No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevy driven by Jimmie Johnson
Siemens PLM Software and 12-time NASCAR Cup Series champions Hendrick Motorsports have extended their longstanding technical partnership through the 2024 racing season.
Since 1984, Hendrick Motorsports has earned a record 12 car owner championships in NASCAR’s premier division, and currently fields four full-time Chevrolet teams on the NASCAR Cup Series circuit
Teamcenter is the digital PLM backbone to help Hendrick Motorsports manage the product lifecycle for its racing operations, but is used not only CAD, CAM and simulation data, but it also encompasses a wide range of other data types, including on track performance data and build sheets.
“If we can take advantage of a change more quickly or develop and implement new ideas faster than our competition, it can result in winning races,” said Tad Merriman, engine engineering manager, Hendrick Motorsports.
“Using Siemens’ PLM Software provides a competitive advantage for our entire organisation.”
Hendrick Motorsports leverages NX software to design and optimise performance of its race cars. The design and analysis tools in NX allow team engineers to virtually build and test parts that will help maximize horsepower and performance on the track each weekend.
The Simcenter products are used to optimise performance for everything from individual parts to the behaviour of the entire car, including evaluating new components and systems, performing forensic failure analysis and decoding the mechanics of a failure that has occurred, as well as understanding generally accepted performance rules.
“What we do is like having a new product introduction every week for 38 weeks,” said Jim Wall, engine program director, Hendrick Motorsports.
“You have to reinvent yourself every single week, understanding the advantage is getting your ideas to the racetrack before someone else does. In the last decade, we have moved forward with a more optimal design from the concept stage. We are using finite element analysis as an upfront tool for the design so we don’t have to break the part before we improve it.
“We want to engineer components that allow our teams to showcase their talents to the best of their abilities.”
