With Tyler Reddick’s advancement to the second round of the NASCAR Xfinity Series playoffs, an Xfinity Series regular-season championship and five first place finishes, Richard Childress Racing (RCR) is adding to its crowded trophy shelf this season thanks to its partnership with ANSYS. RCR engineers rely on ANSYS’ high-fidelity multiphysics simulation solutions to reduce the cost and time associated with physical prototyping and find new opportunities to shave precious time off laps.
The RCR team begins its engineering process with a virtual prototype of the vehicle to secure real-time analytics and better understand how it will operate in real-world conditions and on each unique track. Before every race, RCR engineers use ANSYS solutions to optimize their vehicle-balancing downforce and drag for maximum speed and performance. Through topology optimization and additive manufacturing, RCR engineers have eliminated unnecessary material from crucial vehicle components, resulting in a lighter, faster racecar without sacrificing strength or safety.
“With ANSYS, we’ve streamlined our processes and gained insights that would be impossible without simulation, and our cars are performing better than ever as a result,” said Eric Warren, chief technology officer at RCR. “Austin Dillon doubled his career pole positions this year alone and Tyler Reddick has the highest qualifying average of anyone in RCR’s 24-year history of Xfinity racing. These triumphs were possible because our engineers have the simulation solutions they need to give our drivers an edge in terms of performance and horsepower.”
“As a spectator, it’s exciting watching RCR and its drivers achieving success on the track. As a simulation provider, it’s even more fun,” said Sandeep Sovani, global director of the automotive industry at ANSYS. “RCR is using simulation in multiple facets of their vehicle design and engineering process to yield faster and more aerodynamic vehicles — and to take vehicle performance to new levels.”
