Fiat standardises on virtual prototyping

All Fiat companies – Alfa Romeo, Ferrari, Maserati, the Fiat Research Centre and COMAU, IVECO and Case New Holland, as well as Irisbus, ELASIS and Magneti Marelli Sospension, can now get their CAD/CAM design and testing simulation systems from MSC.Software, following a world-wide agreement. Fiat group currently uses over 200 MSC.Software analysis licenses, including MSC.Nastran, MSC.Patran, MSC.Marc, MSC.Dytran and the MSC.Adams virtual prototyping product suite. MSC.Adams is used particularly for subsystem modelling, chassis, brake and engine and NVH (noise, vibration, harshness); crash testing is being done with MSC.virtualInsight and MSC.Nastran; and structural analysis is being performed on MSC.Nastran and MSC.Marc. MSC is also known to be working with parts of the group on automotive research and development projects using high performance computing and Linux technology. There are no figures for business value, savings or performance, but since the firm now provides Fiat’s global standard analysis toolset across what are some of the most respected design and testing facilities in the world, notably Ferrari, Formula 1 and Alfa Romeo, you can bet they’re good. “[These] products allow us to test and optimise designs in ways that were not possible before,” says Mr Vio, ICT Fiat Group. It’s a matter of fact assessment of what we all know is part of the transformation that modern CAD/CAM and associated analysis tools used properly can make. “We look forward to expanding our use of [the] products and services in order to build better products and gain a significant advantage over our competitors,” he adds.