COSMOS Speeds Design for Cleaner Oil Filter

Company Comptech USA Industry Automotive / Transportation Location U.S.A. Product Used COSMOSWorks™ Type of Analysis Linear Static More Details

The Challenge
Comptech USA builds racing engines for the Indy car industry and aftermarket auto market products for consumers (including induction systems, brakes, exhaust and suspension for Honda and Acura automobiles). The company also tests and manufactures non-automotive sports equipment, medical equipment and grooming equipment at their El Dorado Hills, California facility. No matter which product they build, Comptech's goal is clear: Ensure the lightest, strongest and most durable parts in the industry, and get them right the first time.

"Our previous program worked by the old assumptions of calculating basic shapes such as square, round, tubular or triangular, and stacking them up," according to Steve Conover, Principal Engineer. "But the program couldn't calculate many of the complex shapes that we needed to analyze. We had to make too many compromises when we input the shapes, and as a result we couldn't guarantee that the parts would be superior to the competitors' parts."

The Solution
By switching to COSMOS software, engineers discovered that no compromises were necessary to make the calculations. They used COSMOSWorks to boost speed and accuracy of the design and testing of an aftermarket suspension brace for Honda sedans. "With COSMOS we input specifications that are almost exactly like the real part that's being manufactured. COSMOSWorks analyzes complex assemblies and models them as an assembly, rather than part-by-part. That's a huge savings in time and effort in design and redesign."

"With COSMOSWorks I can model parts in an hour that previously would have taken a week of calculation. Determining the cumulative stiffness of the part and whether it would fail would be a lengthy process because you would have to do the calculation part by part. Now instead of making dozens of calculations for each part, COSMOS does it all for me. I can do the whole part at once using different materials. I can change the part in minutes and try it again. "

Summary and Metrics:

• Reduced design time 50-75%
• Slashed analysis time from one week to one hour
• Parts are now 100% stronger than OEM parts