ANSYS Software Used by Winning University Team

SOUTHPOINTE, PA-ANSYS Inc., a provider of simulation software and technologies designed to optimize product development processes, has announced that the University of Waterloo Formula Motorsports team leveraged software from ANSYS in developing an innovative, award-winning air intake restrictor for a racecar engine.

The student team used a design of experiments procedure within ANSYS software to identify the best design candidates without building a prototype. The final result was improved air intake, enhanced overall engine performance and reduced exhaust emissions-along with a shortened development time and lower costs. For its efforts in developing the process, the Waterloo team received the Formula SAE (FSAE) CFdesign Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) Award, which recognizes the best implementation of CFD as a design tool.

The Formula SAE competition, organized by the automotive engineering society SAE International, promotes careers and excellence in engineering to college students worldwide. Teams build scaled-down formula-style autocross vehicles throughout the school year and test them at annual competitions, which judge static (such as design and cost analysis) and dynamic (including acceleration and endurance) components. The University of Waterloo team, hailing from one of Canada's premier engineering schools, has participated in the FSAE competition for 21 consecutive years.

“Fluid flow simulation is a vital tool for engine system developers,” says intake system designer Anish Ganesh, an engineering student at the University of Waterloo. “Formula Motorsport teams do not have the time or resources to construct full-size prototypes restrictors, test them and make revisions to their designs. Other than performing expensive and time-consuming physical flow-bench tests, engineering simulation is the most useful tool for intake designers. The team’s partnership with ANSYS is invaluable in our quest to develop a winning car.”

ANSYS has partnered with FSAE by providing its engineering simulation software to students who participate in the competition. Currently, nearly 50 university teams use software from ANSYS to design their formula cars.

For more information, visit

www.ansys.com.

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