JLR Accelerates Digital Prototyping

Jaguar Land Rover Ltd. is hiking its use of digital prototypes and computer-aided design tools to reduce costs and speed the development process, Automotive News Europe reports. A source tells the online newspaper JLR’s goal is to completely engineer new vehicles without physical prototypes prior to the tooling phase.

The current focus is on using virtual prototypes to test vehicle aerodynamics, fuel economy and crash worthiness, says Wolfgang Epple, who heads the JLR’s research and development efforts. He tells ANE the number of physical prototypes needed for crash testing a new model has been slashed to as few as 10 vehicles—costing several hundred thousand dollars apiece—from as many as 50 in the past.

Epple says computational fluid dynamics (CFD) was used to improve the aerodynamics of the new Jaguar XE midsize sedan without having to conduct traditional wind tunnel testing on a prototype model. The sophisticated program, which allows for quicker and more design variations to be tested, was supplied by Burlington, Mass.-based Exa Corp.

Exa says its CFD tool also can be used for thermal simulation to identify potential cooling problems early in the development process. This reduces the need for expensive downstream engineering and material changes, CEO Stephen Remondi tells ANE.

Meanwhile, U.K.-based Ansible Motion Ltd. says its new Stratiform Motion Platform allows carmakers to refine a vehicle’s driving characteristics without a physical prototype. The company has sold eight of the dynamic simulators to six carmakers—including Ford—and to two Formula One race teams, ANE says. The company now is working to reduce the cost of the simulators, which currently run as high as $3 million each.