Proton Success Story - MSC Software

<strong>MSC</strong>.<strong>Software</strong>: User Case Study - <strong>Proton</strong><br />

PROTON<br />

Customer Profile: Noor Hisham Bin Ismail<br />

Mr Noor Hisham Bin Ismail is head of CAE at PROTON based in Kuala Lumpur,<br />

Malaysia. Mr Ismail and other members of the computer-aided engineering team<br />

are responsible for improving the virtual development of mechanical and structural<br />

components, sub systems and complete vehicle system at PROTON. Through<br />

Mr Ismail’s innovative process of probabilistic analysis, PROTON has been able<br />

to effectively identify areas of high-risk failure and fine-tuning engineering design<br />

alternatives.<br />

Challenge<br />

In developing complex mechanical and structural automotive<br />

components, going through multiple build-and-test hardware prototype<br />

cycles to verify performance, stress and fatigue life is just too timeconsuming<br />

and expensive. This issue can be addressed by evaluating<br />

and refining designs with analysis tools up front in development, reducing<br />

test cycles later in the development process. PROTON’s pioneering spirit<br />

naturally has led Mr ismail to not just stop at traditional methodologies in<br />

computer-aided engineering for design analysis. As the risk of failure in<br />

any design was becoming<br />

more and more significant<br />

and he was constantly<br />

looking at areas to assess<br />

risk parameters and minimize<br />

any risk factors, he needed<br />

to turn to industry-leading<br />

simulation analysis tools that<br />

would be able to provide him<br />

with the necessary accurate<br />

foundation to progress his<br />

methodology. Mr Ismail<br />

Basic Stress and Material Cyclic Strength<br />

realized that conventional<br />

virtual development approaches are no longer sufficient to meet the<br />

increasing standards of accuracy required at PROTON. Conventional<br />

approaches do not take into consideration the variations that affect finite<br />

element analyses. Mr Ismail needed proven tools that produced the most<br />

accurate results, allowing him to capture the potential failures and provide<br />

the nature of failures so that these can be mitigated in the process. With<br />

resource efficiency on his mind, Ms Ismail also needed to manage test<br />

accuracy while reducing the dependency on running too many variations.<br />

Solution<br />

<strong>MSC</strong> FEA (<strong>MSC</strong> Nastran and Patran),<strong>MSC</strong> Adams.<br />

Benefits<br />

• Visible quantification of design risk or reliability<br />

• Identifies areas of high risk in a design<br />

• Provides the ability to modify design variables relative to reliability<br />

• Provides a means to compare differing designs<br />

Case Study<br />

PROTON can shorten the time-to-market by getting designs right the first<br />

time. Many of PROTON’s automotive components need extensive lead<br />

times because of its strict adherence to safety and quality standards.<br />

Besides, traditional physical testing can take weeks or even months to<br />

validate a design. Leveraging analysis early in the process can eliminate<br />

unforeseen changes and repetition of lengthy test cycles, providing<br />

significant reductions in overall development time.<br />

USER CASE STUDY<br />

Mr Ismail’s foundation of probabilistic design methodology uses design<br />

criteria based on reliability targets instead of deterministic criteria.<br />

First, design parameters such as applied loads, material strength, and<br />

operational parameters are researched and/or measured and then<br />

statistically defined. A probabilistic analysis model is then developed for<br />

the entire system and solutions performed to yield failure probabilities.<br />

With <strong>MSC</strong>’s FEA, applied stress is obtained from finite element models.<br />

The general concept is to integrate the joint probability of applied stress<br />

and material strength over the region where stress exceeds strength. The<br />

result of the integration is the probability of structural failure and this helps<br />

to provide the necessary information for sensitivity analysis and design<br />

optimization.<br />

Relying on industryleading<br />

solutions such<br />

as <strong>MSC</strong>’s FEA and<br />

Adams, Mr Ismail is able<br />

to build a “Reliability<br />

Engineering” framework<br />

that provided the<br />

foundation for accurate<br />

analysis.<br />

With <strong>MSC</strong>, Mr Ismail is<br />

able to conduct multi-<br />

Yield Stress and Operating Stress Performance<br />

run design improvement<br />

studies which can be used to assess design sensitivity to product and<br />

environment variability, discover unknown design variable interactions,<br />

and provide a global view of the overall design space.<br />

But the analysis does not stop here; as Mr Ismail has further incorporate<br />

his finite analysis results in a stochastic simulation via the Monte Carlo<br />

technique that provides the statistical results of the variation distribution.<br />

