Forklift Manufacturer Streamlines Design Process with Altair’s HyperWorks Suite

技术

分析与建模 - 数字孪生/模拟

适用行业

设备与机械
特种车辆

适用功能

产品研发
仓库和库存管理

用例

时间敏感网络
虚拟原型与产品测试

服务

测试与认证

挑战

NACCO Materials Handling Group (NMHG) 是一家领先的叉车生产商，在产品开发过程中面临着重大挑战。该公司使用有限元分析 (FEA) 已经有 25 年了，但这需要构建多次迭代的物理原型来测试他们的设计。这一过程不仅成本高昂，而且耗时，导致产品推向市场的延迟。该公司迫切需要一种解决方案，可以在不影响产品质量的情况下缩短上市时间。最终目标是在制作任何物理原型之前对每个产品进行虚拟设计、测试和评估，从而节省成本并获得竞争优势。

关于客户

NACCO 物料搬运集团 (NMHG) 是一家全球知名的公司，为几乎所有类型的市场设计、设计和制造物料搬运设备。他们的产品以 Yale® 和 Hyster® 品牌销售，被世界各地需要叉车、集装箱搬运车和电动仓库车辆的企业所使用。 NMHG 是世界上最大的叉车生产商之一。该公司在俄勒冈州费尔维尤设有一个平衡重开发中心，在那里开发各种平衡重坐式叉车。该中心也是公司遍布全球的开发中心网络所使用的全球计算机模拟卓越中心之一。

解决方案

NMHG 采用 Altair 的 HyperWorks 仿真工具套件来解决他们的挑战。该套件是在与全球供应商的其他十种产品进行彻底比较后选择的。 HyperWorks 使 NMHG 能够减少产品所需的物理原型制作量，从而降低成本并缩短上市时间。该套件还为 NMHG 提供了新功能。例如，OptiStruct 使工程师能够根据疲劳优化设计，这种方法为公司带来了巨大的潜力。 Altair 的 RADIOSS 开辟了广泛的模拟领域，以前是使用隐式代码运行的。该公司还使用 MotionView 和 MotionSolve 进行多体动力学分析。使用 HyperMesh 发现该套件的预处理功能极其简单且功能强大。

运营影响

The adoption of HyperWorks has led to significant operational improvements at NMHG. The suite has not only saved time and cut costs but also identified new ways to resolve stubborn engineering problems. For example, with one small component — a counterweight support plate — engineers had gone through four design iterations. After running a single analysis with OptiStruct, the program suggested a solution that the company implemented, and the part passed the test. The same process was applied to a gusset that was giving engineers problems. Using OptiStruct, within an hour the team had a solution that gave them a correct answer without having to go to the shop, cut the gusset, cut another plate with a different shape and test it. The flexibility that Altair offers, and being able to use license units in so many ways are advantages. One program offers preprocessing, post-processing, solver and multi-body dynamics, with all covered by one license.

数量效益

Reduced the time required to mesh a truck by 50 percent, from four weeks using the previous manual process to just two weeks with HyperMesh.
Potential for even greater time reductions in the future.
Cost savings due to reduced need for physical prototyping.