SimulationSimulations helps overcome design challenges
Simulation software can pull volumes of complex data beyond simple measurements (think comparative load or stress tolerances) and layer that information into images; simulation can show how a bridge will perform based on how it is used, the conditions around it, its design, materials, and even variables such as the position of a joint — before a single component is manufactured or ground is broken
Animation has been in existence for a number of years, and its sophisticated sister, simulation, has become more and more important to business.
About half the items in an Ikea catalog use simulated background, and though consumers are unaware of it, some 90 percent of automobile commercials use computer-generated imagery.
Greenbiz.com reports that the latest in simulation software can pull volumes of complex data beyond simple measurements (think comparative load or stress tolerances) and layer that information into images.
Depending on the depth of the simulation tool used, the results can be a striking, almost life-like visualizations. They show how a product, building, or structure such as a bridge, will perform based on how it is used, the conditions around it, its design, materials, and even variables such as the position of a joint — before a single component is manufactured or ground is broken.
Autodesk, publisher of simulation software, has also produced a simulator which is intended to examine individual components of a mechanical system, and how they will perform under varying conditions. Companies worldwide use Autodesk Simulation Mechanical and Autodesk Simulation Multiphysics software to validate and optimize designs before manufacturing — increasing efficiency, minimizing reliance on physical prototypes, reducing costs, and decreasing errors.
The $2.2 billion company is making a major bet that the rest of industry and design will see the benefits of simulation as well.
Simulation technology has been a critical component throughout the design and construction process — and not just for engineers and builders, said San Francisco Bay bridge project spokesman Bart Ney, in a major nod to Autodesk’s products. The technology also has been a mission critical communication tool in helping the public understand the project, being put to an extreme test in 2009 when the communication team needed to prepare the San Francisco Bay Area for a 3-day bridge closure over Labor Day weekend, he said.
During that time, workers cut away and removed a segment of the bridge and slid into place a replacement, double-deck component to provide a detour to the motorists who would be using the span.
Before the work was began, visual simulations were used to alert the public to the intended construction, as well as to show what was being done that necessitated the closing of the bridge for the 3-day period.
The technology is also being applied to the CopaVerde project in Brazil, in preparation for the 2014 World Cup competition.
The purpose of the CopaVerde project is to build a sustainable stadium. It will include a white roof with sufficient space a 2.5 megawatt solar power system, expected to be the largest of its kind in the world. Additionally, the simulation called for ponds and cisterns for stromwater management.
