Case Study: VE Commercial Vehicles Ltd. achieves faster gasket development and 70% testing cost savings with ANSYS Mechanical (ANSYS)

Contact Pressure Simulation of Engine Cylinder Head Gasket using ANSYS Mechanical

VE Commercial Vehicles Ltd. faced the challenge of ensuring a reliable seal between the engine block and cylinder head by optimizing gasket design and bolt pre-loads, while needing simulation results to correlate closely with the Fuji film contact-pressure test. To address complex mating-interface meshes and variable gasket material behavior during multiple loading/unloading steps, VE Commercial Vehicles Ltd. worked with ANSYS using ANSYS Mechanical.

ANSYS implemented a structural simulation in ANSYS Mechanical using gasket material models and three load steps (assembly, thermal and gas pressure) to evaluate contact pressure and sealing behavior; the simulated pressure results closely matched the Fuji film tests. As a result, ANSYS enabled VE Commercial Vehicles Ltd. to replace the film method with simulation, reduce gasket design and test cycle by about 30 days to roughly four weeks, save approximately $1,500 (about 70%) in test costs, and improve engine efficiency through better sealing.

VE Commercial Vehicles Ltd.

K. Suresh Kumar

Manager - CAE