Politecnico of Torino Student Team Uses HyperWorks to Reduce Vehicle Weight and Fuel Consumption in Shell Eco Marathon

• Robots - Autonomous Guided Vehicles (AGV)
• Sensors - Autonomous Driving Sensors

• Aerospace
• Automotive

• Logistics & Transportation
• Product Research & Development

• Smart Parking
• Vehicle Performance Monitoring

The H2politO team, a group of students from the Politecnico di Torino, participated in the Shell Eco-marathon (SEM), a competition that challenges student teams to design, build, and drive the most energy-efficient car. The team competed in the “Prototype” category with a hydrogen fuel cell vehicle, and in the “Urban Concept” category with a hybrid vehicle. The main challenge for the team was to reduce frictions and masses to minimize fuel consumption. One of the most critical issues was the wheel rim design. Lighter rims lead to less rotating masses, reducing energy consumption and improving the dynamic behavior of the vehicle. The geometry of this specific component had to be optimized: the ideal structure and mass distribution had to be determined, while also taking manufacturing constraints into account. For these development tasks, the H2politO team had to apply sophisticated computer-aided engineering (CAE) tools which would support a simulation driven design process and enable early decision making by proposing possible design directions for further improvements of the vehicles.

The H2politO team is a group of students from the Politecnico di Torino. The students’ backgrounds and profiles are very diverse, with students coming from various engineering disciplines. Each of them contributes his or her special expertise and together they compose the team that is responsible for the car’s design and construction. The engineering disciplines involved in the project range from automotive and mechanical to electronics, aerospace, energy, mathematics, computer science, mechatronics, management, cinema & media and industrial design. The team is based in the Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department (DIMEAS) of Turin’s Politecnico, and led by Prof. Massimiliana Carello. The team’s mission is to shape a new generation of engineers: leaders in their fields, who represent the educational excellence in regard to each of their competencies.

The H2politO team applied Altair’s HyperWorks suite to design and optimize the rims. The tools enabled them to consider any technical constraints such as tire design specifications and constraints that might apply to the chosen manufacturing technology for the rims, which were in this case turning and milling. The material the team wanted to use was an aluminum alloy. To optimize the rim structure, the students used OptiStruct, Altair’s FE solver and optimization tool, which is included in HyperWorks. The first step was the definition of the component’s design space, which in this use case was the full rim cylinder (divided in different zones) including a zone for hub linkage and the tire profile. Then occurring loads and other boundary conditions were applied. The following optimization study simulated the real test for the rims, applying the forces to the most critical zone near the hub. The resulting mass distribution provided the basis for a detailed CAD model of the rim. In a last step, the team used static analyses to validate the results.

• The use of Altair’s HyperWorks suite and the included optimization tool OptiStruct allowed the team to achieve a weight reduction of around 18%, compared to last year’s wheel rim design. This weight saving reduced rotating mass, and resulted not only in less weight, but also improved the car‘s handling and dynamic behavior. The wheel rims were tested on the track during the Shell Eco-marathon Europe 2015, and demonstrated a good behavior during all steps of the race. The team was able to increase the performance of the vehicle by delivering an ideal mass distribution and by enabling a CAE-driven design process, which resulted in a more streamlined development process. One of the most important benefits of this development approach was the ability to also include the constraints of the desired manufacturing technologies.

• Weight reduction of around 18% compared to last year’s wheel rim design.
• Achieved 6th place in the competition with a consumption of 328.8 kg/m3.
• Significant mass reduction with the same mechanical performance.