Future perspectives on automotive CAE

Computer Aided Engineering (CAE) is an integral part of today’s automotive design process. Very often OEM’s rely solely on software vendors to provide appropriate solutions. On the other hand, some companies still use in-house developed software for specific applications. It is, however, a combination of these two approaches that provides OEM’s with optimal leading edge software technology. This paper will present an overview of several relevant automotive CAE-methods that will illustrate this approach. Four important automotive software areas will be considered: vehicle CFD applications, aeroacoustics, vehicle crash analysis and occupant / pedestrian safety. The first two topics, CFD and aeroacoustics, are extensive subject areas in themselves, but will be dealt with by considering two specific topics, namely, numerical aerodynamic / flow optimization and aeroacoustic sound propagation into vehicle cabins, respectively. A more detailed focus will be placed on the two safety application areas: vehicle crash analysis and occupant safety using Human Body Models.