Challenge:
GN ReSound needed to design its more advanced, smaller hearing aids with greater precision in order to mitigate the potential for impact damage to the delicate receiver mechanism when dropped.
Solution:
Realistic simulation with Abaqus FEA software from Dassault Systèmes SIMULIA helped GN ReSound predict the effects of impact on their devices and design their products to withstand the stresses and strains of patient use.
Benefits:
GN ReSound can design the hearing aids of the future with confidence in their quality and robustness, delivering the latest products to their customers in less time.
According to the World Health Organization, more than five percent of the world’s population suffers debilitating hearing loss, measured as a reduction in sensitivity to sound of 40 decibels (dB) or greater. That’s 360 million people unable to participate in a quiet conversation, or enjoy the gentle sounds of a rainy night.
GN ReSound Group designs and manufactures hearing aids with a straightforward mission to continuously develop solutions to help people rediscover hearing, so they can live rich, active and fulfilling lives. The days of bulky boxes and not-so-discreet cords have been replaced by sleek digital devices that fit in the ear or directly behind it.
Designing smaller, smarter hearing-aid devices requires advanced product engineering and manufacturing techniques to fit sophisticated electronics into a tiny package. Furthermore designers must consider the environmental conditions that can affect a hearing aid such as heat and moisture, vibration, and impact damage. Testing against these failure modes is just one of the reasons why GN ReSound turned to Abaqus Unified FEA from SIMULIA, the Dassault Systèmes brand for realistic simulation.
Watch this interview with Morten Sondergaard¹, Senior Acoustic Engineer at GN Resound
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