What Is Digital Prototyping?

Digital prototype refers to the digital model of the complete product or subsystem of a mechanical product expressed on a computer. It has a 1: 1 ratio and accurate size expression to the real physical product. Its role is to verify the function of the physical prototype with the digital prototype. performance.

Digital mockup

Digital prototype refers to the digital model of the complete product or subsystem of a mechanical product expressed on a computer. It has a 1: 1 ratio and accurate size expression to the real physical product. Its role is to verify the function of the physical prototype with the digital prototype. performance.

Chinese name

Digital mockup

Foreign name

Digital Mock-Up (DMU)

National standard

GB / T 26100-2010

Digital prototype is a professional term that appears more and more frequently in the field of manufacturing informatization since entering the 21st century. The corresponding English is Digital Prototype (DP) or Digital Mock-Up (DMU). Digital prototypes are relative to physical prototypes.

In the early days of the concept of digital prototype, the concept of Virtual Prototype (VP) appeared in a large number of domestic and foreign literature. According to the definition of Dr. Robert R. Ryan, the former president of the MDI company in the United States, VP technology is a system-oriented design technology applied to the simulation-based design process, including digital physical mock-up (DMU), functional virtual prototype ( Functional Virtual Prototype (FVP) and Virtual Factory Simulation (VFS). Among them, DMU corresponds to the product assembly process, which is used to quickly evaluate the morphological characteristics and assembly performance of all three-dimensional solid model assemblies that make up the product; FVP corresponds to the product analysis process, which is used to evaluate the overall function and operation performance of the assembled system VFS corresponds to the product manufacturing process and is used to evaluate the manufacturing performance of the product. ^[1]

Whether it is a narrow or broad digital prototype, it has the following three technical characteristics:

(1) Authenticity. The fundamental purpose of digital prototypes is to replace or streamline physical prototypes, so digital prototypes must have functions, performance, or intrinsic characteristics that are equivalent or consistent with physical prototypes in important aspects of simulation, that is, they can be in geometric appearance, physical characteristics, and behavior characteristics. Consistent with physical prototype.

(2) For the entire product life cycle. A digital prototype is a kind of computer simulation of a full range of physical products, while traditional engineering simulation tests a certain aspect of the product to obtain the performance of that aspect of the product. Digital prototypes are a combination of distributed, different tools, and even heterogeneous sub-models. They mainly include CAD models, appearance models, function and performance simulation models, various analysis models, maintenance models, and environmental models.

(3) Interdisciplinary. Complex product design usually designs many different fields such as machinery, control, electronics, fluid power and so on. In order to perform a complete and accurate simulation analysis of these products, it is necessary to perform simulation analysis of subsystems in different disciplines as a whole, so that the digital prototype can meet the requirements of designers for functional verification and performance analysis.

Digital Prototyping Modeling and Simulation

According to the completeness of the digital prototype reflecting the mechanical product, it is divided into a full prototype and a subsystem prototype. The full machine prototype contains a digital description of the entire machine or system information. It is a digital prototype that fully describes all the structural components, system equipment, functional components, accessories, etc. of the system. The subsystem prototype is a subsystem divided according to the different functions of the mechanical product. A digital description of all the information contained, such as a prototype of a power system, a prototype of a transmission system, a prototype of a control system, etc.

According to the digital prototype development process or life process stage, it is divided into plan prototype, detailed prototype and production prototype. Prototype refers to the digital description of the product design in the product design stage; detailed prototype refers to the digital description of the product's detailed design in the product detailed design stage; production prototype refers to the product manufacturing stage, including A digital description of the entire assembly.

According to the special purpose or purpose of digital prototype, it can be divided into geometric prototype, functional prototype, performance prototype and special prototype. Geometric prototypes focus on product geometric descriptions; functional prototypes focus on product function descriptions; performance prototypes focus on product performance descriptions; special prototypes can support special purposes such as simulation, training, and marketing.