What Is Virtual Validation?

Virtual validation is the process engineers and designers follow using CAD and CAE to implement a 3D version of a product so the validity can be tested and approved. This includes simulation of products in multiple environments and conditions to ensure the products work properly.

As manufacturing processes grow increasingly complex, virtual validation can help companies plan, design and implement their systems before investing significant capital. Some of the benefits of virtual validation include:

• Reduced time-to-market
• Reduced costs
• Better product or machine performance

The use of virtual validation is growing in the automotive industry as automakers test new technologies in both electric and autonomous vehicles. Through virtual validation, companies can simulate batteries and electronic design systems, test billions of miles of driving and millions of lines of code without ever manually building a prototype.

Aerospace and defense is another industry benefiting from virtual validation. As space exploration goes into further unknown territories and environments, the only way to test its performance is virtually. Aircraft, which are often expected to survive decades of use, can use virtual validation to ensure its ability to last under continuous, strenuous circumstances.

As regulatory compliance increases in complexity and more proof is required for product certification, virtual validation is expected to grow in need and use over the next decade. Companies not using the software and tools to virtually validate their manufacturing and machine processes will risk reducing their competitiveness and ROI.

What if you could create a virtual prototype of a product, test its capabilities and make design changes before ever having to create a physical prototype? This is virtual validation.