Success Story
Overcoming the Challenges of
Key Highlights
Industry
Automotive
Challenge
Composite material modeling for a
innovative new vehicle platform
Altair Solution
Extensive use of simulation technology
to understand the behavior of the
material under crash loads
Benefits
•Accurate simulation of composites
•Lighter, fuel efficient vehicles
Composite Design through Simulation
Composite materials have been used
in the aerospace industry for many
years due to their lightweight and high
performance characteristics, but the issue
of product weight is not limited to aircraft.
Automotive manufacturers are increasingly
viewing the material as a method of
minimizing mass and maximizing fuel
economy.
The material is not without its design
challenges. Composite ply layer stacking
order and fiber direction creates a huge
number of design variables to take into
account when simulating complex events
such as crash. Furthermore, the inherent
high cost of the material can lead many to
see composites as the reserve of high-end
sports vehicles.
Keywords: Vehicle Development, Composite Materials
UK based automotive design company,
Gordon Murray Design (GMD) believes
that composite materials can play a much
larger role in the manufacture of vehicles
and to prove its case, the company has
developed 'iStream', an efficient process for
manufacturing low and high volume cars
from lightweight mixed materials.
The iStream process seeks to reduce
all costs associated with developing a
vehicle, from factory development and
assembly to tooling design and end of life.
Whereas the traditional approach to vehicle
manufacturing sees stamped steels used for
the body structure, GMD's innovative iStream
manufacturing process uses lightweight
composite panels bonded to a tubular
metallic frame.
“Working directly with the Altair ProductDesign team and how they integrate
and interact with Altair’s software division and all the other components of
the organization has been invaluable to us."

Simon Maher, Senior Stress & Materials Engineer, Gordon Murray Design

iStream is being developed as an intellectual
property for GMD which it intends to license
out to companies wishing to diversify into
the car market. However, in order to make
iStream successful, GMD must prove that
a vehicle which relies on composite panels
for much of its structural integrity can meet
strict performance targets. To do this, GMD
has developed a number of demonstrator
vehicles including the T.25 and T.27 that
utilize the iStream philosophy.
Selecting an Experienced
Simulation Development Partner
GMD is a small, focused and highly talented
company with a huge amount of vehicle
engineering pedigree and experience.
The iStream project requires a deep
understanding of the behavior of composite
material and how it can be accurately interaction between the two businesses as
modeled to prove its suitability as a a crucial differentiating factor over other
structural component. product development companies.
GMD is an established user of Altair's Streamlined Model Build
HyperWorks suite of simulation technologies. Altair ProductDesign was asked to improve
When the company was looking for an the virtual modeling of the composite
external partner with simulation expertise, materials used in iStream to achieve
Altair ProductDesign, was correlation with physical
Altair ProductDesign was
the natural choice. Altair test results.
asked to improve the virtual
is able to link its software
modeling of the composite
development business The first task was to build
materials to achieve
with its engineering accurate material models
correlation with physical
services, allowing Altair for the iStream sandwich
test results
ProductDesign to apply panels. The panels are
experiences gained during projects to considerably lighter than metal alternatives
directly influence the functionality and while maintaining strength and stiffness as
accuracy of the software suite. This was a well as being inexpensive to maintain and
key decision factor for GMD who saw the avoid many corrosion issues.

The T.25 Demonstrator Vehicle T.27 Utilizes iSteam to Create a

Showing the iStream Frame Lightweight Electric Drive Vehicle
 About Gordon Murray Design

Gordon Murray Design was established

in 2007 in the UK to develop an
innovative and disruptive automotive
manufacturing technology trademarked
iStream, the design and prototyping
of the T.25 City Car was central to the Comparing Virtual Crash Model with Physical Test of the
validation and development of iStream. iStream based T.32 Nose Cone

