Process Automation for Finite Element (FE) Anthropomorphic Test Device (ATD) Development - a Neck Pendulum Certification Case Study using Visual-SDK

Process automation is one of the emerging technologies in the field of computer aided engineering (CAE). A majority of the CAE processes involve repetitive steps during the product development and enhancement phases. An effort is being made to improve the engineer's efficiency by automating the repetitive tasks. The objective of the current study is to demonstrate the capabilities of CAE or FE process automation. Using a CAE process authoring and execution environment, a process was developed for the standard neck pendulum certification for the FE Hybrid III 5th percentile female ATD model. Standard pre-processing tasks for the typical neck pendulum certification simulation such as ATD head/neck replacement and positioning, resolving connections, quality checks, boundary and loading conditions, contact definitions, etc. were defined as process steps. Solver execution and post-processing were also made part of the process automation for the review of results and report generation. For the current study, the process was developed for the LS-Dyna FE solver. The process was designed so as to require minimal user interaction (or inputs) while carrying out subsequent runs. It was concluded that, once developed, the automated CAE process drastically increased the efficiency of engineers by reducing iteration time and the efforts required for the repetitive tasks. The automated processes can also help the engineers by allowing them to focus more on the FE ATD model development rather than labor intensive simulation tasks.