Methodical integration of assembly specific influences concerning high-voltage components into the virtual validation process

The future competitive situation in the automotive industry and the increasing market demands will inevitably lead to higher complexity in product development, production planning and pre-series. Longer lifecycles of assembly systems based on highly flexible production cells with a rising number of integrated processes call for new challenges, especially for production engineering. One key challenge for gaining important time and cost potentials in production engineering projects is an early virtual validation during the pre-series. Under the premise to replace physical mock-ups by digital mock-ups, we will present requirements and solutions of a virtual validation focused on manual assembly of high-voltage components in the automotive industry. We want to integrate the electric drive used for electric and hybrid vehicles into the computer aided design based virtual validation process. This paper presents a product and process validation methodology for a prototype electric drive, using a virtual human model. For this, an electric drive is dismantled and the necessary assembly steps are identified. Further, two process-steps, i.e. packaging of electrical sheets and insertion of magnets, are selected and a virtual validation concept is developed. Using a virtual human model, ergonomics are included as an essential part of the product and process validation methodology.