Ben and David are currently studying Product Design at Nottingham Trent BSc University, where they have had their first SOLIDWORKS experience but have since developed new skills after joining Solid Solutions in August 2018. With this project, they are hoping to put their creative design and engineering skills to the test to create a full-proof chassis. SOLIDWORKS was used to create the assembly for the chassis, making sure it has a sturdy base. It was then tested in SOLIDWORKS Simulation to test the strength of key areas such as the chassis itself, steering arms and the suspension arms. Ben commented, ‘Being able to use SOLIDWORKS Simulation is a huge advantage as you are able to test real-world scenarios prior to manufacture, so you can improve your models before anything is made.

Flow Simulation has also been used in the creation of the chassis to calculate drag coefficient to see exactly how streamline the car is by testing it against airflow. SOLIDWORKS Composer has been used to demonstrate the instruction manual for the chassis, by using Composer any amendments to the design are automatically reflected in the graphics.’

‘The chosen theme for our car was based on Tron Legacy films and the Light Runner car that features in the movie, this is what inspired the colour and design of the car. SOLIDWORKS Visualize made possible the visualisation of the car and how the theme shows through it when it is all built.’, says David.

Whilst creating the soapbox car, many challenges were faced such as the cart being overweight. This was made apparent when it was tested within SOLIDWORKS, to change this, the team redesigned components and used different materials to save on weight, resulting in a faster car when going down the track. They also reverse engineered the chassis to calculate dimensions, from lack of information from suppliers, to help calculate and improve the design.

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