The next wave of crash simulation

As computing speed has improved and software itself has made significant speed and performance gains with each release, modeling tools are now quick enough to build high-quality, large, high-detail vehicle models in a very efficient manner.

Although most vehicle crash tests are typically done at 35-40 mph (56-64 km/h), the speed at which crash simulations are run continues to accelerate. As computing speed continually improves, engineers are able to perform more investigative studies and explore alternatives relating to weight, materials, and performance.

“We're always searching for speed, accuracy, robustness, and the quality of the results,” said David Mason, Vice President Global Automotive, Altair. “There are trade-offs amongst those, so if we make some assumptions we can run the simulation faster. Computers keep getting faster each year, so we're able to model more and more, but we can make some assumptions and they can run the simulations faster. If we want to be more accurate then the simulation takes longer to run and it lessens the amount of simulations we can do in order to try different countermeasures, etc.”