CAE (computer aided engineering) driven durability model verification for the automotive structure development

Test/analysis correlation, in the refinement of finite element models to accord with test results of the modeled structure is an emerging field in the today's automotive industries. The accuracy of finite element analysis predictions in the linear and nonlinear specifications becomes more and more important and directly influences the competitiveness of the product. In particular, fatigue or durability is traditionally a test based activity. The drawback with testing is that it can be performed only after the prototype has been built and should design problems surface it would be difficult to redesign, as the design by then is finalized. For this reason, FEA (finite element analysis) based fatigue analysis is increasingly popular and the input loads used for these predictions are derived from test or CAE-predicted virtual prototype. In this point, the well-correlated model is very necessary for the feasible evaluations of structural performances.To perform and process the correlation analysis between durability test and simulation, the FE model updating techniques were developed and implemented into the existing FE software and optimization design. This paper gives a design reference for the durability specifications and model updating techniques.