Mr Ismail then further combines the results with critical parameters<br />

yielding an even stronger and more robust solution.<br />

“All critical elements derived from simulation results are subjected to<br />

additional quantifiable risk analysis, this helps to mitigate probability<br />

of failures later during the development stage,” said Mr Noor Hisham<br />

bin Ismail, PROTON Holdings Berhad. “Computer-aided engineering<br />

technology has provided the foundation for PROTON’s success in a highly<br />

competitive automotive industry. With <strong>MSC</strong>.<strong>Software</strong>, we have been able<br />

to cut costs while improving quality and reducing time-to-market. Our<br />

drive for engineering innovation will enable us to continue enhancing our<br />

competitiveness by improving our engineering development process and<br />

driving production efficiency.”

---

USER CASE STUDY<br />

<strong>MSC</strong> Products Used:<br />

<strong>MSC</strong> Adams<br />

Capabilities<br />

• Creation or import of component geometry in<br />

wireframe or 3D solids<br />

• Extensive library of joints and constraints to<br />

define part connectivity<br />

• Internal and external forces definition on the<br />

assembly to define your product’s operating<br />

environment<br />

• Model refinement with part flexibility, automatic<br />

control systems, joint friction and slip, hydraulic<br />

and pneumatic actuators, and parametric<br />

design relationships<br />

• Ability to iterate to optimal design through<br />

definition of objectives, constraints, and<br />

variables<br />

• Automatic generation of linear models and<br />

complex loads for export to structural analyses<br />

• Comprehensive linear/nonlinear results for<br />

testing complex, large-motion designs<br />

• Superior contact capabilities supporting 3D<br />

contact between modal flexible bodies and<br />

solid geometry<br />

High Performance Computing (HPC)<br />

• 64-bit support on Windows and<br />

Linux platforms<br />

• Parallel processing support for<br />

Adams/Tire results<br />

• Shared Memory Parallel solver<br />

• Obtain nonlinear results for testing complex,<br />

large-motion designs<br />

Adams Package includes:<br />

• Adams/Solver<br />

• Adams/Linear<br />

• Adams/View<br />

• Adams/Flex<br />

• Adams/Durability<br />

• Adams/Vibration<br />

• Adams/Controls<br />

• Adams/Exchange<br />

• Adams/Foundation<br />

• Adams/Insight<br />

• Postprocessor<br />

• Shared Memory Parallel (SMP)<br />

• Tire API<br />

Optional Modules<br />

• Adams/Tire FTire<br />

Corporate<br />

<strong>MSC</strong> <strong>Software</strong> Corporation<br />

2 MacArthur Place<br />

Santa Ana, California 92707<br />

Telephone 714.540.8900<br />

www.mscsoftware.com<br />

Europe, Middle East,<br />

Africa<br />

<strong>MSC</strong> <strong>Software</strong> GmbH<br />

Am Moosfeld 13<br />

81829 Munich, Germany<br />

Telephone 49.89.431.98.70<br />

<strong>MSC</strong> Nastran<br />

• Powerful Analysis Capabilities<br />

• Static Stress<br />

• Normal Modes<br />

• Linear Buckling<br />

• Dynamics<br />

• Static and Transient Heat Transfer<br />

• Dynamics<br />

• Frequency / Harmonic Response<br />

• Static and Transient Nonlinear<br />

• Rotor Dynamics<br />

• Interior Acoustics<br />

• Full range of material models<br />

• Isotropic<br />

• Orthotropic<br />

• Anisotropic<br />

• Temperature-dependent<br />

• Design Optimization<br />

• Shape<br />

• Size<br />

• Topology<br />

• Adams Integration<br />

