General Motors (GM) has announced it is the first major North American automotive manufacturer adopting Autodesk's generative design software to produce more lightweight and stronger parts for future vehicles.
The collaboration between GM and Autodesk gives them the opportunity to use a combination of generative design and additive manufacturing (AM) to develop cars and trucks. Using Autodesk's generative design software, GM will be able to go beyond the weight reduction of traditional design optimisation techniques to produce automotive parts that will benefit the environment with reduced carbon emissions and lower fuel costs for drivers.
Engineers can now explore far more manufacturing ready design options than ever before. Generative designs can focus on product performance requirements such as strength, weight, materials etc. by using Al-based algorithms to generate multiple valid solutions on real-world manufacturing constraints.
“This disruptive technology provides tremendous advancements in how we can design and develop components for our future vehicles to make them lighter and more efficient”, said GM Vice President Ken Kelzer, Global Vehicle Components and Subsystems. “When we pair the design technology with manufacturing advancements such as 3D printing, our approach to vehicle development is completely transformed and is fundamentally different to co-create with the computer in ways we simply couldn’t have imagined before.”
GM engineers at Autodesk’s Pier 9 additive manufacturing lab in San Francisco.
With this new technology, engineers at GM's Tech centre in Warren, Michigan, have been able to reimagine a seat belt bracket component in an initial proof-of-concept project that is 40% lighter and 20% stronger than the original. The new part consolidates eight different components into one 3D printed part, and comes from 150 valid design options parameters such as strength, points and mass.
“Generative design is the future of manufacturing, and GM is a pioneer in using it to lightweight their future vehicles,” said Scott Reese, Autodesk Senior Vice President for Manufacturing and Construction Products. “But the benefits for GM go well beyond lightweighting. What really separates generative design from past technologies is the ability to consolidate many parts into one and the ability to dramatically compress the product development process. Engineers get hundreds of ready-to-manufacture design options they could never come up with manually and it happens in a fraction of the time it would take to validate a single design the old way. GM can take advantage of those benefits right now for parts like the seat-bracket, and they are already looking to the longer-term potential to transform the consumer experience for their vehicles. ”
Since 2016, GM says it has launched 14 new vehicle models with a total mass reduction of over 5000 pounds or more than 350 pounds per vehicle. The company runs more than 50 rapid prototype machines that have produced more than 250,000 prototype parts over the last 10 years. Autodesk and GM will continue to collaborate on additional projects as part of a multi-year partnership.
