Automotive and transportation

Premier NASCAR team uses lessons learned as catalyst for improvement

Product NX

Business challenges Deliver high-performing cars and engines with minimum risk of failure Understand and develop solutions for track failures Design and validate part fixes rapidly Push the performance envelope and retain compet­itive edge

Keys to success Integrated NX design and analysis environment Hendrick Motorsports leverages teams are supported by a staff of 500 and Powerful geometry editing NX CAE for forensic failure a wide array of technologically sophisti- cated tools, including product lifecycle and cleanup capabilities analysis and developing management (PLM) software from Rapid and automatic updating improved components Siemens PLM Software. of analysis models for faster design-analysis iterations Decoding the mechanics of a failure Despite the best efforts to ensure the per- Robust structural analysis Hendrick Motorsports is a critically formance of critical systems, component capabilities yielding deeper acclaimed and immensely successful failures are commonplace in motor sports. performance insights NASCAR® racing outfit. Operating out of a The balance between the need for more 430,000 square-foot campus in Concord, speed (through innovative design and , the team represents an Results weight reduction) and durability puts important part of NASCAR history, having almost every part on the edge of failure on Developed understanding of won 10 championships in the premier every run. It is simply impossible to test or underlying physical behavior Series. Its roster of stock car analyze every component under every that caused failures drivers includes , , possible operating condition. Failures that and Jr. occur during a time trial, practice round or Hendrick Motorsports’ four Sprint Cup race are just a fact of life on the track. This

www.siemens.com/nx Results (continued) Avoided repeat component failures Rapidly designed and analyzed multiple solutions Delivered high-performing, durable components in time for the next race

“We decided to try adding a Reproduction of yielding on rear suspension parts, Valve spring shear stress distribution using NX CAE cone shape to the crush with solution shown in second image, using NX CAE. simulation. sleeve. We modeled it up using NX and updated the CAE model with a few is particularly true for race teams that are “The ability to turn designs into real mouse clicks before using constantly pushing the limits, trying out hard parts is critical for us, and the NX NX Nastran to solve the new ideas and approaches to gain a suite helps support every facet of that,” model. Results proved that competitive edge. notes Wall. the cone shape helped redis- tribute the load sufficiently Although Hendrick Motorsports under- To gain an understanding of a part failure, to prevent yielding. We had stands that failures are an inevitable part the team first recreates the failure analyti- found our solution.” of competitive racing, they are determined cally so the model can be validated against to learn from them: “We don’t make the the failed physical component. The vali- Charles Macdonald same mistake twice,” says Jim Wall, direc- dated model is then used to fundamentally Design Engineer, Vehicle tor of engine engineering. re-engineer the part to prevent the failure Engineering while still maintaining the design intent. Hendrick Motorsports To that end, Hendrick Motorsports utilizes This approach is leading to some creative Siemens PLM Software’s NX™ software for yet practical solutions to failures experi- its product development needs. For com- enced on the race track. puter-aided design (CAD) and computer- aided engineering (CAE), Hendrick Enabling quick fixes Motorsports employs NX CAD, NX CAE and The benefit of the approach with NX CAE is NX Nastran® software. The forensic analy- that part fixes can be validated virtually, sis of failed parts is particularly important. meaning that prototype testing can often The idea is to transform inevitable compo- be avoided, saving precious time. Addi­ nent failures into lessons learned and tionally, the tight integration between NX applied. CAD and NX CAE accelerates the evalua-

“ We are using finite element analysis as an upfront tool for the design, so we don’t have to break the part before we improve it.”

Jim Wall Director, Engine Engineering Hendrick Motorsports “The use of NX CAE simulation tools was valuable in providing insight into the deformations and locations of stresses in a valve spring.”

