Case Studies New aluminum, electric utility transport is green in more ways than one: half the weight with 60 percent fewer welds

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	New aluminum, electric utility transport is green in more ways than one: half the weight with 60 percent fewer welds

New aluminum, electric utility transport is green in more ways than one: half the weight with 60 percent fewer welds

Technology Category	Analytics & Modeling - Predictive Analytics Functional Applications - Product Lifecycle Management Systems (PLM) Functional Applications - Remote Monitoring & Control Systems
Applicable Industries	Specialty Vehicles Transportation
Applicable Functions	Product Research & Development Quality Assurance
Use Cases	Fleet Management Predictive Maintenance Remote Asset Management Vehicle Performance Monitoring
Services	Software Design & Engineering Services System Integration Training
Challenge	Précicad faced the challenge of designing and manufacturing a small fleet of electrically powered utility vehicles with bodies and frames made of aluminum instead of steel. Aluminerie Alouette requested a load-carrying capacity of 1,000 pounds. The smelter was at the point where it needed to replace its existing vehicles, so Précicad agreed to have a working model ready within six months to a year. The vehicles needed to operate in areas with strong static magnetic fields, which regular internal combustion engines couldn't handle. Read More
About Customer	Services Précicad Inc. (Précicad) is a multidisciplinary team of engineers, industrial designers, technicians, and drafters providing consulting services for product development, with a special emphasis on industrial design, mechanical design, and finite element analysis (FEA). Their clients include notable companies such as Cirque de Soleil, Garant, RioTinto Alcan, SigmaDek, Volvo Buses, and GE Hydro. Another significant client is Aluminerie Alouette, a Canadian aluminum smelter. Aluminerie Alouette approached Précicad with a unique request to design electric utility vehicles made of aluminum to replace their existing steel vehicles. This change was driven by the need to operate in areas with strong static magnetic fields and to showcase Aluminerie Alouette's aluminum products while emphasizing environmental sustainability. Read More
Solution	Précicad utilized a combination of SolidWorks for modeling and Simcenter software from Siemens PLM Software for finite element analysis (FEA) to design the aluminum utility vehicles. The process involved importing the SolidWorks assembly model into Simcenter 3D, simplifying the geometry, creating the finite element mesh, applying loads, and indicating boundary conditions. The engineers followed an iterative process, using analysis results to optimize the design. Simcenter's fast design-analysis iterations allowed for multiple iterations in a single day, significantly speeding up the development process. Additionally, Simcenter 3D Thermal analysis software was used to research ways to make the vehicle battery operate more effectively in cold weather. Read More Log in to view content
Contents

Technology Category

Analytics & Modeling - Predictive Analytics

Functional Applications - Product Lifecycle Management Systems (PLM)

Functional Applications - Remote Monitoring & Control Systems

Applicable Industries

Specialty Vehicles

Transportation

Applicable Functions

Product Research & Development

Quality Assurance

Use Cases

Fleet Management

Predictive Maintenance

Remote Asset Management

Vehicle Performance Monitoring

Services

Software Design & Engineering Services

System Integration

Training

Challenge

Précicad faced the challenge of designing and manufacturing a small fleet of electrically powered utility vehicles with bodies and frames made of aluminum instead of steel. Aluminerie Alouette requested a load-carrying capacity of 1,000 pounds. The smelter was at the point where it needed to replace its existing vehicles, so Précicad agreed to have a working model ready within six months to a year. The vehicles needed to operate in areas with strong static magnetic fields, which regular internal combustion engines couldn't handle.

About Customer

Services Précicad Inc. (Précicad) is a multidisciplinary team of engineers, industrial designers, technicians, and drafters providing consulting services for product development, with a special emphasis on industrial design, mechanical design, and finite element analysis (FEA). Their clients include notable companies such as Cirque de Soleil, Garant, RioTinto Alcan, SigmaDek, Volvo Buses, and GE Hydro. Another significant client is Aluminerie Alouette, a Canadian aluminum smelter. Aluminerie Alouette approached Précicad with a unique request to design electric utility vehicles made of aluminum to replace their existing steel vehicles. This change was driven by the need to operate in areas with strong static magnetic fields and to showcase Aluminerie Alouette's aluminum products while emphasizing environmental sustainability.

Solution

Précicad utilized a combination of SolidWorks for modeling and Simcenter software from Siemens PLM Software for finite element analysis (FEA) to design the aluminum utility vehicles. The process involved importing the SolidWorks assembly model into Simcenter 3D, simplifying the geometry, creating the finite element mesh, applying loads, and indicating boundary conditions. The engineers followed an iterative process, using analysis results to optimize the design. Simcenter's fast design-analysis iterations allowed for multiple iterations in a single day, significantly speeding up the development process. Additionally, Simcenter 3D Thermal analysis software was used to research ways to make the vehicle battery operate more effectively in cold weather.

Impact #1	Précicad successfully created a utility vehicle that met the load-carrying capacity of 1,000 pounds, with the current design increased to 1,500 pounds.
Impact #2	The vehicle weighs only 1,500 pounds, which is half the weight of the customer's steel-framed vehicles, allowing the battery to run longer before needing to be recharged.
Impact #3	The design improvements achieved with Simcenter 3D significantly reduced production costs by reducing the number of welds by 60 percent.

Impact #1

Précicad successfully created a utility vehicle that met the load-carrying capacity of 1,000 pounds, with the current design increased to 1,500 pounds.

Impact #2

The vehicle weighs only 1,500 pounds, which is half the weight of the customer's steel-framed vehicles, allowing the battery to run longer before needing to be recharged.

Impact #3

The design improvements achieved with Simcenter 3D significantly reduced production costs by reducing the number of welds by 60 percent.

Benefit #1	The vehicle's weight was reduced by 50 percent compared to the steel-framed vehicles.
Benefit #2	The number of welds was reduced by 60 percent, leading to lower production costs.
Benefit #3	The load-carrying capacity was increased from the requested 1,000 pounds to 1,500 pounds.

Benefit #1

The vehicle's weight was reduced by 50 percent compared to the steel-framed vehicles.

Benefit #2

The number of welds was reduced by 60 percent, leading to lower production costs.

Benefit #3

The load-carrying capacity was increased from the requested 1,000 pounds to 1,500 pounds.

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Overview

New aluminum, electric utility transport is green in more ways than one: half the weight with 60 percent fewer welds

Operational Impact

Quantitative Benefit