Utilization of virtual prototyping in development of CMM

The characteristic advantages of hydraulics (high power density, simple construction and reliability) together with the characteristics of water as the pressure medium (fire and environmentally safe, chemically neutral, not activated nor affected by radiation) are highlighted in critical applications such as remote handling operations in International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER). However, component cost and lack of wide selection of water hydraulic components make it difficult to build and to test complex water hydraulic systems. The use of virtual prototyping for the development of water hydraulic tools can be used to address this problem. Rapidly increased computational power has created conditions for extensive numerical calculations, enabling computer aided virtual prototyping to replace physical prototype phases in product development. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.