Introduction
In the traditional engineering era, the only way to verify a product’s integrity was through the “build and break” cycle: creating expensive physical prototypes and testing them until they failed. This approach was slow, costly, and limited by the number of physical variables one could realistically replicate.
Today, Virtual Testing and Simulation have transformed this paradigm. Within a modern Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) framework, simulation is no longer a final check, but a continuous activity that starts at the conceptual phase. By creating a high-fidelity digital representation of a product and subjecting it to virtual stressors—gravity, extreme heat, fluid pressure, or electromagnetic interference—engineers can predict performance with incredible accuracy. Virtual testing allows organizations to explore “what-if” scenarios that would be impossible, dangerous, or too expensive to perform in the physical world.
Core Technologies in Virtual Testing
Virtual testing relies on advanced Computer-Aided Engineering (CAE) tools that integrate directly with the PLM’s geometry and material data:
1. Finite Element Analysis (FEA)
Used to predict how a product reacts to real-world forces, vibration, heat, and other physical effects. FEA breaks down a complex object into millions of small elements (“finite elements”) to calculate stress and displacement.
2. Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD)
Essential for aerospace, automotive, and electronics, CFD simulates the behavior of gases and liquids. It is used to optimize aerodynamics, cooling systems, and fuel efficiency without the need for a wind tunnel in the early stages.
3. Multi-Body Dynamics (MBD)
Focuses on the motion of complex assemblies. It helps engineers understand how moving parts interact over time, ensuring that mechanisms don’t clash or wear out prematurely.
The Strategic Role of Simulation-Driven Design
Integrating simulation early in the PLM cycle (often called “Shift-Left” testing) provides a massive competitive advantage:
- Reduction of Physical Prototypes: Companies can eliminate 50% to 70% of physical prototyping rounds, saving millions in material and lab costs.
- Optimization, Not Just Verification: Instead of just checking if a part breaks, simulation allows engineers to “lightweight” components—removing material where stress is low to reduce weight and cost.
- Exploring the Edge Cases: Virtual testing allows for “Corner Case” analysis—testing a product at the absolute limits of its operating environment (e.g., a medical device at 50°C and 95% humidity) with zero physical risk.
From Simulation to the Digital Twin
Virtual testing is the foundation upon which the Digital Twin is built. While a simulation might be a one-time study of a design, the Digital Twin uses these simulation models in real-time, fed by IIoT data.
- Virtual Test: “Will this wing design hold 200% load?”
- Digital Twin: “Based on the sensor data from flight 402, this specific wing has consumed 15% of its structural life.”
How Visure Solutions Anchors Virtual Testing in the PLM Guide
For virtual testing to be valid, it must be linked to the Requirements. A simulation result is meaningless unless it proves a specific engineering target. Visure Requirements ALM Platform ensures this connection is seamless:
- Requirement-Simulation Traceability: Visure allows you to link a specific simulation report (from tools like Ansys, Siemens, or Dassault) directly to the requirement it validates. This provides an instant “Compliance Status.”
- Parameter Management: Capture the technical constraints and parameters in Visure and feed them into the simulation environment, ensuring that the virtual test is always aligned with the latest design baseline.
- Automated V&V Matrices: Visure automatically updates your Verification & Validation (V&V) matrix when a simulation task is completed, showing which requirements have been “Virtually Verified.”
- Change Impact Analysis: If a requirement changes (e.g., the target weight of a component decreases), Visure’s “Suspect Link” feature alerts the simulation team that their previous virtual tests are no longer valid and must be re-run.
Conclusion
Virtual Testing and Simulation are the ultimate tools for managing the complexity and risk of modern engineering. By moving the majority of validation into the digital realm, companies can innovate faster, produce higher-quality products, and ensure absolute safety in regulated industries.
However, simulation is only as good as the data and requirements behind it. By using a platform like Visure to manage the traceability between what the product must do and how it actually performs in a virtual environment, organizations create a robust “Source of Truth.” The future of engineering belongs to those who can master the virtual world to perfect the physical one.
Check out the 14-day free trial at Visure and experience how AI-driven change control can help you manage changes faster, safer, and with full audit readiness.
