Up-front CFD provides competitive advantage
A
CD-adapco product story
Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team
May 15, 2006
By reducing the development time to just a few days from a year, Viasys Healthcare has managed to save several hundred thousand dollars in development costs alone.
CD Adapco partner Viasys Healthcare has delivered huge savings in product development by using CD Adapco's up-front CFD tool Star-Works.
By using Star-Works early in its design cycle Viasys has been able to reduce the timescale for the initial design phase of a new ventilator from a year to just three days, saving several hundred thousand dollars in development cost.
Viasys pneumatic specialist Steve Han and his colleagues were responsible for the redesign of an infant CPAP ventilator device.
Continuous positive airway pressure (or CPAP) is a method of respiratory ventilation used in the treatment of apnea, a condition in which a patient's natural external breathing suddenly stops due to a self imposed (but involuntary) obstruction to their airway.
The consequences of apnea in small infants are potentially lethal - any breathing interruption over 20 seconds has the potential to cause serious damage or even death.
Using Star-Works, Viasys was rapidly able to evaluate multiple design changes using desktop computers.
All of the analyses were performed within the SolidWorks environment.
As all the CFD functionality is accessible through additional menus in the SolidWorks GUI, the team was able to begin using Star-Works for serious design analysis within a few hours of first installing.
"The whole project took about three days, with about a day to get familiar with the software", says Han.
"Within three days Star-Works had paid for itself".
The improvements were both immediate and impressive.
"It was difficult to believe at first", says Han, "almost every design change resulted in a significant improvement".
"Incredibly, within three days we had reduced the supply pressure required to the unit by 48%".
This significant reduction in supply pressure has a number of positive ramifications, not least of which is a significant increase in the salability of the product.
"Saving 48% of the supply pressure allowed us to use the CPAP unit with the majority of our patient ventilators, rather than just two 'critical care' ventilators as had been the case previously", says Han.
"The reduction in cost achieved in doing this alone, has the potential to treble sales of the product".
By reducing the development time to just a few days from a year, Viasys Healthcare has managed to save several hundred thousand dollars in development costs alone.
The introduction of CFD simulation into its design process enabled Viasys to deliver a more patient friendly product and steal a critical advantage over its competitors by radically reducing its time to market.
Not what you're looking for? Search the site.
Articles by product category
- Consultancy and Services (903)
- Machine Building (4,517)
-
Engineering Design Software (6,179)
- Engineering Design Software (12)
- 2D CAD software (200)
- 3D CAD software (1,157)
- FEA and structural analysis software (369)
- Fluid, thermal, noise, vibration software (334)
- Simulation, modelling, validation software (914)
- Rendering, visualisation, styling software (196)
- Materials design and moulding design software (151)
- Process, instrumentation, automation software (258)
- Electrical design software (164)
- Publishing and documentation software (229)
- Maths, charting, statistics, QA software (317)
- Data, document management software (310)
- CAM, CNC, production management software (568)
- File conversion software, data capture (351)
- PLM and collaboration software (649)
-
Drives, Motors and Controls (3,361)
- Drives, Motors and Controls (1)
- Precision Motors and Gears (411)
- Industrial Drives/Controls (1,276)
- Linear Drives and Motors (114)
- Industrial Motors (497)
- Stepper and Servo Drives, Motors, Controls (1,060)
- Small Mechanical Components, Joining, Tools (1,975)
-
Control and Instrumentation (5,028)
- Plantwide control (1,324)
- Plant- and Machine-Wide Communications (1,174)
- Smaller-Sized PLCs (387)
- CNC and Motion Controllers (184)
- Mid-range and Large PLCs (201)
- Power Supplies, Uninterruptible Power (562)
- HMIs/Operator Interfaces (294)
- Logic Controllers, Timers and Relays (96)
- Cabling, Conduit, Signal Conditioning (806)
-
Monitoring, Measurement and Quality (5,459)
- Monitoring, Measurement and Quality (1)
- Data acquisition Software and Communications (494)
- Data Acquisition Hardware and PC I/O Boards (472)
- Electrical and Electronic Testing, PAT Equipment (630)
- Form/co-ordinate, optical, vision instruments (703)
- Gauges, Indicators and Instruments (440)
- Data loggers (422)
- Materials testing equipment (421)
- Telecomms/network test equipment, software etc (154)
- Testing and Calibration Services and Information (500)
- Testing, analysing and monitoring equipment (1,222)
-
Electrical and Electronic Equipment Design (4,160)
- Batteries, chargers and circuit protection (555)
- Connectors, Terminals, Busbars, Slip Rings (679)
- Enclosures and Equipment Cooling Fans (709)
- Knobs, Handles and Enclosure Hardware (420)
- PCs and Embedded Systems (798)
- Electrical and Electronic Subassemblies (369)
- Electrical and Electronic Components (630)
-
Materials and Processing (2,963)
- Materials and Processing (5)
- Materials and components (2,215)
- Rapid Prototyping (458)
- Materials processing and testing (285)
-
Engineering Industry News, Resources (6,093)
- Engineering Industry News, Resources (4)
- Engineering Business News, Views (388)
- Engineering Exhibitions, Events (562)
- Engineering Conferences (425)
- Engineering Seminars (400)
- Engineering Industry Developments, Awards (633)
- Engineering Guides, Newsletters (349)
- Engineering Recruitment, Employment (219)
- Engineering Training Courses (433)
- Engineering Education, Resources, Standards (838)
- Engineering Industry Reports, Surveys (597)
- Electronic Resources for Engineers (278)
- Health and Safety Legislation (402)
- Health and Safety Strategy, Risk Assessment (113)
- Health and Safety Consultancy, Software (175)
- Health and Safety Events, Training, News (277)
-
Powertrain Design (3,598)
- Powertrain Design (2)
- Bearings (939)
- Chains and belts (326)
- Gears, brakes, couplings and engines (1,441)
- Hydraulic Components (471)
- Lubricants (418)
-
Capital Equipment (3,387)
- Capital Equipment (1)
- Manufacturing Machinery and Plant Equipment (468)
- Production line blowers and fans (62)
- Compressors and Air Treatment (510)
- Electronics Manufacturing, Tools, Instruments (192)
- Electrical hardware (131)
- Machinery and Production Equipment (1,093)
- Robotics, Handling and Storage (930)
-
Sensors (7,080)
- Sensors (8)
- Accelerometers and Vibration Sensors (427)
- Loadcells, Force Sensors, Torque Sensors (699)
- Pressure sensors (621)
- Flowmeters and Flow Sensors (618)
- Level Sensors and Leak Detectors (527)
- Linear Position Sensors (399)
- Rotary Position, Tilt and Angular Sensors (546)
- Proximity Sensors (700)
- Gas, Chemical, Radiation, Magnetic Sensors (284)
- Humidity and Environmental Sensors (152)
- Temperature sensors (612)
- Vision and Colour Sensors (1,384)
- Barcode Sensors (103)
- Valves, Pumps, Process Hardware (3,623)
