Ansys and DYNAmore Accelerate Passive Safety System Development at BMW

Ansys and DYNAmore support the rapid design and development of safe high-performance vehicles at BMW

Stuttgart/Munich, 10. August 2020

Together with its European Channel Partner DYNAmore, Ansys (NASDAQ: ANSS) is supplying the BMW Group with Ansys LS-DYNA for passive safety system development in the next generation of safe, high-performance vehicles. Ansys LS-DYNA empowers users to optimize the design and analysis of passive safety systems - supporting more accurate predictions of vehicle behavior during collisions.

Vehicles must undergo extensive and rigorous crash test scenarios during the design and development phases before they can be proven safe. As vehicles become more complex, the regulations for passing these tests become more stringent. Ansys empowers vehicle manufacturers with simulation tools with a high degree of fidelity to predict vehicle responses to these tests — speeding product and development cycles.

Ansys solutions support virtual crash testing by enabling engineers to optimize structural design for energy absorption during crashes and improve the interplay between different restraint systems, such as seatbelt tensioners and both front and side airbags. Ansys LS-DYNA users can implement a coherent, passive safety concept within a short development timeframe and with minimal use of hardware.

Ansys LS-DYNA is a highly scalable multiphysics solver that simulates the behavior of most vehicle components as well as the complete vehicle within a fully coupled mathematical framework. LS-DYNA is scalable on high-performance parallel computer architectures, boasts an extensive range of material models, and facilitates rapid implementation of development requests.

"The thorough and in-depth analysis of the methods and algorithms in LS-DYNA initiated by the BMW Group was a very demanding project for us," says Ulrich Franz, Managing Director of DYNAmore. "The specific requirements of BMW Group with regards to the technical functionality and the integration into the existing processes and workflows were the main challenges that could only be met with great effort in all respects. DYNAmore works as an ongoing partner in software development, method development, user support and as an expert in materials science."

"Active and passive safety systems improve road safety and save lives by greatly reducing the risk of injury to occupants during unavoidable accidents. Following the successful acquisition of LSTC and integration of LS-DYNA into our product suites, Ansys' capabilities in this area are unmatched," said Shane Emswiler, senior vice president, Ansys. "Our many ongoing collaborations combined with our open-ecosystem and cutting-edge simulation solutions enable us to go one step further in the integration of passive and active security systems to meet the high demands of the automotive industry."