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Trek Bicycle Company Leverages IoT for Enhanced Product Development
Applicable Industries
- Cement
- Metals
Applicable Functions
- Product Research & Development
Use Cases
- Mesh Networks
- Time Sensitive Networking
Services
- Testing & Certification
- Training
The Challenge
Trek Bicycle Company, a global leader in bicycle design, manufacturing, and distribution, faced a significant challenge in maintaining its competitive edge in the industry. The company's success hinged on its ability to release innovative products that met stringent strength and stiffness requirements, all while adhering to critical product launch deadlines. A specific challenge was to expedite the market release of a cycle with an assembly composed of an aluminum steer tube bonded with epoxy adhesive into a composite fork that is bolted to the wheel axle. The complexity of the assembly and the need for precision in design and manufacturing posed a significant hurdle in meeting the desired speed to market.
About The Customer
Trek Bicycle Company, headquartered in Wisconsin, U.S.A., is a global leader in bicycle design, manufacturing, and distribution. The company boasts a rich tradition of victory in the world’s premier cycling events, including seven consecutive Tour de France titles and six straight 24-hour World Solo Championships. Trek offers a broad range of bicycles and cycling products under the Trek, Gary Fisher, LeMond, Bontrager, and Klein brand names. The company is known for its commitment to innovation, quality, and performance, leading the field with forward-thinking and next-generation technology.
The Solution
To overcome this challenge, Trek Bicycle Company turned to ANSYS Mechanical software. This advanced technology was used to accurately predict stress levels in the composite and metal fork assembly. Component geometries from SolidWorks CAD models were imported into ANSYS software, where the Virtual Topology feature was used to construct a unified mesh representing the entire assembly of composite and metal parts. The software's bonded contact elements automatically configured the mesh to account for epoxied parts, thus eliminating the need for manual adjustment of mesh densities and selection of element types. The shell lay-up capabilities of ANSYS technology were instrumental in representing the complex material properties of composites in regions containing different numbers of layers aligned in various orientations.
Operational Impact
Quantitative Benefit
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