Bryan Fleck Engineering Analyst Hendrick Motorsports

“The use of NX CAE simula- tion tools was valuable in providing insight into the deformations and locations of stresses in a valve spring. It was this critical under- standing that helped us re-engineer springs that wouldn’t fail during the punishing duty cycles that our engines are subjected to on the speedway.” Bryan Fleck Engineering Analyst Hendrick Motorsports

tion of numerous solution proposals, as Redistributing the load changes are pushed directly and seam- During a routine post-race inspection of lessly from the CAD part to the CAE model. rear suspension parts after the Talladega This is particularly crucial during race sea- 500 in May, 2012, a race that involved son, when the team has mere days to react speeds up to and over 200 miles per hour to a track failure before the next (mph), yielding was observed on the rear competition. housing saddle assembly as well as the trailing arm channel. (Yielding refers to “Our product release cycle can be as short the metal permanently deforming or as three days,” explains Wall. “If we have a cracking.) failure on Sunday, we’ve got to come up with a fix, produce parts and retrofit the “We were concerned and decided to inves- fleet, usually before Wednesday night tigate a solution with NX CAE,” says when the trucks get loaded with the race Charles MacDonald, a design engineer for cars for next weekend’s event.” vehicle engineering. “A baseline model nature of engine intake and exhaust was built to visualize the yielding, and this events, these components need to be also served to correlate the model and the designed and engineered for high-fatigue results against their physical counterparts. life. When Hendrick Motorsports had mul- Once validated, we used the model in a tiple engines fail during the course of the predictive context to evaluate potential 2012 season, it was critical to identify the solutions to the yielding that was cause and resolve it as quickly as possible. observed.” “Spring design is typically driven by basic Using NX CAE, a of potential solu- equations that characterize forces and tion areas were identified for exploration. stresses internally to the part, but do not When these changes resulted in localized provide insight into the location of these improvements, but not a complete prob- stresses,” explains Bryan Fleck, engineer- lem resolution, they were eliminated as ing analyst at Hendrick Motorsports. “On options. One idea that was proposed the other hand, by using CAE tools, it is finally yielded promising results. possible for a spring designer to assess the stress at any location within the spring, “We decided to try adding a cone shape to providing insight for future design.” the crush sleeve,” explains MacDonald. “We modeled it up using NX and updated Using NX CAE, Hendrick Motorsports was the CAE model with a few mouse clicks able to examine the variation of stress before using NX Nastran to solve the throughout the spring coil. model. Results proved that the cone shape helped redistribute the load sufficiently to “The use of NX CAE simulation tools was prevent yielding. We had found our solu- valuable in providing insight into the tion. This solution was rapidly adopted by deformations and locations of stresses in a the fleet for the remainder of the season.” valve spring,” says Fleck. “It was this criti- cal understanding that helped us re-engi- Unraveling the cause of engine failures neer springs that wouldn’t fail during the Another case of failure analysis and rede- punishing duty cycles that our engines are sign involved engine valve springs, a subjected to on the speedway.” rather innocuous component that is often not considered in detail. Valve springs are a critical component of an engine’s gas exchange system. Due to the high-cycle Solutions/Services NX NX CAE NX Nastran www.siemens.com/nx

Customer’s primary business Since 1984, Hendrick Motors- ports has earned a record 10 championships in NASCAR’s Repeated failure is not an option tice of over designing parts to avoid premier division, the Sprint Forward engineering of motorsports com- failure. This keeps additional weight off Cup Series. The organization ponents is a major focus at Hendrick the car. Use of NX CAE allows engineers at fields four full-time Motorsports. The objective is to design the Hendrick Motorsports to better balance teams on the Sprint Cup circuit best possible component from the start, component strength with weight, getting with drivers Kasey Kahne, Jeff taking failure risk out of the equation them closer to the optimal marriage of Gordon, Jimmie Johnson and while maximizing performance potential. durability and performance sought by Dale Earnhardt Jr. every race team. www.hendrickmotorsports. “In the last decade we have been moving com forward with a more optimal design from Providing the tools for victory the concept stage,” says Wall. “We are With NX CAE in place, Hendrick using finite element analysis (FEA) as an Motorsports is unraveling the causes of Customer location upfront tool for the design so we don’t failures faster than ever, while developing Charlotte, North Carolina have to break the part before we improve effective, first-time-right fixes to these fail- United States it. We want to engineer components that ures. An extensive prototype part testing allow our teams to showcase their talents and trial-and-error approach has been to the best of their abilities.” replaced by upfront, analysis-led design. The results are high-performing, forward- Designing with confidence engineered components, timely solutions By focusing on forward-engineering parts to track failures and a continuation of a with an analytical approach, Hendrick winning tradition. That’s the reward for Motorsports is producing precisely engi- paying attention to lessons learned. neered parts that help mitigate the prac- “ The ability to turn designs into real hard parts is critical for us and the NX suite helps support every facet of that.”

Jim Wall Director, Engine Engineering Hendrick Motorsports

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