MYSHANET : Project overview

The methodology this program incorporates could be called parametric virtual prototyping, since it allows the user to perform easily and quickly the simulation of a parametric model the any kind of mechanical system on a parallel environment. The new software tool would be a cost effective design software that may be exploited by small and medium size enterprises without the need of any equipment investments and would exploit the computing power of a network of non dedicated heterogeneous computers. In addition, the use of PC (Pentium, PentiumPro, etc.) may dramatically enlarge the computational power of the design department. Current PCs outperform comfortably the CPU power of the workstations that were available a few years ago. Furthermore, the border between low-cost UNIX workstations (which are the most usual platforms in the design departments of small and medium size enterprises and even in large companies) and a PC based on the Intel's Pentium Pro processor is gradually disappearing. CEFACS and CEIT will play the role of developers within the project. They are research centers, located in France and Spain respectively, that have complementary expertise in the fields of parallel computing and computer-aided simulation of MBS. On one hand, CERFACS has a sound experience in parallel computing and porting codes to parallel environments. On the other hand, CEIT has developed a general purpose code for the simulation of MBS, called COMPAMM, which will be taken as baseline for the MBS simulation package that must be used within this project. The resulting software tool will be validated by shock absorber manufacturers, namely Donerre in France and Marzocchi in Italy, that will perform the design of suspensions, that is a fairly difficult task. It will allow them to faster tune the characteristics of the suspensions on the vehicles they already equipped, but also permit them to attack more easily new markets for their chock absorbers since they will have a tool for performing virtual prototyping. Furthermore, this software tool will replace a considerable part of the real experimental tests that are very expensive and consequently induce a significant cut down on costs. In the last stage of the project a dissemination campaign will be organised to promote the results of the project, whose aims are to promote HPCN simulation technologies in mechanical system manufacturers and identify new users for the resulting software tool.