Study on the Digital Safeguarding of Flexible Components

This study, commissioned by the Daimler AG research department, investigated the state of the art in digital validation of flexible components.

The background of the study is the general endeavor of OEMs in the automotive industry to reduce the number of vehicle hardware prototypes to be created in the future during product development. This effort has an impact on product development as well as on the area of production preparation.

As a consequence, it is necessary to develop new methods for planning and safeguarding product and production. Today's common safeguarding systems (VR, CAD, CAE ...) are able to carry out examinations of the buildability (e.g. assembly examinations, collision tests, etc.) on the basis of the rigid product geometry taken from the design. However, the mapping of non-rigid, i.e. flexible components (e.g. cable harnesses, rubber seals, etc.) is not part of the standard functional range of common tools.

The objective of the study was therefore to investigate the state of the art for the digital safeguarding of flexible components on the basis of literature research, visits to trade fairs and companies, research workshops, and to examine existing tools with regard to their functional scope and expandability.

Fraunhofer ITWM/Linn