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CONCENTRIC
Asia Pacific has extended its provision of engineering software,
services and product development support to the motor sport community
with the announcement that it has become a Technology Partner to Britek
Motorsport.
The
Jason Bright-owned, Melbourne-based enterprise has the responsibility
of developing the Fujitsu Racing and IRWIN Racing Ford Falcons for the
V8 Supercar Championship Series as well as the Pirtek Rally Team Ford
Fiesta S2000-specification cars for the Australian Rally Championship.
"With both types of cars
requiring complex levels of unique design, fabrication, sheet metal
work and component manufacturing, the team has made the choice to
centre its design and development program on the CATIA CAD/CAM/CAE
solution," said Chief Design Engineer Brad Clarke.
"With CATIA being the
tool-of-choice for almost all of the world's automotive manufacturers
and most of the Formula One teams, it made good sense for Britek
Motorsport to go with a proven performer.
"The team lives in a world
where there is little time between events. They are in a constant race
against the clock. Part design, manufacture and testing must be
achieved in days and weeks, not months.
"As if that isn't enough,
these parts are subjected to the rigours of circuit and forest
competition and must perform with fine tolerances, under extreme
pressure, whilst being crafted from the lightest materials available in
order to save weight.
"This is where CATIA comes to
the fore. It provides the race engineers with an end-to-end
collaborative solution - from concept and design to
manufacturing."
The one product is able to
intuitively produce complex 3D designs, it also handles large
assemblies with ease (this is the solution chosen for the Boeing 787
Dreamliner with its tens of thousands of parts and all of the U.S.
Navy's next-generation undersea and surface vessels containing over one
million parts each), and with its built-in NC programming and
simulation package CATIA "talks to" the Britek Motorsport
fabrication shop and manufacturing centre. The Fab Shop is responsible
for the manufacture of key components such as the chassis, roll cage,
suspension, exhaust and other custom parts.
The knowledgeware attributes of
CATIA allow Britek Motorsport engineers to store and re-use valuable
material/performance data as parts are improved or re-designed. And,
the CAE features such as finite element analysis mean that what is
designed in CATIA can easily be subjected to real-world stress loads in
a virtual environment without having to make and break them. A costly
and time consuming exercise.
Owner Jason Bright vision of running a fully
professional motor sports operation and his spirit of excellence is
seen throughout the whole organisation.
"We created a state-of-the-art facility from the
ground up rather than buy an existing team," said Bright.
"We preferred to create our own in-house
development and finishing departments rather than outsource.
"We wanted an engineering partnership that is much
more than a box of software."
CONCENTRIC Asia Pacific is able to complement CATIA with
its Engineering Services department - for training, support, or
on-demand assistance in such areas as 3D design, FEA or data
transfer/management - and the largest Product Realisation Centre of its
kind in this region: ENVIZAGE. At ENVIZAGE all manner of panels and
components can be created from one to hundreds. This rapid
prototyping-rapid manufacturing facility offers Selective Laser
Sintering, Stereolithography, wax modelling, a foundry, sand and
investment casting, metal forming, roto moulding and injection
moulding. It was here that components were manufactured for Ford
Performance Racing's two Falcons.
Britek Motorsport can now create a component in CATIA
for the Falcons or Fiestas and send the file directly to ENVIZAGE to be
produced as a functional model (for fit, assessment of materials, etc.)
or an actual working part. In a manner of days. Or it can use CATIA to
generate the G-code and go straight to in-house milling.
There is a lot at stake. Bright has
driven for several top tier teams and is keen to perform as well if not
even better with his own team in what is one of the closest fought
motor sport categories in the world. The formation of the rally team is
important to Ford because this represents their official return to the
sport after 25 years. The plan is to develop the four wheel drive
Fiestas to the point where Britek can start building cars for teams all
around the world.
Looking into the future, the next
major challenge for Britek Motorsport will be the development of the
next generation Ford Falcon V8Supercar.
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