The most important means of large quantity intercontinental goods transportation today is the cargo tanker. In order for the ship to successfully make its journey through the waves from one destination to another, it needs to be propelled. This function is carried out by the engine and the crankshaft.
The crankshaft is a mechanical part (in fact, an old invention of the Roman Empire), which converts reciprocating motion into rotational motion (for the propeller)—without this the ship would not move. Many other vehicles rely on the crankshaft to function properly, including motor cars, heavy duty construction machines, motorcycles, locomotives, and power generators.
We asked Anders Winkler, Senior Technical Specialist with SIMULIA who developed this workflow, to provide answers to some common questions.
Q. Why does this workflow need to be analyzed?
A. In some cases, the manufacturer can show customers, through testing, that the design is tough and durable. In other instances, the design needs to pass a rigorous examination according to standardized requirements. Such processes are referred to by the terms homologation, certification and classification.
At this stage of the process (for the marine industry) classification societies such as DNV GL, ABS and NK come into play. All classification societies are gathered under the umbrella of the IACS (International Association of Classification Societies), which issue the regulations that the classification societies use. In order to put the workflow in perspective, we need to ask three questions:
- Who Uses UR M53? Engine manufacturers in shipbuilding, locomotives and power generation. Company examples include: Wärtsilä, MAN Diesel & Turbo, GE, Cummins, and Winterthur Gas & Diesel.
- What is IACS UR M53? The IACS UR M53 stands for IACS Unified Regulation Machinery Installations 53. The title of this regulation is: Calculation of Crankshafts for Internal Combustion Engines.
- Why is the UR M53 so important? Without an official sign-off by a classification society according to the M53, the crankshaft cannot be taken into service, and as a consequence, the hull of the ship will never touch the water.
The above type of process is called a classical design track (what the engine manufacturer needs and wants today). Basic crankshaft design information is delivered to Isight from a spreadsheet package. The Isight workflow evaluates the UR M53 acceptability criterion and reports the result back to the spreadsheet document (design pass or fail).
This process takes less than a minute. Extended token licensing applies (QAX + QXT). With this process the key simulation goal is to quickly obtain an answer to the question: Will the design achieve classification approval according to UR M53?
Q. Describe the workflow.
A. In modern engineering design, numerical simulations are used in the majority of both dimensioning and analysis of parts and assemblies. To respond to this development, as well as to facilitate the integration of automated data gathering and provision of verification in the modern engineering office, the information provided by today’s tools can be utilized. Such a solution can be called an innovation design track (preparing for the future of crankshaft design).
Once again, Isight is utilized as the process automation tool of choice. Isight collects CAD data from the crankshaft design, transfers it to the aforementioned spreadsheets, automatically updates a number of finite element models, and conducts a series of different simulations. The data obtained is combined, automatically evaluated, and the results are documented. This holistic approach offers the designer the possibility to quickly and reliably assess, at any time, whether a design series meets the criteria for authorization in accordance with the M53 guidelines or not. With this process the key simulation goal is to achieve classification approval and to start innovating using realistic simulation within the scope proposed by CIMAC WG4 in the most recent amendment put forward to the IACS.
A further important aspect to consider is that of change. Changes to standards take a long time to implement—some more than a decade—and classification rules are no exception. CIMAC Workgroup 4 works to facilitate and propose updates to classification rules for crankshaft designs aligned with state-of-the-art methodologies.
This work provides new opportunities for the deployment of simulation technologies to greatly accelerate classification approval. In addition, updates to the UR M53 will enable more creative and progressive design solutions to be investigated. For Dassault Systèmes and SIMULIA, this means having a capable solution/workflow at hand since the industry is moving towards more acceptance of simulation verses conservative analytical design techniques.
Q. Which SIMULIA solutions (products, roles, etc.) did you use?
A. For the classical design track we used Isight. For the innovation design track we used Abaqus, Isight, fe-safe, and Tosca.
Q. What were the advantages of using simulation (how does it power innovation)?
A. The advantages of using simulation were:
- Rapid feedback on design concepts pertaining to classification.
- Enablement of creative and progressive design solutions.
- Simulation-powered innovation to face tomorrow’s challenges.
- Reliable and realistic cost and resource savings.
- Accelerated classification approval.
Q. Is there anything else we should know about this workflow?
A. This workflow was featured in a conference paper at ICENS 2016, for which we received an outstanding paper award.
The classical track of the workflow is being converted into a 3DEXPERIENCE solution by the SIMULIA 3DEXPERIENCE for Analysts Initiatives team with help from the Power of the Portfolio crankshaft workflow team.
See this workflow in action!
Watch the Crankshaft Analysis video:
