Racing Against Time

Automotive Industries, May, 2001 by Gerry Kobe

On the track or in the CAD tube, faster is always better.

The investment was in IDEAS CAD/CAM software from SDRC. And since the team installed the program it has pulled time, cost and variation out of its fabricating and testing operations, while at the same time winning more races.

The reigning NASCAR Winstan Cup Championship team of Joe Gibbs Racing had plenty to brag about last season. Bobby Labonte, in the No.18 Interstate Pontiac, took the driver's championship; teammate Tony Stewart won the most races in the No. 20 Home Depot car; and back in the race shop, an investment that owner Joe Gibbs made just a few years earlier was starting to pay dividends.

"We had another software program here before we went to SDRC," says Mark Bringle, CNC manager for the Winston Cup division of Joe Gibbs Racing. "The problem was that we didn't really save time using it because we got into translation problems going from design to manufacturing. It wasn't clean and we had to go in and fix data--there were lots of problems."

Bringle says the I-DEAS package needs no translation, is seamlessly integrated and has prompted the team to utilize its capability even more.

"Right now we are using it for every aspect of the vehicle," Bringle says. "We are in the process of trying to get every part on the car designed in SDRC and have it fully associative. The chassis is already done, and we are currently drawing every piece that goes into a motor and getting it assembled in the software. That way if we want to make a change we can pull that piece out, make a change, machine it and have it for the next race."

For example, the Gibbs team used to make motor mounts by hand out of steel. It took about six hours to band saw them out and machine them down to a finished part Now the team uses the SDRC software to mill mounts from billet aluminum. The parts are stronger, weigh half as much and can be made unsupervised.

The SDRC effort started with just one computer at Gibbs' shop, but has now swelled to eight. There are four more 1-DEAS-loaded machines on order, waiting to be installed after an addition to the building is finished.

Bringle says when the entire car is entered into the system, it will give the team more options to build components that it may otherwise get from outside vendors. In fact, a couple of DNFs this year might have been avoided if the team had not relied on some outside vendors for parts.

In addition to being fast and accurate, the SDRC software is being tapped to utilize some of its finite element analysis capabilities to help lessen physical testing. This will get "proven" parts on the track sooner with fewer failures. The modeling program also guides engineers as they make changes to the structure, helping to shift the weight downward for a lower center of gravity, which improves handling.

"We will continue to expand our capabilities in airflow analysis, sheetmetal and try to do some more testing for the automakers," Bringle says. "Our ultimate goal is to be paperless, and SDRC even has its Metaphase product line that will help do that. They just seem to be a good fit for us."