Accelerating Crankshaft Modeling with Automation at BMW Motorrad

BMW Motorrad is the motorcycle division of BMW, a German multinational company manufacturing luxury automobiles and motorcycles. With the first motorcycle manufactured in 1923, their current product line includes a variety of shaft, chain, and belt-driven models designed for off-road, dual-purpose, and sports powered by a variety of engines ranging from a single cylinder, various two cylinder (parallel twin, flat twin, boxer etc.), four cylinders inline and six-cylinder inline ones. BMW Motorrad faced a challenge with their model build processes, needing to move previously outsourced crankshaft modeling work in-house while also reducing lead time. Through a semi-automated modeling process based on Altair SimLab, BMW Motorrad developed scripts which reduced FE model generation time down 80%, from 2 weeks of manual work to just half a day. Ruediger Ott, HyperWorks Business Development at Altair, presents a use case from BMW Motorcycles who found that they could significantly reduce the model build time of their powertrain assemblies with SimLab, making use of the automation capabilities to minimize manually effort and refinement.