Altair Case Studies Revolutionizing Bicycle Crank Design with IoT: A Case Study on Race Face

	Revolutionizing Bicycle Crank Design with IoT: A Case Study on Race Face Altair

Revolutionizing Bicycle Crank Design with IoT: A Case Study on Race Face

Altair

Technology Category	Functional Applications - Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES)
Applicable Industries	Metals
Applicable Functions	Product Research & Development
Use Cases	Additive Manufacturing Facial Recognition
Services	Hardware Design & Engineering Services
Challenge	Race Face, a leading designer and manufacturer of performance cycling products, was faced with the challenge of designing and manufacturing a bicycle crank with increased stiffness and strength targets, without adding any weight to the current aluminum alloy part. The new crank also had to maintain strength targets. The constraints were to manufacture in a cost-effective way that minimized tooling cost and processing of each part. Traditionally, Race Face attempted to maximize stiffness using an I-beam cross-sectional design, optimizing the crank arm at the moment of inertial at various sections. From there, Race Face would run a finite element analysis, make changes and recheck until stresses were minimized for the desired shape and weight. Read More
About Customer	Race Face Performance products is a leading designer and manufacturer of performance cycling products. Based in Vancouver, B.C. Canada, Race Face has distribution in over 40 different countries. It specializes in performance cycling components, clothing, and protection. It has been in business for over 20 years. The company is known for its innovative approach to design and manufacturing, always pushing the boundaries of what is possible in the cycling industry. With a strong focus on performance and quality, Race Face is committed to delivering products that meet the highest standards of durability, functionality, and aesthetics. Read More
Solution	Race Face incorporated solidThinking Inspire into their design process to generate the ideal concept for a forged part. This software allowed Race Face to better understand material placement within its designs and speed up the design process. The built-in manufacturing constraints in Inspire helped Race Face to design for its 2D forging process. The concept generated in Inspire was significantly different than the I-beam architecture that Race Face had traditionally used. Race Face then used this updated design space to generate concepts for both maximum stiffness and minimum mass. The concepts were then imported into a CAD program to build a final design. The final creation is a crank arm that is 25-50% stiffer at the same weight as the previous generation crank arm and much stronger. Read More Log in to view content
Contents

Technology Category

Functional Applications - Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES)

Applicable Industries

Metals

Applicable Functions

Product Research & Development

Use Cases

Additive Manufacturing

Facial Recognition

Services

Hardware Design & Engineering Services

Challenge

Race Face, a leading designer and manufacturer of performance cycling products, was faced with the challenge of designing and manufacturing a bicycle crank with increased stiffness and strength targets, without adding any weight to the current aluminum alloy part. The new crank also had to maintain strength targets. The constraints were to manufacture in a cost-effective way that minimized tooling cost and processing of each part. Traditionally, Race Face attempted to maximize stiffness using an I-beam cross-sectional design, optimizing the crank arm at the moment of inertial at various sections. From there, Race Face would run a finite element analysis, make changes and recheck until stresses were minimized for the desired shape and weight.

About Customer

Race Face Performance products is a leading designer and manufacturer of performance cycling products. Based in Vancouver, B.C. Canada, Race Face has distribution in over 40 different countries. It specializes in performance cycling components, clothing, and protection. It has been in business for over 20 years. The company is known for its innovative approach to design and manufacturing, always pushing the boundaries of what is possible in the cycling industry. With a strong focus on performance and quality, Race Face is committed to delivering products that meet the highest standards of durability, functionality, and aesthetics.

Solution

Race Face incorporated solidThinking Inspire into their design process to generate the ideal concept for a forged part. This software allowed Race Face to better understand material placement within its designs and speed up the design process. The built-in manufacturing constraints in Inspire helped Race Face to design for its 2D forging process. The concept generated in Inspire was significantly different than the I-beam architecture that Race Face had traditionally used. Race Face then used this updated design space to generate concepts for both maximum stiffness and minimum mass. The concepts were then imported into a CAD program to build a final design. The final creation is a crank arm that is 25-50% stiffer at the same weight as the previous generation crank arm and much stronger.

Impact #1	The use of solidThinking Inspire for concept generation greatly sped up Race Face's product design process while creating a uniquely designed product that is much stronger than its predecessor. The ability to generate ideal concepts before starting detailed design in CAD helped to decrease design iterations. Manufacturing constraints such as symmetry and draw direction helped the team to design a part that was ready to be manufactured using 2D forging. The result was a bicycle crank arm that is not only stiffer than the previous generation but also extremely uniquely designed. Moving forward, Race Face plans to continue to use solidThinking Inspire and hopes to reduce the weight of their designs even more.

Impact #1

The use of solidThinking Inspire for concept generation greatly sped up Race Face's product design process while creating a uniquely designed product that is much stronger than its predecessor. The ability to generate ideal concepts before starting detailed design in CAD helped to decrease design iterations. Manufacturing constraints such as symmetry and draw direction helped the team to design a part that was ready to be manufactured using 2D forging. The result was a bicycle crank arm that is not only stiffer than the previous generation but also extremely uniquely designed. Moving forward, Race Face plans to continue to use solidThinking Inspire and hopes to reduce the weight of their designs even more.

Benefit #1	Concept generation in Inspire utilizing manufacturing constraints, symmetry and draw direction.
Benefit #2	Creation of forging tooling based on concepts generated in Inspire.
Benefit #3	Development of a new bicycle crank design that is 25-50% stiffer at the same weight as the original part.

Benefit #1

Concept generation in Inspire utilizing manufacturing constraints, symmetry and draw direction.

Benefit #2

Creation of forging tooling based on concepts generated in Inspire.

Benefit #3

Development of a new bicycle crank design that is 25-50% stiffer at the same weight as the original part.

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Overview

Revolutionizing Bicycle Crank Design with IoT: A Case Study on Race Face

Operational Impact

Quantitative Benefit