Ferrari has entered into a collaboration with Altair for the design and engineering of a ‘Next Generation’ vehicle platform, which is expected to form the basis of several new vehicle derivatives.
According to the vehicle development teams at Ferrari and Altair’, innovative simulation technologies and design optimization methods are being used in the project, such as a ‘concept optimization driven process’, which they project will create a 15% weight saving compared with Ferrari’s current vehicle platforms, while also enhancing the performance of NVH, crash and other critical attributes by over 20%.
The Next Generation platform is being developed at Ferrari’s vehicle development center in Italy, where a specialist group of designers and engineers from Altair is also working on-site alongside Ferrari’s own design, engineering and manufacturing teams.
Maximilian Szwaj, Ferrari’s director of innovation and BIW development, stated, “It was important for Altair to supply both CAD and CAE expertise to facilitate tight integration, particularly when packaging ideas and manufacturing process are so fluid. The speed of the optimization processes deployed meant we were able to control the weight whilst achieving the demanding structural targets as new packaging changes were introduced. For Ferrari, the Next Generation platform is a significant engineering achievement”.
Dr Royston Jones, EVP European Operations & Global CTO, Altair ProductDesign, “Ferrari provided an innovation environment where, together with Ferrari’s engineering team, our engineers and designers had the freedom to apply new technologies. As an innovation strategy, Ferrari encourages ideas from everywhere and our new design processes were able to rapidly assess the majority of ideas.”
“I love the Next Generation architecture, it has an organic nature, with the structure flowing smoothly from sections to joints. It’s an outcome of a massive deployment of structural optimization, defining optimum material layout, resulting in outstanding weight / performance characteristics. I believe it truly warrants the title of Next Generation and importantly, repays Ferrari’s trust”.
