Case Studies
Wilde has undertaken well over 1000 projects involving FEA, CFD or Reliability Engineering – covering many applications and industries. Our case study archive shows a fraction of these projects as well as client success stories using software and papers delivered at conferences.
FEA
- Structural & Thermal
- Fatigue & Failure
- Design Optimisation
- Manufacturing Processes
- Geotechnical Engineering
- Civil & Structural Engineering
- Electronics & Electromagnetics
- Modelling & Meshing (Pre-Processing)
- Engineering Calculations
- Educational Users
CFD
- General Fluid Dynamics
- Fluid-Structure Interaction (FSI)
- Design Optimisation
- Manufacturing Processes
- Electronics & Electromagnetics
- Modelling & Meshing (Pre-Processing)
- Engineering Calculations
- Educational Users
Reliability
- Failure Modes, Effects and Criticality Analysis (FMEA & FMECA)
- Life Data (Weibull) Analysis
- Accelerated Life Testing
- Experiment Design & Analysis
- Reliability Growth Analysis
- System Reliability & Maintainability Analysis
- Probabilistic Event & Risk Analysis
- Standards Based Reliability Prediction
- Reliability Centered Maintenance
- Failure Reporting & Corrective Action System (FRACAS)
- Educational Users
Structural Analysis of a Pipeline Closure System using 2D & 3D FEA to Obtain Rapid Design Feedback
Pipeline Engineering required an assessment of the structural performance of a new 72” Class 300 Pipeline Closure design. This closure was larger than those previously designed and manufactured by the company. The use of FEA enabled the product desi...
Wind Flow Analysis through City Block for WSP to Assess Pedestrian Comfort within Built Environment
WSP Environment & Energy are leading consultants providing green design solutions within the Built Environment industry for the commercial and residential markets. Wilde works in close partnership with WSP, so as to better understand the airflow aroun...
Fatigue Assessment of a Motorcycle Two-Part Handlebar Stem
Renthal Ltd commissioned Wilde to conduct a fatigue assessment of a revised two piece handlebar stem following fatigue test failure of the original design. The project gave Renthal confidence that the cause of poor fatigue life in the original part ha...
Evaluation and Optimisation of De-Icing System for Railway Points using CFD
In its continuing drive to improve operational reliability during occasional spells of extremely cold weather, Network Rail is evaluating a range of measures to deal with the problem of frozen points, which can occur when snow becomes compacted and so...
Development of Rolls-Royce Process Modelling Capability for Aerospace Discs and Shaft Assemblies
Funded by the Technology Strategy Board (TSB) and undertaken in conjunction with Rolls-Royce, Nottingham University and Birmingham University, Wilde Analysis has developed a user-friendly software tool allowing non-simulation specialists to undertake ...
Improving Manufacturing by Simulation: Processes, Microstructure & Tooling
This presentation, made at the inaugural Virtual Engineering Centre Workshop on 25-26th October 2011, provides an overview of the application of simulation to optimise manufacturing processes and determine mechanical properties that can affect in-serv...
M3-2S: Multi-Scale Modelling for Multi-Layered Surface Systems
M3-2S (Multiscale Modelling for Multilayered Surface Systems) was a collaborative research project to provide users and developers of coatings for machine elements and cutting tools with a state-of-the art simulation-based toolkit. It brought together...
Reducing Product Development Risk with Reliability Engineering Methods
First presented by Wilde at Interplas'11, this presentation looks at how ‘Reliability Engineering’ tools and methods are used to reduce risk in a typical product development lifecycle involving both plastic and metallic components. These tools ran...
MIL-217, Bellcore/Telcordia & Other Reliability Prediction Methods for Electronic Products
In today's competitive electronic products market, having higher reliability than competitors is one of the key factors for success. To obtain high product reliability, consideration of reliability issues should be integrated from the very beginning o...
Evaluation of a New Batch Mixing Tank Design to Establish Mixing Efficiency using CFD
Fillworth (UK) Limited is a medium-sized privately-owned specialist manufacturer of industrial mixing equipment. The company approached Wilde to evaluate a new batch mixing tank design in order to establish the levels of mixing efficiency and to deter...
Analysis of Closure Dynamics of Large Bore High Pressure Deepwater Gate Valves using CFD
This presentation, delivered at the Technology in the Subsea Energy Industry Seminar by Wilde’s Dr. Simon Leefe , Technical Director, and Chris Williamson , Director of Product Development at BEL Valves, demonstrated the closure dynamics of large bo...
CFD-Based Thermal Management Study of PCB Assembly to Assist Cooling Fan Selection
Plextek is a Cambridge based electronics design house, specialising in product and systems design for communications, automotive, aerospace, defence and medical applications. Wilde undertook a CFD-based thermal management study to evaluate layout opt...
