CATIA V5 Helps OSU Go for the Electric Land Speed Record

Ohio State University is using CATIA V5 to design the "Buckeye Bullet," a battery powered vehicle that is going to attempt to break the 245 MPH electric land speed record. The Buckeye Bullet has a carbon fiber composite body, is equipped with a 400 HP+ motor, and carries 900 volts of Ni-MH batteries.

CATIA's aerodynamic modeling and analysis capabilities are enabling the OSU team to optimize the body design - a significant factor in reducing aerodynamic drag at such high speeds. By doing the body modeling and testing "virtually," the time and expense of wind tunnel testing and body modifications was greatly reduced.

For additional information on this topic, click:
http://www-3.ibm.com/solutions/engineering/esevents.nsf/Public/osu_speed

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Kumho Tire - CATIA Delivers Industry First Inclusive CAD/CAM Solution

The Mission:

• To incorporate a single CAD solution and provider for new product design, engineering analysis and mold creation, thereby reducing time to market and eliminating data translations.
• Implement the technology worldwide.

The Solution:

• CATIA's V4 Studio product is used for 3D visualization of new tread designs.
• CATIA's V4 Generative Shape Modeling (GSM) product and Generative Shape Deformation (GSD) product, which is the only CAD tool capable of producing 3D tread design.
• CATIA's V5's mold capabilities to be used for mold manufacturing.
• Incorporate GSM and GSD 3D functionality defined by EADS Matra Datavision in a non-typical application.
• CATIA's analysis tools, using exact geometry for meshing and bridging to ABAQUS.

The Results:

• One CAD/CAM solution to accomplish objectives
• A 75 percent productivity improvement in prototyping
• A 25 percent gain in design productivity
• 3D modeling process deployed as worldwide standard for new product design.

"Kumho and Matra Datavision collaborated to develop our new process," said Hamid Aboutorabi, Research Manager. "The new CATIA methodology has become the worldwide corporate standard for new product development. Prototype time has been reduced by 75 percent!"

Kumho Tire today ranks as one of the top ten tire manufacturers in the world. With annual sales exceeding $1.3 billion, it conducts business on five continents and operates manufacturing plants in Korea and China. The newly expanded Kumho Technical Center (KTC) in Akron, Ohio complements their research and development centers in Korea and the United Kingdom.

Kumho manufactures a complete line of tires for passenger vehicles, light and heavy-duty trucks and aircraft along with racecar performance tires. Forty percent of their tires are sold in Korea to both OEM and replacement markets and the other 60 percent are sold in Asia, Africa, Australia, Europe, the Middle East and North and South America, under the Kumho and Marshal brands.

Kumho's KTC, located in Akron, Ohio, supports the company's objective to increase tire sales in NA through developing new products for the replacement and eventual OEM markets.

Industry wide, tread design is still done in 2D as a result of inadequate 3D modeling programs to meet the specific design requirements of the tire industry. CAD tools were too limited to handle the unique geometry of tread design, and available visualization software could not link to analysis or design packages without translations.

Since the tread pattern defines many tire properties, Kumho's KTC had three goals defined when they evaluated CATIA. The first was visualization from a flat 2-D tire pattern design to a curved, realistic representation for sales, marketing, and dealer input. These groups would determine customer reaction. If positive, the tread was hand carved to create a section of tire. The second requirement was the use of exact geometry for engineering analysis. Although a tread pattern had to be liked by the customer, ultimately how a tire pattern behaves determines the continuation of the initial design. Engineering analysis is used to ascertain performance characteristics and modify design parameters prior to prototype development. The third requirement was the ability to generate molds from the 3D geometry and apply parameters for the dozens of tire sizes.

Through the use of CATIA 's visualization and photoshop products, 3D images of new tread patterns are created to represent product likeness. Clients are better able to imagine the product in use, excitement is generated, and feedback is immediate. As a result, the number of 2D prints and physical prototype time has been reduced by 75 percent.

As a result of 3D collaborative engineering, EADS Matra Datavision and Kumho Tire re-tooled the tread development process to create 3D models from 2D geometry. Matra Datavision identified the CATIA functions and strung processes together in non-typical use. Kumho's lead designer then applied CATIA's engineering tools to accomplish new ways of applying the technology. Working cooperatively with new tools and processes, product design geometry was generated for client approval, for engineering analysis, and ultimately for mold creation.
In the analysis phase, it was critical that exact geometry be used. CATIA provided meshing capabilities and direct bridges to the ABAQUS solver. This was a key factor that influenced the decision to move to CATIA.

The Korean operations are adamant about using CATIA in the molding process. By incorporating the mold process to design geometry, tremendous time and cost savings are anticipated, especially when applying knowledge based engineering to quickly generate the 20 to 30 different sized molds off the master model.

The largest benefit to Kumho using CATIA is a streamlined process resulting in excellent geometric data integrity during the design and analysis phase of tire development.

Kumho and Matra Datavision employed a methodical process of evaluation to compare new technology to current practices used in Korea and the UK. Suitability of CATIA was determined, goals were met, and worldwide CATIA 3D methodology became the standard company practice for new product development.

CATIA is now a common place technology applied uniquely by this leading edge company.

Contact Information

EADS Matra Datavision
28922 Lorain Rd Suite 100
North Olmsted, OH 44070
440-734-9655 Phone
440-734-9686 Fax

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