Altair and LG announced an integrated drop-test simulation for electronics.
The new system compresses weeks of testing into a 24 hour timeframe. Their goal is accelerated developments cycles in tech sectors such as phones, appliances, and tablets.
“One of the biggest challenges to the smartphone industry is time to market… and many companies do not have enough time in the highly competitive product development cycle to consider as many designs as they would like to. The standard 7 to 14 days for drop-test simulation is too long. With Altair we are now able to slice the time required for drop-test simulation from a week to just hours.” said Researcher Y.H Lee.
Typically, smart phone drop tests are complicated by all the small parts and assemblies within the phone. These small parts make geometry, meshing, simplification, and post-processing difficult. Additionally, they require lots of contact definitions, bending conditions, and drop conditions to be assigned. This process can take days or even weeks to complete.
The new system works by automating many of these FEA tasks using Altair’s HyperWorks CAE, HyperMesh pre-processing, RADIOSS solver, and HyperView post-processing software. The system will solder joints, simplify geometry, assign contact points, and generate the mesh automatically.
The mesh browser can mesh hundreds of parts, using specific criteria, using a batch mesh methodology. After testing, users can load results from many different conditions, orientations, and parts. Hotspots are determined, contours are plotted, section cuts made, and charts generated all automatically.
This reduced simulation timeframe will allow for more iteration testing for greater product optimization. To that end, LG has started to implement the software in hopes it will reduce their warranty costs.
Altair’s Senior Director Molly Heskitt said that, “Altair and LGE’s collaboration on this drop-test simulation automation system helps LGE to be even more competitive and bring a greater variety of robust products to market faster… This automation system addresses major challenges of the electronics industry: time to market, innovation and cost. It shortens product development time, lowers development and warranty cost and leaves more time for design, all resulting in a better phone.”
Source Altair 1.
Source and Image courtesy of Altair 2.
