Renault F1 Team on Developing Composite Racecars In 6 Months

LWV5 ConferenceOctober 6, 2003

Alex EdwardsVISTAGY, Inc.

F1 Design Challenges

Get It Right the First Time PhilosophyFIA Testing

– Side Impact Tests– Nose Push Off Test– Nose Impact Testing– Rear Impact Testing– Roll Hoop Tests

Reducing WeightMaintaining Desirable Design Characteristics

Composite Design/Manufacturing Timescales

Very short timescales to design and manufacture the car

Composite Parts Use

ChassisRear Wing AssemblyFront Wing AssemblyBodyworkWishbonesBrake DuctsDrivers Seat

Previous Nosebox Composite Design Process Design Challenges

Produce CATIA V4 skin or solid of componentCreate major ply boundaries in 3D spaceCreate 2D viewsProject ply boundaries from 3D to 2DCreate extra 2D geometryAnnotate drawings (ply number, sequence, orientation)Dimension drawingsNO ASSOCIATIVITY OF GEOMETRIC DATA OR PLY DATA

FiberSIM Requirements

Ensure consistent quality of components (especially those previously ratified by the FIA)Fully integrate with CATIA V4 and VPMReduce time for design and manufacturing process as a wholeProvide tailored training solutionOffer superior support package- Staff knowledgeable in composite materials and

processesProvide full associativity of design data with ease of modification

R23 Nosebox Design Requirements

Reduce weightMaintain aerodynamic shape as specified by the Aerodynamics DepartmentEnhance design to improve structural integrity whilst using simpler manufacturing process

CATIA Model Preparation– FiberSIM provided starter model containing drawing

templates and Renault F1 Team defined annotation– Component and pattern surfaces used to create a

skin– All skin non-tangencies must be filleted– Ply boundaries created on skin (use of layers

important)

R23 Nosebox Design Using FiberSIM 3.5

FiberSIM Design Process– Laminate definition – specify tool surface– Rosette definition – specify fibre direction reference– Ply definition – material, fibre direction, boundary,

etc.– Drawing creation – plybooks, cross sections, ply

tables– Producibility assessment and generation of flat

patterns– Data transfer to production – laser projection,

automated cutter– Input to analysis – enables rapid design iterations

R23 Nosebox Design Using FiberSIM 3.5

Curve utilities – curve offset and curve from points (very powerful tools)Design stations – aid in the evaluation of design criteriaPart attribute calculations – weight, c.g., area, costAuto ply dropoff – decrease time to define layupZone utilities – create plies from zonesLaminate mirror – define above core plies in one step

FiberSIM Utilities

Auto-chaining of ply boundaries – no need to create single concatenated curve boundariesSplicing – automatic tools allow rapid ply definitionDarting – 3D dart geometry created/modified quickly3D Cross Sections – allow easy part visualizationManufacturing Trim – automatically defined for rapid transition to productionSkin Swap – allows rapid modification when design changes are required

FiberSIM Utilities

Ply Defined – Initial FiberSIM Producibility

Initial Producibility Results

Initial Flat Pattern for Cutting Machine

Darts Defined to Resolve Manufacturing Issues

Revised Producibility Results

Revised Flat Pattern for Cutting Machine

Laser Data Generation

Ply Book Generation (1)

Ply Book Generation (2)

Effectively manage all composites dataAble to do more work in 3D (created detailed ply boundaries)Automatically created engineering drawings and manufacturing plybooksProvided full associativity of geometric and non-geometric dataFLAT PATTERN AND PRODUCIBILITY DATA PROVIDED FOR FREELASER DATA PROVIDED FOR FREE

Improvements in FiberSIM Process Over Original CATIA Process

Nose 12% lighter than last yearFiberSIM weight prediction was 99% of actualFiberSIM-predicted darts aligned correctly in mould toolPlybook modifications required minimal timeReduction in man hours for design and manufacturing process

Results of Trail (1)

Total process time reduced by eliminating the need to create ply templates

Results of Trail (2)

XXLaser Output

XXDXF Output

XXXXPlybooks

Group 4(e.g., Brake

Ducts)

Group 3(e.g., Chassis)

Group 2(e.g., Front & Rear Wings)

Group 1(e.g., Floor)

FiberSIMProcess

(Full/Partial)

Classification of Parts

60% of F1 teams with CATIA V4 use FiberSIMFiberSIM 3.5.1 has Renault F1 Team-specific enhancements (available to all 3.5.1 users)Composites software is the core of VISTAGY’s business

– FiberSIM has proven track record in aerospace composites market

– Used on 90% of all production programs

– UK support is 30 minutes from Enstone site– Entire support staff has experience in composites

design and manufacturing– Able to provide answers within 24 hours

Renault F1 Team and VISTAGY Partnership

In preparation for designing the 2005 car:Further benchmarking of FiberSIM 4.x to be completed in January 2004Starting complete composite process pilot of CATIA V5 in February 2004All designers are to be trained on V5 in June/July 2004All designers to be trained on FiberSIM 4.x in August 2004Existing FiberSIM 3.5.x data will transfer seamlessly to FiberSIM 4.x

Transition to CATIA V5

FiberSIM 4.0 on CATIA V5Producibility Simulation

FiberSIM 4.0 on CATIA V5Flat Pattern Generation

Partnership between VISTAGY and Renault F1 Team enables Renault to be involved in the development of FiberSIM 4.x

– Resulting tool will be well-suited for handling the challenges of Formula 1 design

– Faster composite development process for automotive applications

Even More Success Expected with FiberSIM 4.x on the 2005 Car