AVL Furthers Collaboration with Altair

AVL List GmbH has finally joined the Altair Partner Alliance (APA) Online Software Portal, with the addition of AVL EXCITE™ Acoustics and AVL FIRE™ M to APA’s quickly expanding portfolio of third-party technology in the domains of multiphysics, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and sound radiation calculation.

Commenting on AVL’s further collaboration with Altair, Dr. Gotthard Rainer from AVL, Vice President Advanced Simulation Technologies, said that their tools provide valuable capabilities complementing what Altair is supplying to their customers. He added that bringing these products together would help their mutual users attain better solutions more efficiently.

Applying the Wave Based Technique (WBT), EXCITE™ Acoustics calculates sound radiation emitted in free fields from vibrating structures, such as power units and engines in automobiles. Since the WBT acoustic models are smaller than standard models needed for element-based methods, this paves the way for accurate results and high computational efficiency.

The acoustic meshes generated in EXCITE™ Acoustics are not frequency-dependent, enabling users to use one model to attain precise results for the entire frequency range, and to employ unmodified finite element (FE) mesh to produce the acoustic models with a fully automated process makes for short analysis lead times and a more efficient process overall.

Harold Thomas, Vice President of Business Development at Altair, said that they are extremely thrilled about the collaboration with AVL because it is very much a natural evolution. He noted that AVL EXCITE™ Acoustics and AVL FIRE™ M complement HyperWorks products by bringing new capability to the suite in NVH and multiphysics domains. Thomas explained that for instance, the element solver OptiStruct has the capability to directly prepare the AVL EXCITE™ Acoustics input data file, so making both products available on the same license would only enhance the experience of their end users.

FIRE™ M is highly versatile, multi-domain simulation software which makes it possible to simultaneously compute non-reacting single phase flows, solid temperatures and heat transfer in systems without moving boundaries. The software can take models of all geometrical intricacy levels and carry out a fast and solid multiphysics analysis that even non-CFD expert users can manage.

EXCITE™ Acoustics and FIRE™ M are highly suitable for application in the automotive sector, with expertise in powertrain and engine development.