To effectively model the structure requires Accelerating the analysis process enables
detailed modeling of the glass fiber GMD to rapidly investigate more design
laminates, soft core and the structural variations and achieve the optimal design
adhesive used to bond the panels to the configuration in a shorter timescale.
frame. GMD tasked Altair ProductDesign
with creating a highly tuneable CAE model Defining Material Behavior
of an iStream chassis in order to appraise Understanding the behavior of the
the load paths in frontal and side dynamic composite materials is a crucial step in the
impacts. Using Altair's HyperWorks suite, development cycle as the level of knowledge
Altair ProductDesign suggested a finite within the automotive industry is not as
element modeling method which utilized 1D mature as with metallics.
beam and shell elements Altair ProductDesign will
for different parts of the continue to work closely Once a level of confidence
vehicle structure with much with GMD and develop the in the material behavior
of the model creation iStream structure to improve at a component level is
work conducted by Altair's crash performance achieved, the material
offshore capability to speed simulation will move
up this time consuming phase. beyond discrete components and onto a
system characterization level. Here, sub
This method allowed the analysis stage to and full systems are analyzed, allowing the
directly inform the design stage through the engineers to view the interaction of each
creation of representative virtual models part on the surrounding components during
of the composite material developed much loading.
earlier than in a standard development
process. Design direction could be quickly Altair ProductDesign and GMD will carry
explored, manipulated and assessed but out a range of virtual simulation tests using
without creating compute intensive analyses. HyperWorks' RADIOSS solver to define
the material's behavior under various
loading conditions including crash. The
virtual testing process is performed with
an understanding of the physical test
requirements to ensure that results can be
effectively correlated without the need to
repeat tests unnecessarily.
Conclusion: Developing Innovative
Vehicles with Added Confidence
As the analysis and correlation to physical
test stages of the project become finalized,
Altair ProductDesign will continue to
work with GMD and develop the iStream
structure to improve crash performance.
The use of advanced materials require
innovative methods of design and validation
to ensure that they perform at the highest
levels without compromise to safety. The
combination of simulation expertise from
Altair ProductDesign and the vehicle
development and composite expertise of
GMD has been a highly effective partnership
that will help to prove the value of the
innovative iStream process.
Find out more about Gordon Murray Design:
www.gordonmurraydesign.com
Find out more about Altair ProductDesign:
www.altairproductdesign.com
 About Altair
Altair empowers client innovation and decision-making through technology
that optimizes the analysis, management and visualization of business
and engineering information. Privately held with more than 1,800
employees, Altair has offices throughout North America, South America,
Europe and Asia/Pacific. With a 25-year-plus track record for innovative
product design and development, advanced engineering software and
grid computing technologies, Altair has more than 3,500 corporate clients
representing the automotive, aerospace, government and defense, and
consumer products verticals. Altair also has a growing client presence in
Visit the Altair ProductDesign library of the life sciences, financial services and energy markets.

Success Stories
at www.altairproductdesign.com

Altair ProductDesign is a global, multi-disciplinary product development

consultancy of more than 700 designers, engineers, scientists, and
creative thinkers. As a wholly owned subsidiary of Altair Engineering Inc.,
this organization is best known for its market leadership in combining its
engineering expertise with computer aided engineering (CAE) technology
to deliver innovation and automate processes. Altair ProductDesign
firmly advocates a user-centered, team-based design approach, and
utilizes proprietary simulation and optimization technologies (such as
Altair HyperWorks) to help clients bring innovative, profitable products to
market on a tighter, more efficient time-scale.

www.altairproductdesign.com

HyperWorks is an enterprise simulation solution for rapid design

exploration and decision-making. As one of the most comprehensive,
open-architecture CAE solutions in the industry, HyperWorks includes
best-in-class modeling, analysis, visualization and data management
solutions for linear, nonlinear, structural optimization, fluid-structure
interaction, and multi-body dynamics applications.

www.altairhyperworks.com

Altair Engineering, Inc., World Headquarters: 1820 E. Big Beaver Rd., Troy, MI 48083-2031 USA
Phone: +1.248.614.2400 • Fax: +1.248.614.2411 • www.altair.com • info@altair.com

Altair®, HyperWorks®, RADIOSS™, HyperMesh®, BatchMesher™, HyperView®, HyperCrash™, HyperGraph®, HyperGraph®3D, HyperView Player®, OptiStruct®, HyperStudy®,
HyperStudy®DSS, MotionView®, MotionSolve™, Altair Data Manager™, HyperWorks Process Manager™, HyperForm®, HyperXtrude®, GridWorks™,
PBS Professional®, and e-Compute™ are trademarks of Altair Engineering, Inc. All other trademarks or servicemarks are the property of their respective owners.