• Superelements for increased collaboration and<br />

solution efficiency<br />

• Efficient Solvers<br />

• Sparse matrix solvers<br />

• Iterative solvers<br />

• Parallel and vector processing<br />

Patran<br />

Pre-processing<br />

• Standard Geometry Access from<br />

• Parasolid<br />

• STEP 203 and 209<br />

• IGES<br />

• VDA<br />

• I-DEAS<br />

• Parametric Modeling Capabilities<br />

• Wireframe and Solid Geometry Creation and<br />

Modification<br />

• Mesh Generation<br />

• Automatic 2-D surface meshing<br />

• Automatic solid mesher<br />

• Generalized 1-D, 2-D, 3-D mapped mesher<br />

• Mesh on Mesh<br />

• Mesh editing and modification<br />

• Comprehensive Element Library<br />

• Element Property Creation and Edit<br />

• Material Property Creation and Edit<br />

• Load and Boundary Creation and Edit<br />

• Easy Contact Definitions<br />

• Model Visualization and Verification<br />

• Support for multiple FEA solvers<br />

Asia-Pacific<br />

<strong>MSC</strong> <strong>Software</strong> Japan LTD.<br />

Shinjuku First West 8F<br />

23-7 Nishi Shinjuku<br />

1-Chome, Shinjuku-Ku<br />

Tokyo, Japan 160-0023<br />

Telephone 81.3.6911.1200<br />

Asia-Pacific<br />

<strong>MSC</strong> <strong>Software</strong> (S) Pte. Ltd.<br />

100 Beach Road<br />

#16-05 Shaw Tower<br />

Singapore 189702<br />

Telephone 65.6272.0082<br />

• Marc<br />

• Dytran<br />

• <strong>MSC</strong> Nastran<br />

• MD Nastran<br />

• 3rd party solvers<br />

Post-processing<br />

• Results Access<br />

• Nastran<br />

• Dytran<br />

• Marc<br />

• 3rd party solvers<br />

• Results Visualization<br />

• Contours<br />

• Vector arrows<br />

• Fringe plots<br />

• Isosurfaces<br />

• Data History / Animation<br />

• X-Y plots<br />

• Imaging<br />

• Results Templates<br />

Company Profile<br />

<strong>MSC</strong>.<strong>Software</strong>: User Case Study - <strong>Proton</strong><br />

PROTON, established in 1983, is Malaysia’s<br />

largest manufacturer of automobiles. With<br />

operations in key market centers from UK and<br />

Western Europe to the Middle East, and across<br />

South-East Asia and Australasia, PROTON<br />

produces cars to suit a range of consumer<br />

demands and preferences. The offerings include<br />

versatile and reliable four-door family vehicles,<br />

two-door hatchbacks for the young-at-heart,<br />

luxurious and stylish executive sedans, spacious<br />

and affordable multi-purpose vehicle, as well<br />

as the world-renowned sports cars from Lotus.<br />

PROTON’s inception as a key driver of national<br />

development has seen the brand accelerate<br />

its learning curve through technology transfer<br />

with strategic partnerships and technical<br />

collaborations. PROTON cars are now steadily<br />

on track to achieving the mission for the future,<br />

gearing up to achieve the promise of a marquee<br />

brand which builds cars with passion and soul;<br />

cars which are a delight to drive and a pleasure<br />

to own.<br />

The <strong>MSC</strong>.<strong>Software</strong> corporate logo, <strong>MSC</strong>, and the names of the<br />

<strong>MSC</strong>. <strong>Software</strong> products and services referenced herein are trademarks<br />

or registered trademarks of the <strong>MSC</strong>.<strong>Software</strong> Corporation in the United<br />

States and/or other countries. All other trademarks belong to their<br />

respective owners. © 2010 <strong>MSC</strong>.<strong>Software</strong> Corporation. All rights reserved.<br />

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