Computer Aided Design

Significant progress in computer technology led to high-performance engineering analysis tools. These tools can now also be used to solve the most complex of problems.

This means that even the smallest elements can be modelled in great detail. It is a completely new way of looking at things: We are leaving the world of flat two-dimensional drawings or the 3D CAD model behind. The simulations will primarily be used to test designs in order to gain a better understanding of the response and behaviour of materials which are invisible to the human eye. The aim of these simulations is to achieve a comprehensive, virtual reality experience which the user can actually absorb and use. This is the best way of recording the internal workings of the material.

A significant advantage for use in medicine is that the hidden world of the human body becomes tangible.

The technology can significantly enlarge what is small and concealed for surgeons, doctors and pharmaceutical companies and make it interactive. The main purpose and benefit are developing the human body and restoring the main body systems for medical education and training purposes. It will soon be possible to create realistic models and simulations of the main organs in the body. The models are used to train surgeons and to develop new surgical procedures. This was already the case with the most successful “Living Heart Project” so far by developers of Dassault Systèmes – the creator of the Simulia brand for engineering software technology.

Every medical student knows the challenges of learning about the finer details of the human anatomy. The new world of the lively, dynamic simulation and development model in interactive, “holographic” 3D rooms makes it possible to view a beating heart from different angles and to dissect parts of it. This enables, for example, the effectiveness of drugs to be evaluated. The human heart is a good starting point, as the heart is literally a mechanical pump that has many complex moving parts and extremely complicated fluid flow dynamics. In this sense, it is actually a machine that must be disassembled during its operation to understand the inner workings and functionality.

This area of application does, of course, have its own medical benefits for, e.g., the specific administration of medication, but there are also many other potential applications. This type of simulation and visualisation is very similar to material simulations. It was developed to simulate and visualise atomic processes. The simulations are used in medicine and drug development to simulate the supply of specific medicines and drugs to specific cells at the molecular level. This type of simulation is invaluable, as the drug developer is able to enhance the specific drug supply systems. This means that the drug can be transported right to the most effective cellular position. These specific supply systems can reduce the side effects of certain medicines by reducing the required dose and in doing so open up paths for completely new drug therapies. There were already mathematical and computer-aided methods in place for modelling molecular interactions. However, most of these calculations needed to achieve this can now be managed and used effortlessly to create detailed simulation models.

Individual malpositions and diffusion processes can now be simulated and visualised in materials with a nano-coating for which the coatings and grid structures must be rigorously controlled. This happens before the actual nano-coating processes. All aspects of the development of molecular interactions for the material can be simulated and set to the macro scale to find out more about the actual processes.

Other technical development areas also benefit greatly from the new fields of interactive, dynamic simulations. Very detailed, dynamic accident simulations are used to enhance and design every aspect of accident systems for vehicles. These simulations are mainly produced with modular devices at assembly level with a focus on optimisation. This makes it possible to repeatedly perform different analyses to enhance each section of the overall assembly. The end result is a fully optimised part. Detailed animations are produced to verify the complete correlation of the validations compared to the real tests. This involves the model being validated for use in other analyses and the number of costly examinations that would have to be carried out being reduced. All in all, this means a better developed, more economic and safer vehicle.

The golden era of the development simulation and model construction has already begun in the past decade thanks to the progress made with computer-aided technology. The world of the small and concealed and the large and dynamic elements is becoming visible and more and more clearer. Its results are an integral part of everyday life.