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America's Cup entry sails through design
and testing with COSMOSWorks
Company
OneWorld Challenge |
Industry
Marine |
Location
U.S.A. |
Product Used
COSMOSWorks™ |
Type of Analysis
Linear Static |
More Details
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Photo© Sharon Green/OneWorld
Challenge
More than two years of preparation,
millions of dollars, and intense scrutiny over
every design feature go into an America's Cup
sailboats.
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The Challenge
Winning the America's Cup, often considered
the world's most prestigious sailing regatta, depends on structural
design of the most minute detail.
OneWorld Challenge is a Seattle-based
sailing syndicate and was one of three U.S. entries competing
for the 31st America's Cup held in Auckland, New Zealand in 2003.
"The America's Cup is as much
a technological competition as a world-class sailing regatta,"
said Aaron Perry, design engineer at OneWorld Challenge. "Just
as boat speed is critical in navigating the America's Cup racecourse,
compressing the time between the idea and the finished part is
critical to our design effort.
The Solution
OneWorld Challenge's engineers used SolidWorks and COSMOSWorks
to quickly design and analyze the structural integrity of everything
from the deck to the nuts that bolt winches to it.
"COSMOSWorks and SolidWorks together
let us easily refine the details on the boat without a lot of
trial and error," said Neil Wilkensen, design engineer at
OneWorld Challenge. "That saves us precious time and money.
SolidWorks is very good at handling large assemblies and complex
surfaces, and COSMOSWorks lets us know if we're going to encounter
any problems."
OneWorld made a respectable finish
in the 2003 Louis Vuitton Cup (a two round round-robin event to
determine who will challenge current Cup holders), finishing with
12 points and advancing to the semi-final round. However, a loss
to Oracle BMW in the Semi-Final round eliminated OneWorld from
the final race for the America's Cup match.
Summary and Metrics:
- Tight integration of CAD and analysis packages reduced time
and money
- Determined effect of high loads and pressures associated with
hundreds of square meters of sail area
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"SolidWorks'
modeling and COSMOSWorks' analysis capabilities allow
us to quickly design, test, and build components that
may evolve in design four or five times before the start
of racing."
Aaron Perry, Design Engineer
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