CIMdata PLM Industry Summary Online Archive
7 February 2011
Implementation Investments
VISTAGY Renews Status as Technical Partner to Lotus Renault GP
VISTAGY, Inc. announced that it has renewed its status as a Technical Partner to Lotus Renault GP, which will be using VISTAGY's FiberSIM(r) software and consulting services to design and manufacture composite parts for the R31 race car during the 2011 Formula One World Championship season.
Engineers at Lotus Renault GP (formerly Renault F1 Team) have depended on VISTAGY's professional services organization and FiberSIM software to reduce the time it takes to design and manufacture all the team's composite parts for the past eight seasons, including the chassis, gearbox, roll hoops, side pods, wings, and double diffuser floor. For instance, during the 2009 season, the team used FiberSIM to reduce the time it took to design and manufacture the diffuser-a part which smoothly channels air under and out of the back of the car, increasing down force, lateral grip and overall performance-from 12 weeks to six weeks, getting the new part on the car and on the track two races sooner than would have been possible otherwise.
Lotus Renault GP and VISTAGY are working closely together to develop new technologies for optimizing the composites product development process and improving the performance of the racing cars. Lotus Renault GP is particularly interested in more closely integrating its design and analysis functions. New features in FiberSIM 2010 more tightly link these two disciplines to enable more efficient transfer of composite design requirements to the engineering team. This promotes design optimization by allowing for quicker and more frequent iterations, which ultimately delivers parts of the highest durability and lowest weight possible.
Expediting the production of the vehicle is critical because each season the Formula One teams are required to completely design, analyze, manufacture, and test their cars in fewer than 180 days or risk stringent FIA penalties, or worse, the loss of an entire racing season. As a result, the teams constantly look for ways to reduce engineering cycle times and eliminate errors in design and manufacturing in order to refine the final products and meet all delivery deadlines.
"The free flow of information and expertise during the tenure of our technology partnership has significantly improved our race cars and the FiberSIM software," said James Allison, technical director at Lotus Renault GP. "This open exchange has enabled us to streamline our composites development process and optimize our composite parts, both critical to our efforts to meet our deadlines and put the best race car possible on the starting grid."
"We look forward to continuing our technology partnership with Lotus Renault GP and helping the team to reach its goals in the engineering phase as well as on the track this season," said Steve Luby, president and CEO of VISTAGY. "This is a synergistic collaboration that will help us to develop new technology that can be applied to high performance race cars and eventually production vehicles as well."
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