GM Powertrain Uses ALGOR FEA to Design Parts

July 10th, 2006

GM Powertrain—a division of General Motors Corporation, the largest automotive manufacturer in the world—uses ALGOR FEA software for the design, analysis and improvement of many parts. Recently, GM used ALGOR software at its Transmission Engineering Center to diagnose the operation of an automotive electrical conductor.

Staff Project Engineer Ed Billings oversaw an experiment to test the conductor, which is part of a proprietary automotive sub-assembly. GM Powertrain engineers modeled the conductor in ALGOR and then ran virtual tests to determine the stresses resulting from forces exerted during a molding process.

Billings frequently uses ALGOR software during the design and analysis of GM parts. When mechanical systems fail and root-cause analyses need to be conducted, Billings relies on ALGOR to assist with understanding the physics behind the failure. Says Billings, “ALGOR helps to discriminate between design flaws and manufacturing flaws. At other times, I have a good feel for expected failure modes and I use ALGOR to make sure I avoid them.” Billings also uses ALGOR when considering new designs or concepts— to determine assembly stresses, functional stresses and changes in seals, bores and gaskets, under given temperature changes.

Billings’ experience with ALGOR FEA software dates nearly to its inception. “My first ALGOR program was loaded on six 1.44-megabyte, floppy disks. Programs were run from the command line and 3-D graphics required special glasses. The improvements made over the years have been phenomenal. As microprocessors, operating systems and memory have increased in performance, the software has kept pace with increased capabilities. Graphical user interfaces have improved, elements and material models have been added and solvers are faster.”

Entry Filed under: Simulation