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COSMOSM helps optimize suspended mass transit system
Company
Intermountain
Design, Inc. -
Aerobus |
Industry
Automotive / Transportation |
Location
U.S.A. |
Product Used
COSMOSM
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Type of Analysis
Linear Static,
Thermal, Optimization
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More Details
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The vehicles, suspended below the
guideway, have traction wheels powered by electric
motors that propel the vehicles at a design speed
of 50 miles per hour.
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The Challenge
Intermountain Designs, Inc. (IDI), designs and manufactures fiberglass
simulator domes, rail car interior and exterior panels, monorail light
transit vehicles, people movers and chairs for the ski and amusement
park industries.
The challenge was to create an efficient
and smoothly running suspended mass transit system with a very high
factor of safety that is within reasonable materials/manufacturing cost.
The Solution
Make an analysis model, include
live load or passenger weight and perform linear static, thermal, buckling
and fatigue analyses on it. Remodel the system with its overhead shroud
attached and perform turbulent fluid analysis with FlowPlus to simulate
its movement against wind resistance and adverse weather. And finally,
create a third model to optimize the weight of the steel frame and fiberglass
reinforced plastic sandwich components with OPTSTAR.
"The variety of different analyses
completed proved the safety factors built into the design. And we found
that optimizing the design for weight is invaluable for a system of
this nature. Obviously, being a totally suspended transit system, a
lighter design meeting all design factors is a better design."
Wayne Kennedy - Engineer
Summary and Metrics:
- Optimization permitted savings of 14% of the steel frame weight,
while still maintaining high safety criteria.
- The capability to do several different types of analysis on one
model saves us time and money in multiple model creation.
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