Plastic/Rubber Electronics Hardware Enclosure Analysis for Material Optimisation
Plextek is one of the largest independent electronics design consultancies in Europe,
specialising in product and system design for communications, automotive, aerospace, defence and medical applications. Wilde was asked to assisting Plextek with sel...
Contact Stress Analysis of a Mechanical Valve Rotator
Helical Technology Ltd. design mechanical valve rotators for use in engines to reduce wear, and to improve operating temperature distribution. As part of the design process, Wilde was asked to assess the performance of a rotator assembly.
Rubber Seal Design Assessment for Offshore Applications
Crux Products asked Wilde to conduct an assessment of their Tongue Seal to determine the behaviour of the seal during installation, the performance of the seal under the influence of the grout and to estimate the maximum load carrying capacity of the ...
Ocean Wave Converter Analysis for Renewable Energy Source
Oleotec Ltd were investigating a wave energy converter which extracts energy from the longitudinal compression of waves from the ocean. As part of this investigation, Wilde were requested to perform finite element analyses on a number of potential des...
Offshore Lighting Design Investigation using Structural FEA
Victor Lighting is a leading producer of lighting equipment for hazardous, industrial and marine applications. Wilde was engaged to help the company gain insight to the structural performance of a lighting unit under extreme operating conditions throu...
Crane Rail Fastening System Assessment including Bolt Pretension
Gantry Railing Limited is one of the world’s leading companies in the production of crane rail fastening systems. Wilde was chosen by Gantry Railing to investigate how loads are transmitted through a crane rail clip under operating conditions and t...
Human Skull Meshing & Analysis from Scanned Geometric Data
Wilde generated meshes from a scanned human skull and assessed the stress distribution in the occipital bone to assist research at Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland. Actual skull geometry was obtained from a CT scan and transformed into an STL form...
Implementation of ANSYS for Flexible Coupling Analysis at Bibby Transmissions
Having provided previously FEA consulting services, Wilde assisted the implementation of ANSYS Workbench technology within Bibby Transmissions through the supply of software, training and technical support. The use of ANSYS in-house has enabled Bibby ...
Energy-Input-Based Finite Element Process Modelling of Inertia Welding
A coupled thermal and mechanical finite element model has been developed to describe the inertia welding of RR1000 nickel-base superalloy tubes using DEFORM.
Stiffness Assessment of Power Transmission Coupling
Connected to drive shafts, disk couplings are used to accommodate misalignment between the motor & driven machinery and reduce bearing loads. An analysis was undertaken for Bibby Transmissions to evaluate the angular stiffness of current designs and c...
Review of Ageing Concrete Structures within the Nuclear Industry
On behalf of the Nuclear Installations Inspectorate, Wilde carried out a review in collaboration with the University of Sheffield to assess the 'state of the art' in FEA applied to ageing reinforced and pre-stressed concrete structures and make recomm...
Dynamic Analysis of an Airbus A340-500 VCC Composite Stowage Unit
The integrity of a stowage unit manufactured from composite honeycomb sandwich panels was assessed by Wilde under both g- and vibration loading. For a fan blade off event in the main engine, vibration loads in the engine and airframe will develop as a...
Dynamic Analysis & Design Optimisation of a Vacuum Skid Platform
BOC Edwards is a leading manufacturer of high quality vacuum components and systems. Wilde was asked to investigate the dynamic characteristics of a machine support platform. Potential vibration problems were identified and various modification option...
Reliability Engineering in Product Design
This article, featured in Engineering Designer by Wilde’s Mike McCarthy, Principal Engineer, looks at how reliability engineering is used in product design
Design & Analysis of Automotive Suspension Components
An automotive first tier supplier required design optimisation of two suspension control arms. FEA was used to maximise the stiffness of the component while minimising weight under loading conditions generated by a previous dynamic analysis.
Tunnel Analysis for the North Downs Channel Tunnel Rail Link
Before Crossrail, the Channel Tunnel Rail Link (CTRL) was the most significant railway infrastructure project to be constructed in the United Kingdom since the Channel Tunnel itself. Phased analysis capabilities within DIANA nonlinear FEA software wer...
Dynamic PSD Random Vibration Analysis of an Electronics Cabinet
The behaviour of an electronics cabinet was investigated when subjected to dynamic loads. Modal analysis was used to assess the risk of any dynamic excitation from the surrounding structure. Response analysis was then conducted to calculate displaceme...
Design Optimisation of Pre-Cast Support Beams
An FEA investigation into pile and beam systems was undertaken for a client to improve a 10 year old design and increase its cost effectiveness for good ground conditions. This was achieved by reducing the reinforcement in the beams inherited from pre...
