Certification and CFD for the Build Environment

This presentation was made at the NAFEMS Seminar "Simulation Supporting Certification" held on the 22-23 June 2021.

Simulation is used for design and development in a large range of industries, including safety-critical applications covering civil engineering, medical devices, military, nuclear, automotive and aerospace. These industries have rigorous processes to certify the component, vehicle, system, etc., before they can be used. This would typically involve an extensive testing programme. Many products also need some form of 3rd party approval before they can be sold or marketed. Alternatively the manufacturer is required to self-certify and if necessary demonstrate it has met the requirements if challenged (in court!). These testing programmes are generally time-consuming and costly. In addition some level of re-testing will usually be required for design revisions.

The certification requirements and associated test methods were often created when simulation tools either did not exist or were not mature enough to meet those requirements. Overall simulation capability, computer power and model fidelity has improved over the years and there is now an increasing opportunities to use simulations to perform some or all of the tests that support certification. A number of sectors are or are exploring the possibility of using simulation to replace, reduce or supplement the required physical tests. It is argued that the correct use of a combination of fully validated appropriate simulations and physical test could lead to better, faster and more efficient certifications. This should help industry to reduce costs, time to market and simplify the process for small design changes.

To achieve this goal and to deliver the benefits of using simulation requires the simulation community to give the assessor or regulator at least equivalent confidence in the evidence that is being provided from the simulation in comparison to the physical test.