Virtual engineering: Methods and tools

Abstract

This paper presents an overview of actual approaches in virtual engineering, mainly from the design point of view. The evolution of the market has necessitated the reduction of time-to-market, essentially because the product life cycle is shorter, but also because it is very important to proceed more rapidly from an initial conception to a mass production object. As a result of newly evolved software DOI: environments, knowledge-based systems, and product data management, processes for integrated design and manufacturing for new products have emerged. Owing to this evolution of virtual engineering technologies, it has become possible today to validate parts representative of mass production within a very short time. This paper provides an overview of the actual methods and tools in all the components that affect the speed and efficiency of product development, in particular all the possibilities available to the designer, from the earliest stages of a product's life cycle.