automotive sector report
Toolmaker’s input was critical to Harman Becker’s development of a mass
production manufacturing process for high quality in-car speaker systems
Hitting the right notes
HARMAN/Becker, the automotive division of Harman
International, sets the engineering standard for in-car
sound systems. When it needed a partner to develop the
tooling for a new in-car speaker system it turned to FSG
Tool & Die. Harman Becker was intent on developing a
new in-car sound concept which would offer surroundsound
sensation, spatial sound and acoustic clarity across
the frequency range. To achieve these objectives
aluminium cone speakers would provide the optimum
solution - their superior sound quality has been proven in
top-of-the-range home hi-fi systems for many years.
However, up to that time production of such speakers had
been too expensive for the automotive market, and there
was no worldwide high-volume production.
The challenge therefore was to develop a mass
production manufacturing process, at a competitive price,
to create a product appealing to the top-end of the
automotive market. To achieve these ends, close cooperation
would be needed by everyone in the design cycle,
including suppliers with expertise in rubber
compounding, adhesives, and aluminium press tooling.
The Harman team was looking for several key features
in partner companies, including shared culture and values,
mutual respect, respect of confidentiality and commitment
to the project - and FSG Tool & Die fitted the bill. The
challenge for the toolmaker was to develop a tooling
methodology which could cope with very thin section
components and assemblies in a variety of materials, with
complex 3D component designs. The final design would
need to be suitable for high volume production at high
quality, and with outstanding repeatability - and all this to
be achieved at a competitive cost and in a competitive timeframe.
The development of the design required the creation of
multiple prototypes to create components that would pass
the critical sound test. Simulation software modelled the
loudspeaker parameters to predict the small signal and
large signal behaviour and FEA was used to reduce design
time from initial concept to an off-tool production-level
part. The spider and cone-surround components, which
were designed separately to meet the specification defined
by the loudspeaker engineer, went through several design
iterations to optimise their acoustic performance.
www.fsgtoolanddie.co.uk
Dassault Systèmes, specialist in 3D and Product Lifecycle Management solutions, has extended its Toyota Motorsport GmbH
partnership to include realistic simulation for virtual car testing and a 3D real-time development hub with DS's end-to-end PLM solutions.
Toyota F1 gets real
TOYOTA Motorsport’s Formula 1 team practices
Toyota’s Kaizen philosophy of continuous
improvement by always pushing the limits of
technical innovation. This is where Dassault
Systèmes plays a major role.Toyota Motorsport’s
mission is to provide its Formula 1 racing team
Panasonic Toyota Racing, with the fastest car
possible, respecting the tight, two-week race
schedule. One of its biggest challenges is to
quickly adapt car design to upcoming racing
conditions, such as circuit configurations, driver
racing style, and weather conditions, as well as to
comply with FIA regulations.
‘We view all partnerships, and in particular the
one we have with Dassault Systèmes, as a win-win
opportunity. Dassault Systèmes offers us car
development solutions that give us the cuttingedge
performance that is required in Formula 1,’
says John Howett, president of Toyota Motorsport.
‘At the same time, we like to think we’re pushing
Dassault Systèmes’ technology to new limits
because of the ultimate challenge of material and
performance that Formula 1 demands.’
The partnership began in 2004, as Toyota
Motorsport deployed DS’s CATIA for virtual design
and ENOVIA for product data management and
collaboration to build its Formula 1 development
hub. Today this hub uses 3D as the common
project language to allow anyone to quickly access
and intuitively understand design and product
information. For instance, every person on the
shop floor and in the assembly workshop uses the
development hub to see the parts they have to
produce. The track mechanics use DS’s digital
mock-up (DMU) applications to understand the car
components’ assembly requirements. Toyota
Motorsport’s marketing department uses
photorealistic renderings to show sponsors how
their logos will look in front of millions of TV
viewers. All of these activities have improved the
speed and accuracy of the team allowing them to
make continuous improvements.
To further cut vehicle development time, Toyota
Motorsport started using DS’s realistic simulation
products from SIMULIA for virtual testing. Toyota
Motorsport’s chassis department uses Abaqus FEA
to do important structural calculations in the early
stages of car development. ‘The software’s speed
and accuracy for nonlinear analysis let us fine tune
the chassis and optimise vehicle performance very
quickly. This is critical since every two weeks we
face a different track with different characteristics
60 MWP march 2008
Top of the range -
Harman Becker’s incar
sound systems
that impact performance,’ adds Markus Schwarze,
manager of IT technical applications, Toyota
Motorsport. These tools are also used in the
engine department enabling Toyota Motorsport to
test and perfect models before actual production
and ultimately make quicker racecars
Dassault Systèmes has been working with
major automotive industry companies for over 20
years and provides a full range of PLM solutions
to help them compete. As a world leader in 3D
and Product Lifecycle Management solutions,
Dassault Systèmes serves over 100,000
customers in 80 countries. A pioneer in the 3D
software market since 1981, Dassault Systèmes
develops and markets PLM application software
and services that support industrial processes and
provide a 3D vision of the entire lifecycle of
products from conception to maintenance to
recycling. The Dassault Systèmes portfolio
consists of CATIA for designing the virtual
product; SolidWorks for 3D mechanical design;
DELMIA for virtual production; SIMULIA for
virtual testing; ENOVIA for global collaborative
lifecycle management; and 3DVIA for online 3D
lifelike experiences.
www.3ds.com
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