Issue link: https://resources.randsim.com/i/1543017
simulation@rand.com | RandSIM.com | 888.483.0674 D2H Advanced Technologies: Simulating Safety at Olympic Speed Overview Founded in 2015 by Darren Davies, D2H Advanced Technologies is an engineering and technology consultancy delivering pinnacle motorsport expertise to high-performance clients across multiple industries. The company is known for its strong system and component-level development, broad technical capability, and commitment to delivering high-quality results quickly. D2H has supported a wide range of projects, including motorsport and hypercar suspension development, composite structural R&D, full vehicle aerodynamic development, and Olympic-level performance programs such as track bikes, skin suits, whole-body kinematics, and wind-tunnel testing, all leveraging D2H's in-house technical expertise. D2H is uniquely qualified to provide one-stop solutions for complex design and development challenges due to the team's expertise in aerodynamics, thermodynamics, mechanical and composite design, structural analysis, control systems and software, electronics, and data analytics. In addition to its large computing resources capacity, D2H has developed custom scripts and workflows to further accelerate the performance of computationally intensive analyses and automate post-processing. To support these capabilities, D2H approached Rand SIM to be its Ansys partner many years ago. "The deep Ansys expertise and practical guidance provided by Rand SIM has helped D2H efficiently deploy simulation tools, optimize workflows, and maintain the fast-paced delivery required by its clients", cited CEO Darren Davies. The Challenge D2H Advanced Technologies was recently approached by a company wanting to develop a new lightweight and aerodynamically efficient helmet to be used at the Olympics. This revolutionary product would be the first commercially available helmet that conformed to challenging new helmet and sport-specific regulatory requirements with advanced aerodynamic profiling. Whilst the company had developed the surfaces that met the aerodynamic demands, they needed assistance developing the shell scheme into a product that would pass the structurally intensive regulatory requirements and be fit for use with their athletes. As James Fewkes, D2H's Head of Design and Analysis, explained, "One of the key performance metrics for helmets, for all sports, is peak deceleration. The job of a helmet is to decelerate the impact over an extended period (milli seconds), if you decelerate the head too quickly, peak deceleration goes up, and the severity of head injuries worsens exponentially." Engineering analysis is a critical component of all D2H projects, to gain confidence ahead of testing; however, expediency in decision-making was even more important with the short Olympic development cycles. This new helmet needed to pass a range of different tests, including drop, penetration, roll off and retention to comply with the regulations. The analysis performed by D2H was not only testing the structural integrity of the developed laminate, but more importantly how well the core of the helmet (often manufactured from expanded polystyrene) is able to efficiently manage the various impacts over a period of time. This speeds