The past few decades have seen a radical transformation in the way products are developed. Not long ago, tooling and manufacturing was preceded by a validation process that consisted of building and testing a series of prototypes. Because up to 80% of a product’s total cost (next generation products as well as design changes) is committed in the upstream design stages, it is critical to validate the design integrity of a new or modified product before it leaves those critical stages.
Today, through engineering analysis and simulation, the process is accelerated tremendously. While the traditional build it – break it approach was effective, it added time and cost to the product development process as many of the changes could have been identified and made much earlier. What’s more, because finite element modeling and analysis (FEM/FEA) allows more design iterations to be explored faster and at less cost, innovation is also improved.
The Role of Testing
While the frequency of physical testing has been diminished, its importance has not. Testing provides the baseline data to drive simulations along with the insight to predict and measure performance, validate design integrity, and pinpoint areas of concern.
Because of this, the ultimate success of any new product or design change is directly tied to the accuracy and quality of data that is collected. This data must reflect the environment, conditions, and extreme range of forces to which the product will be subjected. When baseline data is not consistent with these conditions, the results are excessive warranty claims, failed products, lost market share, and even litigation.
The best way to ensure reliable data accuracy, type, and quality is through comprehensive test planning. Six DoF Testing & Analysis (6D) works with manufacturers, end users, and product development organizations to create and execute test plans. The company’s services range from test planning and assistance, data collection and analysis, design validation, and troubleshoot performance issues related to in-service products.
Example: Vehicle Design
Today’s vehicles are a sophisticated collection of components, sub-assemblies, and assemblies. The interaction of these systems, generally from diverse suppliers, is critical to overall performance. Even simple design modifications can introduce levels of vibration or interference creating an adverse effect on seemingly unrelated components or assemblies.
With an understanding that engineering analysis and product success go hand-in-hand, a prominent manufacturer of small to medium size coaches mandated that full analytical models be created to validate all new or changed designs. 6D was asked to instrument the vehicles, collect test data, and provide that data to a third-party for finite element modeling and analysis.
Today, 6D is integrated into manufacturing and FEA for a team-oriented validation approach. The company’s involvement includes defining test objectives, developing specific test plans for each vehicle, instrumenting vehicles, collecting data, working with the FEA team, and analyzing the models for fatigue and other issues.
Conclusion
With advanced data collection and analysis tools and technologies, product development has entered the digital era. The results are faster and more reliable design changes and lower manufacturing and warranty costs.
While tools and best practices have taken a quantum leap, physical test data remains the lifeblood that feeds these evolving technologies and ensures product success. And effective test planning is the key to securing reliable test data.