March 19, 2020 - Stockholm-based Hexagon AB, a global leader in sensor, software and autonomous solutions, announced the acquisition of CAEfatigue Ltd., a provider of mechanical fatigue simulation solutions used to improve manufacturing product design, quality and reliability.
Manufactured products face a multitude of stresses over their lifetime that can cause fatigue and result in everything from safety problems to structural failure. For example, a vehicle’s chassis needs to be able to withstand a variety of dynamic forces, such as road roughness, vehicle speed and movement type, over hundreds of thousands of kilometres of operation. Similarly, piping systems in industrial facilities need to endure dynamic changes in temperature, pressure, weight and other forces over long operational lives. Fatigue analysis of a digital twin enables manufacturers and engineers to predict in-service durability and improve quality before production starts.
CAEfatigue’s software suite, including its flagship product, CAEfatigue Vibration, provides performance and accuracy using frequency-domain response, which provides faster, more accurate and more intuitive analysis of the qualitative behaviour of systems than the time-domain alternative. Its solutions are used by global manufacturers across multiple industries, including automotive and aerospace and are interoperable with leading computer-aided engineering (CAE) packages.
“CAEfatigue offers solutions for validating design and manufacturing methods – from choice of material to fabrication – enabling decisions during the design phase that improve quality and product life, while saving time, reducing costs and eliminating waste,” said Hexagon President and CEO Ola Rollén. “Not only do these technologies provide a valuable addition to our smart factory solutions portfolio, but they also enhance our portfolio of smart industrial facility solutions, which already include a leading suite of analysis tools for pipe stress used by customers in both the design and operation of process plants.”
Founded in 2012 and based in the U.K., CAEfatigue’s team of internationally recognized experts in fatigue research will operate as part of Hexagon’s Manufacturing Intelligence division. The acquisition has no significant impact on Hexagon’s earnings.
Related Glossary Terms
- computer-aided engineering ( CAE)
computer-aided engineering ( CAE)
Engineering functions performed with the help of computers and special software. Includes functions such as determining a material’s ability to withstand stresses.
- fatigue
fatigue
Phenomenon leading to fracture under repeated or fluctuating stresses having a maximum value less than the tensile strength of the material. Fatigue fractures are progressive, beginning as minute cracks that grow under the action of the fluctuating stress.
