From thoughts to table

Written by - Aaron Ashwin Murugan From Abhiyantha May 12, 2025 5 Minutes

A design is an idea virtually materialized. Once a roadblock is identified, solutions to almost all of them undergo the same 4 steps to become tangible, namely-Emphasize, Define, Ideate, Protype and Test.

• Empathize: Research your pain areas
• Define: Clearly state the problem you will be trying to solve
• Ideate: Ideate from a knowledge pool or individual experiences
• Prototype: Implement your ideas on to an early model
• Test: Test your prototype

Since safety during operations is the priority, prototyping and testing become critical and must meet a plethora of standards enforced by regulatory institutions before the proof of your design concept is introduced to the masses. These stringent regulations cost a lot in terms of money and time which in turn delays the solutions to the market. Simulation or virtual prototyping accelerates the design cycle by cutting down the number of physical prototyping and testing to essentials. This is done by generating the initial prototypes and tests virtually which has been enabled by the exponential advancement in both computer hardware and software technology. It has also been complemented by the ease of access to computer hardware and software in the last couple of decades.

‘The Manhattan Project’ has been credited to be the first to use mathematical simulation for an engineering application specifically the detonation process of the nuclear payload. After which the scientific community consistently relied on simulation for all their defence and space missions. And as per usual technology trickled down to medical and civilian applications as well. This enabled humanity to fast track its progress in the field of science, technology and engineering.

Let’s now take a step back and understand what constitutes a simulation. Simulation or virtual prototyping as the name suggests the process of replicating the design in its intended environment and subjected to the physics appropriate loads. And the behaviour of the design under the influence of a single or multi physics is approximated using the right equations of the corresponding physics. For example, in case of structural simulation the approximation is done by solving a governing equation called Equilibrium equation which is as follows.

k{q} = {f}

• k: is the global stiffness matrix, representing the stiffness characteristics of the entire structure.
• {q}: is the vector of unknown displacements or deformations at the nodes of the structure.
• {f}: is the vector of applied external loads or forces acting on the structure.

While Low frequency Electromagnetic Simulations is governed by the Maxwells equation which is as follows.

As simulation is a mathematical process that solves ODE or PDE it is essential that all the inputs are defined appropriately as simulation follows the philosophy ‘Garbage in. Garbage out.’ The crucial inputs that are needed includes the Shape of the design i.e. the CAD model, appropriate material behaviour and the interactions with the environment and within itself.

It is to be noted that simulation doesn’t replace physical prototyping. Rather simulation minimizes the need of redundant physical prototyping and testing to only essential and critical scenarios thus shortening the design cycle and at the same time broadens the scope of solution visualized.