Boosting NASCAR race car performance with COSMOSWorks, COSMOSMotion

Company Dale Earnhardt, Inc. Industry Automotive / Transportation Location U.S.A. Product Used COSMOSWorks™ and COSMOSMotion™ Type of Analysis Linear Static and Motion More Details

The Challenge
Dale Earnhardt, Inc. is one of the most successful NASCAR racing companies. Although
NASCAR has rules governing the design of the race cars participating in sanctioned events,
racing teams can still gain a competitive advantage by continually optimizing car engine and suspension designs, with the overall goal of achieving peak performance. With some of the closest competition in sports today, NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Racing demands that crews and drivers obtain any mechanical performance advantage possible. The team constantly redesigns parts and analyzes the overall
performance of the car.

For many years, race car designers relied on experienced fabricators and machinists and
lengthy, trial-and-error testing regimens to support their efforts to refine and optimize race
car designs for speed, safety, and handling. The time constraints associated with a growing
race schedule and the cost and access limitations related to test track usage prompted Dale
Earnhardt, Inc.'s engineering group to evaluate and implement CAD and design analysis
technologies in the late 1990s. According to Ken Brown, director of engineering, "we soon realized we needed to add integrated analysis capabilities so we could quickly
improve component performance and avoid the time and expense of extended testing."

The Solution
After evaluating kinematics, dynamics, and finite element analysis (FEA) software options, the company selected COSMOSMotion and COSMOSWorks analysis software. "We decided to go with COSMOS analysis capabilities because of the need for speed and ease-of-use," Brown says. "We needed something that was integrated with SolidWorks, so we could avoid delays and errors associated with file conversions and model rebuilding, and a solution that was easy for our designers to pick up and use.

By implementing COSMOSMotion software, particularly in the design of a car's suspension and the interaction of the suspension and chassis, the team can optimize assemblies and
components to improve the speed and handling of the race car. The combination of COSMOSMotion and COSMOSWorks analysis capabilities enables Earnhardt engineers to complete multiple design iterations directly within the SolidWorks environment, which not only saves time but also helps them to reduce prototype development costs.

Summary and Metrics:

• Shortened time to complete design iterations.
• Improved performance of car suspensions.
• Optimized components for strength and weight.
• Reduced number and cost of prototypes.