Numerical simulations using methods such as finite element analysis, boundary element methods and ray tracing are highly effective in aiding product and system design.  Applying these methods drastically reduces the time to market and expenditure related to the manufacture and testing of prototypes.

Whether an organisation is a start-up or an established company with a dedicated R&D department, they often lack the capacity, software or experience to perform these numerical simulations. This is where Xi can help: by working with our clients’ engineering teams to develop bespoke numerical models; and by collaborating with the engineers to determine a comprehensive modelling approach based on inputs such as geometry, material, physical processes and loads, along with the required model outputs such as stress field, acoustic load, frequency response and localised flow rates.

Xi’s philosophy is that models are never perfect and require a validation step to make the results meaningful, and we work closely with our clients to determine an appropriate validation process for each project.

Design changes during development often mean that minor modifications to a model are required. This may be, for example, changing the thickness of one component for commercial reasons.

It is important that the impacts of any such changes on the frequency response, fatigue life or fluid flow of a system are determined. Such changes are not easy to make by non-experts due to the complexity of the underlying model, resulting from the interconnected geometric parameters, meshing and boundary conditions. Xi solves this issue by creating user-friendly front-ends to our models using COMSOL Applications which provide the end-user with a suite of parameters that can be changed without damaging the underlying model.  These front-end applications make it possible for non-experts to make changes, run the model and obtain results without further input from Xi or a client’s simulation department. These COMSOL Applications have proven to be valuable to technicians who require rapid modelling output or organisations who lack their own simulation departments.

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