Romax Technology Software Suite R18: Electrification, Technology, Integration

Romax Technology announce the R18 release of their world-leading software suite, with new capabilities leading to faster and more powerful design, simulation and analysis for electrified and conventional drivelines, within a streamlined and integrated environment.

R18 focuses on four strategic areas of development:

Electrification

The R17 release of RomaxDESIGNER included an holistic approach to the design, analysis and optimization of electro-mechanical powertrains, functionality which won the Institute of Engineering and Technology’s award for Model Based Engineering (2016).

In partnership with Motor Design Limited and Cobham, RomaxDESIGNER R18 further advances capabilities in electrification with interfaces to Motor-CAD and Opera software tools. This collaboration speeds up and facilitates model creation and reduces the time required to prepare the model for NVH analysis, enabling users to simulate a wider range of electric machines within a model. By integrating NVH analysis of the complete electric machine and gearbox system, RomaxDESIGNER R18 offers enhanced engineering insight for the delivery of quality products faster and at lower cost.

Gear Technology

Complementing Romax Technology’s interface with Klingelnberg’s KIMoS software, R18 offers data exchange between RomaxDESIGNER and the Gleason GEMS platform, enabling more system-based calculations to inform effective gear design and optimisation for bevel and hypoid gears.

Alongside this new interface, R18 further extends RomaxDESIGNER’s world-leading capabilities in advanced finite element root stress analysis. This feature has been made even more powerful through the inclusion of batch running compatibility, multi-mesh analysis and consideration of thermal and centrifugal effects. Altogether, this enables in-depth durability analysis for high performance, high speed, lightweight gears.

Further capabilities for the design of high performance gears include asymmetric gear tooth design for strength and efficiency, improved tolerancing analysis for design robustness and combined shear stress analysis for optimising surface finish.

Bearing Technology

Romax Technology’s strong partnerships with key bearing suppliers is manifested in RomaxDESIGNER R18’s updated bearing catalogs from major suppliers SKF, Timken and Schaeffler (INA and FAG), with a cloud-based download system so that bearing catalogs are always accurate and up to date.

Further new functionality includes improved bearing mounting options and easier modelling of complex bearing axial connections provide an efficient and error-proofed process which gives reliable analysis results quickly.

Automation and productivity

R18 sees major improvements to the performance of NVH analysis for large complex models, providing an order of magnitude speed-up for FE condensation and dynamic analysis. This leads to enhanced productivity, especially for FE-heavy models and optimisation and sensitivity studies. NVH models can also now be saved independently from a design file, meaning less time spent simulating and more time reviewing, understanding, and acting on engineering answers.

RomaxDESIGNER Enterprise contains additional functionality relating to design optimisation and process automation. R18 sees enhancements in custom reporting, parametric study and batch running, which offer more functionality to Enterprise users. Increased integration with automation and optimisation tools Isight, modeFRONTIER and Optimus provide further time savings and increase the potential for simulation to explore new and optimised designs.

Jamie Pears, Head of Product Management at Romax Technology, comments: “We have worked with key customers to identify strategic areas for development, adding brand new, cutting-edge functionality for electrified and conventional drivelines. Combined with more opportunities to integrate software tools, faster analysis times, and more automation options, R18 brings our customers more powerful simulation within a streamlined and integrated environment which is faster and more powerful than ever before.”