PRODUCTS AUTOMOTIVE INDUSTRY
SELECT RACE CAR MATERIALS WITH NEW SOFTWARE APPLICATION
Chip Ganassi has been a fixture in the auto racing industry for over 25 years. His teams have competed in events including the Verizon IndyCar Series and the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, and they have won 18 championships and 170 victories, including four Indianapolis 500s. Now, Chip Ganassi Racing Teams (CGRT) is to partner with materials information technology leader Granta Design.
Granta has created a PC software application which, along with the team’s
existing software, enhances and simplifies the search process for information on materials that are fundamental to the car design process, and then applies this information to make smart decisions on the use of those materials. CES Selector will help the engineering team compare and choose alternate materials to develop stronger, lighter and more durable race-winning cars. The software application will be used by the engineering departments across all of CGRT’s racing disciplines. CES Selector offers extensive materials property data, advanced graphical analysis and specialist tools to solve real-world engineering problems. John Probst, technical director at Chip Ganassi Racing Teams, said: “The extensive
database offered by the software allows us to compare and select suitable materials and manufacturing processes for all applications of the vehicle. As a racing team our main goal is to win races, and with a product like CES Selector we’re putting ourselves in the best possible position to make that goal a reality.”
Granta Design
www.grantadesign.com MLCCS FOR AUTOMOTIVE USE
TTI is now distributing two new series of Multilayer Ceramic Chip Capacitors for automotive applications from TDK Corporation. The CGA Series Automotive Grade is available in two variants: General for applications up to 50V, and Mid Voltage for 100V to 630V. The TDK CKG Series Automotive Grade MLCC MEGACAP Type
features a double-stacked structure which, the company claims, achieves twice the capacitance of existing products in the same footprint. The CGA Series General has a monolithic structure for mechanical strength and reliability; while low ESL and excellent frequency characteristics allow a circuit design that closely conforms to theoretical values. Further benefits include low self-heating and high ripple resistance due to low ESR. These AEC-Q200 compliant MLCCs suit automotive engine control units, automotive sensor modules, and battery line and switching power supply smoothing applications. The CGA Mid Voltage MLCCs covers rated voltages from 100V to 630V and a capacitance range up to 15µF. Featuring excellent DC Bias properties, they are suitable for applications including inverter or DC-DC converter decoupling, smoothing and snubber circuits in hybrid electric vehicles and electric vehicles. The CKG Series MEGACAP Type MLCC is for applications including smoothing circuits, DC-C converters, and LED and HID, and piezoelectric and temperature variable applications.
TTI DEVELOPING A STREET LEGAL RADICAL SR8 SL
Attendees at SOLIDWORKS’ Silverstone launch were able to view the Radical SR8 SL – the World’s quickest legal road car, designed in SOLIDWORKS and built by New Technology CADCAM customer Radical Sports Cars. Steve Prentice of Steve Prentice
Design purchased the second hand car, with Radical’s RPE/Quaife six-speed transaxle with paddle shift gearchange – the same specification used by Michael Vergers to set the production car lap record around the Nürburgring Nordscheleife in August 2009. To make the car street legal and pass its MOT, Prentice fitted a handbrake, a horn and number plates, and tweaked the suspension and engine management for everyday use. Prentice’s design brief for the SR8 was to design
and build the lightest, most powerful, V8 engine using superbike technology. Utilising the heads and pistons of the Suzuki Hayabusa motorbike, Prentice
www.ttieurope.com
BUTTED TUBING HELPS REDUCE CHASSIS WEIGHT
Bicycle tube-makers Reynolds Technology, CAE consultancy Simpact and Caterham Cars, have shaved more than 10% off the weight of the chassis of the Caterham Seven using butted tubing technology taken from bicycle production. Butted tubes are thicker at the
and the Radical team used SOLIDWORKS 3D CAD to reverse engineer key parts, design new casings and do stress and kinematic analysis on the whole assembly to make it as light as possible. “The bodywork is much higher off the ground than the race car so I can get over all the speed bumps without looking ridiculous,” he commented. “I’ve taken it twice through The Eurotunnel now and both times their staff started freaking out about it being too low or too wide, but it always fits. It’s a dream to drive and the aerodynamics mean it sticks to the road like glue.” He added: “Radical wanted me to make a V8
engine out of two motorbike engines. We wanted to double the horsepower of a standard Suzuki engine (170hp) and the first V8 engine we produced had 380hp. Now we’ve increased it to 455hp.”
New Technology CADCAM
www.ntcadcam.co.uk
44 APRIL 2016 | DESIGN SOLUTIONS
ends than in the middle, meaning that frames can be both strong and lightweight. By using low-cost mild steel rather than more exotic alloys, the project made large mass reductions of up to 50% on some parts without losing any of the chassis’ torsional stiffness or strength. Tim Williams, director of Simpact
Engineering, said: “The CAE models built and developed by Simpact provided a rapid and accurate assessment of design investigations and proved to be the only practical way to deliver the lightweight design in such a short period of time.” Caterham will continue to develop
the existing prototype vehicle, with a view to launching a production version in due course.
Caterham Cars
www.caterham.co.uk
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