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.
Compared to other FEA programs, Billings enjoys the portability and convenience of ALGOR. “I spend more time using ALGOR than other FEA programs because it is efficient enough to be loaded on my laptop while other packages are only loaded on workstations. Also, in several instances, ALGOR has been able to give a solution where other packages could not converge.” Generally working on a laptop with limited memory and processing power, he occasionally needs to stop an analysis so that he can do something else on the computer. “I particularly like having the ability to stop, pause and restart analyses. I also like the ability to watch the results as an analysis is running. That has saved time because I can see the effects of something gone wrong early enough to make adjustments and restart the analysis.”
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. Over the years, ALGOR has improved tremendously.”
With rapid changes in the automotive industry, GM must also keep pace. As Billings states, “We must either innovate or quickly use what’s been successful in the past. ALGOR helps us in both areas—to deliver the right product at the right time and for the right price.” GM Powertrain plans to continue using ALGOR software for future projects and Billings looks forward to the additional capabilities that ALGOR promises.
About GM Powertrain
General Motors Corporation has been the global industry sales leader since 1931. Founded in 1908, GM employs about 325,000 people around the world. It has manufacturing operations in 32 countries and its vehicles are sold in 200 countries. In 2004, GM sold nearly 9 million cars and trucks globally, up 4 percent and the second-highest total in the company’s history. GM’s global headquarters are at the GM Renaissance Center in Detroit.
