Design CAE Approach Applied to Drive Train Components

Development of a new automobile requires a considerable length of time and a vast amount of money. To exactly and promptly meet the customer's needs for higher quality and lower price which are in conflict with each other, the challenge is to shorten the development period and reduce the development costs. For this purpose, application of CAE (Computer Aided Engineering) in the development and design stage is indispensable as known to all. Today, CAE is available in multiple versions in the fields of development and design; versions for use by CAE experts and versions for designers who do not have so much CAE experience, and these multiple versions of CAE are finding use in ways that their respective characteristics can be put to the best advantage. In this paper, an example will be shown in which the design CAE method was applied to building an optimum propeller shaft universal joint by the engineers who belonged to the latter group. Discussion will be made on an improvement of efficiency in development and design work which could be achieved by incorporating CAE into the design activities.