Papers

Simulation has become an integral part of the product development process for mechanical and mechatronic components. While physical testing provides results at the end of a development loop, CAE based simulation can already be utilized at the very beginning. Therefore reliable simulation results (e.g. fatigue assessment, structural vibration behavior, acoustics …) are crucial for a rapid and efficient product development process.
Due to limitations regarding the available computational resources the numerical models often consider a limited number of physical effects only, leading to a broad variation of result interpretation. The stresses within joint contact interfaces are a typical example for such a neglected effect as the constituting nonlinear relations are expected to increase the computational effort tremendously. As a consequence detailed joint models are rarely used even though this might significantly influence the predicted characteristics of a certain component.
Within this contribution a novel model order reduction method for the dynamic simulation of structures containing joint contact interfaces is presented. The according simulation process and the major steps involved are outlined. Due to the reduction step, dynamic simulations can be carried out with manageable computational effort, even if the excitation time interval comprises many time increments. This facilitates carrying out several dynamic simulations within an optimization loop as well. Finally the fatigue analysis results of a passenger car battery carrier demonstrate the applicability of the proposed simulation process and the necessity to consider joint contact interfaces for reliable simulation results.