Siemens Increases CAE Competences to Accelerate and Innovate New Product Developments

In response to the need for shorter and more sophisticated product development processes, Siemens decided to further extend its simulation process expertise and capability. In dedicated simulation pilot projects, Siemens uses LMS SYSNOISE to establish best practices that allow its engineering teams to reliably simulate and efficiently optimize the acoustic performance of new products, at earlier stages in the development. By leveraging the acquired competences and methods in many new product developments, Siemens is confident to significantly increase its capability to create more innovative products faster.

A key requirement to fundamentally increase the speed and quality of product development work is the ability to validate new technologies and integrate them into efficient and workable simulation processes. Extensive scientific competences in combination with enabling simulation solutions allow development teams to gain critical engineering insights early on in the development cycle. Through the execution of pilot projects in its Corporate Technology division, Siemens further extends its scientific and CAE expertise in support of Siemens product development teams distributed worldwide. The offered know-how enables these teams to further streamline their CAE-driven processes and allow them to more effectively tackle common development bottlenecks, regardless whether designing new power turbines, trains, automotive systems, white goods, medical equipment, mobile phones or hearing devices.

One of the pilot projects completed by Corporate Technology focused on acoustic simulation. Barbara Neuhierl of the Corporate Technology division at Siemens in Munchen, Germany, explains, “The specific purpose of this pilot was to validate the detailed capability of acoustic simulation methodologies. For the object to be simulated, we selected a rectangular aluminum frame with a stretched polyurethane membrane. Such a panel is highly suitable because it characterizes a non-linear and high-damping behavior in terms of the sound it radiates in response to specific acoustic membrane excitations. Also beneficial for the project are the panel’s wide operational frequency range and the limited effort that is required to measure its vibrations.”

“To model the frame-membrane assembly, we created a Finite-Element (FE) model in ANSYS, which also included the beam and spring elements representing the frame connection screws. With this model, we were able to calculate the structure’s eigenfrequencies and related eigenmodes in the 200-10,000 Hertz frequency range. Subsequently, we imported this structural model in LMS SYSNOISE using a dedicated interface integrated in the software. In LMS SYSNOISE, we defined a two-dimensional acoustic BEM (Boundary Element Method) mesh shell, which we were able to connect to the imported FE mesh. The advantage of this so-called coupled BEM approach is that it is able to reliably take into account the aero-acoustic interrelations between the frame/membrane and the surrounding air. By combining the modal information retrieved from ANSYS and applying the modal superposition technique, LMS SYSNOISE is able to predict the acoustic radiation characteristics resulting from dynamic excitation forces. To also obtain accurate simulations for higher frequencies, we increased the mesh resolution of the acoustic simulation model, which, as a consequence, requires additional computation power. To proof the validity of the followed virtual acoustic simulation process, we performed a range of modal and acoustic measurements on physical prototypes.”

By effectuating systematic acoustic simulations to evaluate the radiated sound for numerous positions of multiple acoustic actuators on the panel membrane, it was possible to efficiently optimize the quality of the generated sound. Brinkmann, a leading German furniture manufacturer, adopted these conceptual acoustic panels and integrated them as flat speaker systems in the compartment doors for several of its high-end wall cabinet lines.

According to Barbara Neuhierl, virtual simulation not just accelerates the engineering process, but also enables to assess more design options than feasible through prototype testing alone. “By systematically evaluating different possible design alternatives, the targeted acoustic radiation characteristics can be obtained much more efficiently. We believe that, by establishing effective acoustic simulation procedures for use early in the product development cycle, Siemens is in the position to gain additional competitive advantage. In this regard, the pilot showed that simulations performed in LMS SYSNOISE can be efficiently leveraged to enhance the acoustic 
performance of a wide range of Siemens products.”










The acoustic performance of the panel, when it is subjected to different acoustic actuator frequencies, as simulated by LMS SYSNOISE.