Hydraulics Cabinet Structural Analysis under Inertial Loading
Structural analysis was undertaken to validate the integrity of a hydraulics steel frame and to ensure that the mechanical components remained attached under extreme inertia loading.
Industrial Application of Metalforming Simulation for Automotive Forgings
An automotive forging company used metalforming simulation software at both basic and advanced levels for process optimisation of forged components. Utilisation of such tools enabled the forging process to be exploited without the costly, iterative an...
How to Undertake Finite Element Based Geotechnical Analysis
Wilde was commissioned by NAFEMS to write a guide for both new and experienced analysts on the use of finite element techniques to solve geotechnical problems.
Structural Analysis of a Train Gearbox Casing
Due to the complex geometry, the load paths, stresses and displacements of the casings are difficult to predict, even for experienced designers. Wilde used FEA to compare maximum stresses with yield and ultimate tensile stresses, and maximum displacem...
ASME VIII Stress Analysis of a Gas Control Valve
Wilde have carried out rigorous design analysis and assessment procedures on a number of critical gas control valves for offshore applications. For each load case, the valves were assessed to the requirements of ASME VIII Division 2 Pressure vessel co...
Arad use Autodesk Moldflow software to design, develop and manufacture top quality precision water meters
Based in Israel, Arad specialises in the design, development and manufacture of precision water meters for applications such as domestic, waterworks, irrigation, and water management throughout the world.
Reducing Product Development Risk with Reliability Engineering
This presentation, delivered at the NAFEMS 2010 Conference by Wilde’s Mike McCarthy, Principal Engineer, looks at how reliability engineering tools and methods can be used to reduce risk in a typical product development lifecycle. It explores how fi...
Jaguar Land-Rover use Autodesk Moldflow software to optimise the design and performance of their new car
This example of the innovative use of Autodesk Moldflow software from Jaguar Land-Rover looks at how to reduce the number of prototype tests and minimise the risk of failure.
Pressure - Flow Assessment of a Subsea Stab Connector
Moffat 2000 designs and manufactures subsea pipeline products including stab connectors for flushing or pig-driving operations. Wilde was asked to characterise the pressure-flow relation of various sizes and orientations.
PLAXIS Analysis of a Basement Excavation in Central London
Excavation of a new basement level was required as part of a major refurbishment and extension of an existing apartment block in central London. To demonstrate the proposed method of excavation would have a negligible effect on the existing properties...
Design Assurance for New Seawater Filtration Unit Design using CFD
amafiltergroup manufactures large first-stage seawater filtration units for various duties on offshore platforms. To handle increased flow rates for new installations, Wilde was asked to evaluate two variants of a proposed design.
Modelling the Infra-Red Pre-Heating Stage of a Coating Curing Process.
Glasscoat International required a detailed understanding of the conjugate heat transfer processes which take place during their cold curing process. Wilde provided bespoke training and a modelling methodology to enable them to implement CFD and inve...
Seismic Analysis of a Pressurised Water Reactor (PWR) Insulation System
Darchem Engineering requested Wilde to provide seismic qualification of an insulation system to be installed around a nuclear Reactor Pressure Vessel (RPV) of a Pressurised Water Reactor (PWR). The system had to remain fully functional, following the ...
Structural Analysis of New Offloading Reel Design for FPSO Vessels
During development, ContiTech Beattie identified that product testing was not a practical or an economic proposition. Wilde used FEA to check their equipment would perform its duty safely under the most arduous of conditions and obtain approval by Ll...
Development of Subsea Gas / Liquid Separator Design Methodology for Total E&P
Mathematical modelling and CFD simulation were used alongside a scale model test programme to support separator design decisions and to develop a methodology for the design of a full-scale unit in a deep water development in Gulf of Guinea - the first...
Wilde Analysis at WFEL - Tactical Military Bridging Specialists
Wilde has worked with WFEL, a world leader in tactical military bridges, for a number of years, with engineer Greg Roney on permanent secondment since 1996. Other specialists from within the Wilde team are drafted in to WFEL as their business needs di...
Cold Forming Simulation & Die Stress Analysis of Brass Plumbing Components
Wilde helped IMI Yorkshire Fittings - a leading manufacturer of fittings to the plumbing and heating industry - improve extrusion process design by perform cold forming simulations and die stress analyses.
Flow Characterisation of a Water Injection Valve
Red Spider Technology supplies the oil and gas industry with a range of down-hole products including seawater injection valves. In an initial study, Wilde established an efficient valve characterisation methodology subsequently used to characterise a ...
Structural Assessment of a Gas Transport Trailer
A global supplier of gas products and equipment requested Wilde to assess the structural performance of a semi-trailer design used in the operation of the transport of gaseous hydrogen.
