Polaris Achieves Significant Weight Reduction in Snowmobile Structures with solidThinking Inspire and OptiStruct

• Automotive
• Equipment & Machinery

• Product Research & Development

• Time Sensitive Networking

Polaris, a renowned manufacturer of snowmobiles, was faced with the challenge of reducing iterations while optimizing designs for their snowmobile structures. The Snowmobile Chassis Structures Group, responsible for design and testing, supports three different platform teams with chassis solutions for each set of requirements. The team relied heavily on computer-based design and finite element (FE) analysis in their development process. However, the existing tools were not efficient enough to meet their optimization goals. The team needed a solution that would not only help them achieve their weight reduction goals without compromising on performance but also reduce the time and effort required to complete the optimization of new snowmobile structure designs.

Polaris, based in Roseau, Minn., is a renowned manufacturer of snowmobiles. The company's Snowmobile Chassis Structures Group is engaged in design and testing that supports three different platform teams with chassis solutions for each set of requirements. Computer-based design and finite element (FE) analysis are integral parts of the Polaris snowmobile development process, as engineers work to create optimal structures that reduce weight without sacrificing performance. The team is responsible for optimizing snowmobile designs and has been seeking solutions to reduce the time and effort required to complete the optimization of new snowmobile structure designs.

The solution came in the form of coupling solidThinking Inspire with OptiStruct. Rick Kerner, Snow Group Staff Engineer, discovered solidThinking Inspire, Altair’s 3D conceptual design tool, in an online article. This tool allows engineers to generate and explore structurally efficient concepts in the earliest phases of the design process. Kerner used solidThinking Inspire for load-path ideation, creating an 'amorphous design space', applying appropriate load cases, and allowing the tool to generate a design that fit the requirements for the chassis. He then coupled the design-generation capabilities of Inspire with Altair’s OptiStruct optimization tool, using OptiStruct to conduct topology analysis on a previous chassis to see if the tool could come up with a more efficient solution for the weight and strength of a subassembly of welded tubes and brackets. The engineers also used Inspire and OptiStruct to evaluate the weight-reduction potential of substituting aluminum for steel in subassembly structures.

• The coupling of solidThinking Inspire with OptiStruct resulted in significant operational benefits for Polaris. The team was able to reduce the number of iterations required for snowmobile designs and substantially reduce the weight of those structures. The tools also made it easy for the team to conduct sensitivity studies for sets of load cases. Kerner found it easy to set up the model and load cases once he became accustomed to solidThinking. He also found it useful for managing what-if questions that arose during engineering reviews of structures. The HyperWorks units-based licensing structure also simplified the design process for Kerner, making it easy to swap between different tools without disrupting the workflow of other engineers.

• Reduced the number of iterations required for snowmobile designs
• Removed 15 to 20 percent of the weight of the previous chassis structure in its new model
• Achieved weight reduction of 35 to 40 percent per unit volume when aluminum was used instead of steel