Ansys software helps Ferrari improve comfort

Italian car manufacturer Ferrari is using software from Ansys to optimise automobile design and performance.

Ferrari is using software from Ansys to predict thermal comfort in a vehicle's interior.

In order to assess comfort qualitatively and quantitatively, the car manufacturer worked with Pisa University in Italy to define thermal comfort indices and to evaluate the general aspects of thermal comfort.

Since an experimental approach was not practical, the investigating engineering team used fluid dynamics software from Ansys to perform the calculations.

According to Giovanni Lombardi, professor of aeroplane aerodynamics and vehicle aerodynamics at Pisa University, the Ansys engineering simulation software rendered accurate and reliable results.

The research team based its resulting 'global thermal comfort index' on several local indices: the thermal equilibrium of the human body, discomfort caused by drafts and horizontal and vertical temperature gradients.

Various factors were studied, including the car's velocity and materials (leather, glass and aluminium) as well as sensitivity to warming or cooling on various body sites (leg, arm and face, covered with clothing or not), solar irradiance, vehicle interior size and air flow.

'The advantage of simulation-driven product development is that no complex physical models or testing configurations are required and the design can be tested, optimised and, if necessary, modified virtually at an early stage in the development process,' said Jim Cashman, president and chief executive of Ansys.

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