German Car Forum

• Audi employs supercomputer for crash simulations
• Automotive industry’s fastest computer now in Ingolstadt
• Simulations guarantee greater vehicle safety

When Christopher Rhody starts a crash test, everything stays nice and quiet. No loud crashing noises, no broken glass and no bent fenders. The Audi employee responsible for developing side and head protection simulates crash situations on a computer. New supercomputers now make these crash simulations even more precise and realistic. The “cluster” – a collection of 320 processors – achieves over 15 teraflops of processing power, which corresponds to 15 billion computer operations per second. All this makes it the fastest computer in the automotive industry – and one of the 150 fastest in the world.

“The new supercomputer accelerates simulation workflows several times over. With our constantly growing model range it’s essential for every model to be put through its paces during development in every conceivable accident scenario,” said Dr. Ulrich Widmann, Head of Vehicle Safety Development at Audi. The faster the computer, the more definitive and certain the accident simulation will be. Developers conduct about 5,000 simulations each week – from frontal crashes to special component tests – which allow them to determine and correct possible weak points prior to construction even before the first prototypes are constructed. Crash simulations make it possible to develop cars according to current market conditions, in accordance with customer requirements or findings from Audi’s own Audi Accident Research Unit (AARU) – as Hans-Ulrik von Bülow, who is responsible for computer-aided development at Audi, is quick to confirm. “The new supercomputer cluster helps to safeguard the quality of all Audi components,” von Bülow said.

The newly acquired equipment is also highly efficient. The 320 servers of the HP ProLiant BL460c computer are mounted in eight two-meter high racks and therefore require about 30 percent less space than regular crash simulation computers. The cluster’s efficient cooling system also uses 25 percent less energy, with impressive energy consumption of just 86 kilowatts (kW) instead of the usual 115 kW.

AUDI AG had good reason to expand its inventory of computers in order to keep pace with the technical challenges brought by its growing model range. Without extensive crash simulations, vehicle development would no longer be possible due to the increasing complexity of cars as well as current testing regulations. Product quality can be significantly improved even further through the use of computer simulations.

A single car model goes through about 1,000 simulations per week during its 48-month development phase. Before the first prototype is built, the virtual car has already completed more than 100,000 computer simulations. Computing these can take anywhere from 30 minutes to up to a week, depending on the complexity of the accident. When the developers finally conduct the real crash tests, the cars have already achieved an extremely high standard of safety through the use of the computer simulations.

About Audi AG
AUDI AG sold a total of 964,151 cars in 2007 and thus achieved its twelfth consecutive record year. With revenue of €33,617 million and profit before tax of €2,915 million, the company attained its best figures ever. Audi produces vehicles in Ingolstadt and Neckarsulm (Germany), Györ (Hungary), Changchun (China) and Brussels (Belgium). At the end of 2007, production of the Audi A6 started in Aurangabad, India. The company is active in more than 100 markets worldwide. AUDI AG’s wholly owned subsidiaries include Lamborghini S.p.A. in Sant’Agata Bolognese, Italy, and quattro GmbH in Neckarsulm. Audi employs more than 54,000 people worldwide, including 45,000 in Germany. The brand with the four rings invests more than € 2 billion each year in order to sustain the company’s technological lead embodied in its “Vorsprung durch Technik” slogan. Audi plans to significantly increase the number of models in its portfolio by 2015, from the 26 currently on offer to 40.

http://www.fourtitude.com/news/publish/Audi_News/article_3935.shtml

Audi Implements Auto Industry’s Fastest Supercomputer

Paris, FRANCE--ESI Group, a pioneer and world-leading supplier of digital simulation software for prototyping and manufacturing processes, announced today that AUDI AG has implemented the auto industry’s fastest supercomputer to advance safety standards. Crucial in optimizing car safety, the new system is based on ESI Group’s PAM-CRASH 2G simulation software and an HP Cluster Platform 3000BL system, providing 15.36 teraflop/s of computing performance for crash simulation models of Audi. The supercomputer implementation places the leading premium car manufacturer at No. 123 on the TOP500 list of the world’s fastest supercomputers, making it the auto industry’s fastest system.

Audi partnered with ESI Group, a pioneer and world supplier of digital simulation software, to establish and drive its global vehicle safety projects around the world. Audi recognized the unparalleled computing efficiency and ease-of-use of the PAM CRASH 2G software and, as a result, the implementation improved the reliability of its crash safety and impact simulations. The software enhancements combined with compact, fast and power-efficient HP hardware has enabled Audi to run its refined models overnight, ensuring an effective design process that includes analysis of the safety elements of its vehicles. With the hardware and software investments, Audi has maintained its position as one of the safest vehicle manufacturers in the world, while it also improved its bottom line by reducing operating and power and cooling costs.

“ESI Group consistently provides its customers with affordable simulation turnaround time, greater accuracy and increasingly larger simulation models. This versatility allows Audi to find a balance between performance and the increased number of realistically simulated design variations for the complete car range,” declared Peter Ulrich, Crash Safety and Impact Product Manager ESI Group.

The ease-of-use and latest algorithms in the PAM-CRASH 2G software encouraged Audi to raise their expectations for simulation design. For example, airbag models now routinely take into account fluid-structure interactions, leading to realistic interactions of the airbag with structures and occupants. Furthermore, prediction testing for material rupture, which usually requires high resolution models, can now be treated using a multi-scale approach. This helps save days of computing time and unnecessary costs.

Audi selected HP, a recognized industry leader in high-performance computing (HPC), to implement technology that would provide enhanced reliability, high server density and computing power. Audi installed the HP Cluster Platform 3000BL, a system built using 320 nodes based on HP ProLiant BL460c server blades and the InfiniBand cluster interconnect. This HPC system provides the computing power and speed needed to calculate the tremendous volume of data generated during the simulation process.

With the HP BladeSystem c-Class architecture coupled with the HP Dynamic Smart Cooling management solution, this supercomputer requires a quarter less floor space and consumes a quarter less power than a traditional rack-based configuration. In addition, the blade configuration provides simple hardware maintenance, cabling and system administration and has outstanding scalability.

“Providing Audi with a high-performance computing solution helps them design better and safer cars while reducing their power consumption and costs,” said Paul Perez, Vice President, High Performance Computing, HP. “HP has a long history of knowledge and expertise in providing automotive customers high-performance computing that fosters innovation.”

About ESI Group
ESI Group is a world-leading supplier and pioneer of digital simulation software for prototyping and manufacturing processes that take into account the physics of materials. ESI Group has developed an extensive suite of coherent, industry-oriented applications to realistically simulate a product’s behavior during testing, to fine-tune manufacturing processes in accordance with desired product performance, and to evaluate the environment’s impact on product performance. ESI Group’s offer represents a unique collaborative solution with an open virtual engineering environment known as the Virtual Try-Out Space, enabling virtual prototypes to be improved in a continuous and collaborative manner while eliminating the need for physical prototypes during product development. The company employs over 700 high-level specialists worldwide covering more than 30 countries. ESI Group is listed in compartment C of Euronext Paris. For further information, visit ESI Group — ESI Group.

Virtual Try-Out Space® is a registered trademark of ESI Group. All other products, names or companies are the brands or registered trademarks of their respective owners.

http://www.fourtitude.com/news/publish/Audi_News/article_3931.shtml