HardMarque_InspireANDEvolve_cust_story_US_WEB.pdf

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customer story
HardMarque
Automotive/Additive Manufacturing
“Using Inspire, I can design products
that are lighter and just as strong, if
not stronger than their counterparts.
The organic shapes created in
Inspire are perfectly suited for
additive manufacturing."
Nicholas Hardman
Director, HardMarque
Final titanium printed piston
HardMarque
is a digital design and manufacturing studio focused on creating “Future Factories”,
additive-manufacturing facilities that focus on just-in-time production and delivery of custom, made-to-
order parts ordered through the Internet. HardMarque feels that this type of innovation is imperative
to the future of manufacturing in its home country of Australia. This innovation can help the country
break into new markets by emerging from the constraints of traditional manufacturing.
Nicholas Hardman, Director of HardMarque is a long time CAD user who upon discovering
Evolve, was immediately taken by the organic structures created in the software, as well as its
ease of use. Nicholas noted,
Industry
Automotive/Additive Manufacturing
challenge
Reimagine the current piston design process to
manufacture a piston that is not only lighter than
the current versions, but also equally as strong.
“[Evolve] has freed me up immensely. I can truly design
in 3D on the fly as opposed to being forced to design
in a sketch-based fashion, which is essentially 2D.”
After using solidThinking Evolve, Nicholas also learned about the power of solidThinking Inspire for
concept generation and quickly realized its great value for additive manufacturing. “Using Inspire,
I can design products that are lighter and just as strong, if not stronger than their counterparts.
The organic shapes created in Inspire are perfectly suited for additive manufacturing.”
solutIon
A process incorporating both solidThinking
Inspire and Evolve for concept development
and design refinement in preparation for
titanium additive manufacturing.
results
•
Concept generation in Inspire and
refinement in Evolve.
•
Development of new piston design that
is 23.5% lighter than the original design.
•
Easy export and integration with additive
manufacturing equipment.
•
Manufactured using titanium additive
manufacturing.
InspIre and evolve In the desIgn process
One of HardMarque’s most recent projects for its “Future Factory” was a custom made, titanium
additive manufactured automotive piston. HardMarque selected titanium for this project as it
is readily available in its home country of Australia and is significantly stronger than aluminum,
which is typically used in piston production.
For Nicholas, the design process started with an existing piston for benchmarking. He used the
measurements of the piston to create an initial design space in Evolve. After the design space
was created, he exported the model to Inspire for concept generation.
In the case of the titanium piston, applying accurate loading conditions was absolutely imperative
to the process. “It’s about getting the loads going through the piston correct,” said Nicholas,
“there’s a force acting on the piston crown from the expanding combustion gas, and there’s also
lateral force acting on the sides of the piston from oil pressure against the cylinder wall.” Nicholas
collaborated directly with the solidThinking team, as well as a colleague in Melbourne with over
fifteen years of experience in piston production to apply these loads in Inspire. Nicholas used
Inspire to generate the ideal shape for the piston based on these loading scenarios.
Nicholas then imported the shape created in Inspire back into Evolve where he was able to
interpret the results into the final piston design, which was manufactured in titanium.
The final design weighed 289g, which was 23.5% lighter than the 378g original, yet just as strong.
Nicholas noted, “Decreasing the weight of the piston, as well as other automotive parts is
extremely important. This helps to make the combustion engine much more efficient and can
help to decrease fuel needs. In order to make parts lighter, you have to know where to remove
material. This is where Inspire comes into play, and it works perfectly with additive manufacturing
as there are many fewer constraints on the types of shapes you can manufacture.”
Piston design space
What’s next?
HarqMarque has quickly seen the benefits of solidThinking Inspire and Evolve for concept generation
and development. Nicholas notes that both tools have helped him to increase the efficiency of his
workflow. He is currently working on a second version of the piston that will be even lighter. The
current target weight is 250g. Once this is complete, Nicholas plans to test his creations in actual
engines prior to commercializing them in HardMarque’s “Future Factory.”
Ideal piston concept generated in
solidThinking Inspire
Final rendering of piston in solidThinking Evolve
prior to manufacturing
about hardmarque
HardMarque looks at parts and products and wonders how they
can be improved. The team tries to figure out how parts can be
made better, faster, or cheaper. HardMarque focuses on additive
manufacturing, material optimization, 3D CAD design, and 2D
CAD drafting.
HardMarque Pty Ltd
Glen Waverley
VIC 3150, Melbourne
www.hardmarque.com
solidThinking.com
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