Siemens Industry Software Solutions 

American Axle & Manufacturing or the tier one automotive supplier that uses NX, Simcenter and LMS software to reduce warranty costs.

Siemens Industry Software  (SISW) delivers software solutions to virtually  simulate  and test cars, airplanes and other mechatronic systems. 
 

3.7 billion in sales, more than 30 locations worldwide and more than 13k associates serving over 100 customers, should be enough to introduce you into the fascinating world of AAM’s success and its ability to provide exceptional value with an intense focus on quality, warranty, reliability, delivery and launch support.  

Now, being intrigued with these numbers, let's start with AAM and its beginnings. 

AAM or American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings, Inc. (AAM) is a tier one, global automotive supplier founded in 1994, but its manufacturing expertise goes back more than 90 years. AAM is a leader in driveline and drivetrain systems and related components for light trucks, sport utility vehicles (SUVs), passenger cars, crossover and commercial vehicles.  

To facilitate strict, industry-leading standards, AAM utilizes a combination of simulation and physical testing for its axles and drivelines.  

Knowing that, Siemens Industry Software Solutions enable American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings to significantly speed up simulation processes and ONE of the business challenges translates in selecting the next-generation simulation software for NVH analysis - aka noise, vibration & harshness (the study and modification of the noise and vibration characteristics of vehicles, particularly cars and trucks). 

Their main focus includes developing drivelines that deliver power from engine to wheels without perceivable noise or vibration, to create accurate simulation models, shrink simulation process time and gain a deeper understanding of product performance in the consumer environment. 

As the world is evolving, Siemens Industry Software Solutions’ key to success is to standardize the global durability process on Simcenter 3D and NX Nastran (its products) for driveline NVH simulation and to offer leverage integrated CAD (computer-aided design) and CAE (computer-aided engineering) processes, adding that: 

  • simulation is worthless if it cannot be used to accurately predict product performance in the real world. To enable AAM’s NVH simulations to effectively predict performance, the NVH engineering team correlates its analysis models with physical test results from their state-of-the-art testing facility.  

“Since we began using Simcenter 3D, we are able to go from CAD to the FE model to simulation results all within a day,” says Alex Sandstrom (Senior NVH Engineer AAM).  

Zhaohui Sun (Senior Manager NVH Engineering AAM) adds that the goal for the NVH team is to shrink simulation process time even further. The target: half a day.  

To conclude, ‘’The goal of AAM is to deliver power anonymously,” says Glen Steyer (Executive Director of Product Engineering).  

It means that the driver cannot perceive how power is transmitted from the engine to the wheels, so he cannot hear or feel vibrations from the driveline and for an original equipment manufacturer - a quiet, vibration-free driveline is an attribute that can be tied directly to higher quality rankings and better customer satisfaction.  

The results? 

  • Reduced warranty costs 

  • Provided ability to go from detailed CAD model to simulation results in one day 

  • Enabled confident prediction of real-world performance 

  • Reduced over-design by performing simulation prior to building a prototype 

  • Diminished costs by developing equivalency between two proving grounds
     
_______ 

 

 
Acoustic comfort with the help of Simcenter Testing Solutions 

 

Simcenter Testlab finds solutions to important  noise and vibration issues for Volvo Construction  Equipment by delivering “quality by design” & lending assistance at many points in the engineering process.  

For over 180 years, Volvo Construction Equipment has been designing and manufacturing haulers, wheel loaders, excavators, road development machines and other construction vehicles that make operators feel safe, comfortable and in control.  

Quite recently, noise, vibration and harshness (NVH) engineers    made great progress in coming up with a solution for the whining noise problem in the gears of small wheel loaders with the help of Simcenter solutions.  

“Our top priority is durability, but acoustics is gaining more importance in the design process,” says Reza Renderstedt, team leader of testing NVH for loaders. “The customers are increasingly demanding greater noise and vibration comfort. They want cost-efficient, productive and comfortable construction equipment & VCE stretches every nerve to improve acoustics comfort by minimizing irritating noises.  

Siemens Industry Software really contributed greatly to this result. Simcenter Testlab is a platform of easy-to-use testing solutions, with a great look and feel, which helped us save time’’, says Reza Renderstedt. 

To provide cost-effective, productive and comfortable equipment, Simcenter made significant progress toward whining noise in the cab and discovered the need to: 

  • improve the quality of gears 

  • reduce vibration  

  • gain deeper insight by performing torsional vibration analysis 

  • save time with easy-to-use Simcenter Testlab software 


_______
  


Discover more about Siemens Industry Software culture and technologies