TECHNOLOGY PARTNERSHIPS

Polyworks

Recently, Pratt and Miller has expanded its extensive engineering capabilities with the addition of PolyWorks® 3D metrology software from InnovMetric Software Inc., a full-featured metrology software that automates and streamlines many of the operations associated with gathering and comparing dimensional data with design intent. At Pratt & Miller, PolyWorks software is being used to improve the efficiency of the company’s reverse engineering program for its GT-1 champion Corvette Racing Team, along with various other programs in which we compete.

Critical to the overall efficiency and accuracy of our test and evaluation programs is the use of computer-generated models to provide engineering insight into design concepts. In order to create these models, it is necessary to digitize certain shapes, primarily curved body parts, and use this dimensional information to create CAD models. In the past, Pratt & Miller technicians would build a model using individual data points and create curves manually from that data. This took a considerable amount of time and effort, and ultimately resulted in a less accurate process.

Since implementing PolyWorks software, we are able to quickly quantify and visualize parts made on-th-fly or modified parts. The scanning process in PolyWorks 10.1 rapidly gathers surface data in the form of millions of points and organizes it automatically, telling the user which direction is “out” on the model. Using various modules provided in Polyworks, like IMAlign, IMMerge, and IMEdit, employees at Pratt and Miller can then progress the project promptly. Projects that manually used to require 3 to 4 days to complete and analyze, now can be to the same level in less than a days worth of work. It is in the areas of data collection, polygonal modeling and rapid surfacing that PolyWorks software significantly reduces the time and cost of less automated methods of creating CAD models for analysis.

Using the CAD model, Pratt & Miller engineers can subject the virtual part to a full complement of performance evaluations including advanced computational fluid dynamics tools (CFD) to analyze the aerodynamic impact and flow field structures of vehicles as well as an Automated Dynamic Analysis of Mechanical Systems (ADAMS) model for virtual track simulations. Based on the evaluations, part design can be improved incrementally before production tooling is produced, resulting in significant savings in time and costs and a dramatic improvement in vehicle performance.