FEA Drives Racecar Design Ahead

Triple Eight Race Engineering of Banbury, UK entered the 2003 British Touring Car circuit with an edge over competitors: The team had swept the driver team and manufacturer titles the last two years. Enabling their fast times: software, including ALGOR and AutoCAD. Engineers used ALGOR's InCAD technology to exchange data with AutoCAD as they performed linear static stress analysis on the load-bearing components on their Vauzhall Astra Coupe race cars. Among the components they've optimized: the front upright, damper top mount, upper and lower engine mounts, and front anti-roll bar blade. ALGOR's full associativity has helped engineers improve their efficiency and quality of design, says John Morton, the team's chief designer. He plans next to use the software company's mechanical event simulation and linear dynamic analysis software to understand more about the dynamic behavior of the car.