Altair > Case Studies > Sustainable Boat Design: Politecnico di Torino's Success with HyperWorks

Sustainable Boat Design: Politecnico di Torino's Success with HyperWorks

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Technology Category
  • Analytics & Modeling - Digital Twin / Simulation
  • Networks & Connectivity - Ethernet
Applicable Industries
  • Buildings
  • Construction & Infrastructure
Applicable Functions
  • Product Research & Development
Use Cases
  • Digital Twin
  • Structural Health Monitoring
About The Customer
The PoliTo Sailing Team from the Politecnico di Torino is a team of 40 students divided into six groups: administration, structure, fluid dynamics, public relationship, materials, and sport. Founded in 2014, the team operates with a hierarchical structure, with a responsible manager or a team leader for each group. However, the individual opinion of each team member carries the same weight. The team also receives support from the university’s mechanical and aerospace engineering department. The basic idea behind the project is that even small teams, such as the PoliTo Sailing Team, can handle a project such as designing, building, and sailing a skiff composed of natural materials and learn from the experience.
The Challenge
The 1001VELAcup is a competition where student teams from various universities design and build their own boats to compete in regattas. The boats must adhere to specific class rules, including size restrictions and the use of sustainable materials. The PoliTo Sailing Team from the Politecnico di Torino was one of the competing teams. Their challenge was to design a boat made with 70% sustainable material, within the given size restrictions, and using Altair‘s HyperWorks suite of computer aided engineering (CAE) tools. The team aimed to improve on their previous year's performance, where they achieved an eighth and third position in the regatta. The project focused on the design and construction of a skiff, a specific type of sailboat, within the given regatta regulation. The particular challenge was that the teams had to use a specific class of materials such as recyclable and natural materials, i.e. flax fiber, basalt fiber or wood. To develop a light and stiff boat structure with the given materials, the team had to use sophisticated modeling and simulation tools to find the ideal structural shape and material layout.
The Solution
The PoliTo Sailing Team used the HyperWorks tools HyperMesh, OptiStruct and HyperView for the design and structural analysis of a part of the skiff. They started with a sketch of the boat on paper, based on the intended use cases of the skiff and the given specifications and regulations of the competition. They then created a first rough virtual model in a CAD system. After studying the worst possible load cases that could occur, the team recreated the tubular structure in HyperMesh. They characterized the material properties and determined the boundary conditions such as support points and the most dangerous load cases. The students used a particular tube section and ran the analysis with OptiStruct to get first results. When initially the desired results did not occur, the team started to run a lot of different analyses, changing the dimensions of the bar section and applying different loads. At the end of this iteration process, the students found the best configuration for their boat, combining the two preset design goals: a high structural robustness and a low weight.
Operational Impact
  • The use of HyperWorks solutions provided the PoliTo Sailing Team with numerous benefits. The software helped them calculate the deflection of the structure in the most accurate way possible, enabling the students to further reduce weight and development time. The team was very pleased with the developed structure, which showed the best performance in combination with a low weight. For future 1001VELAcup boats, the students plan to use HyperWorks to an even greater extent to achieve even better results and explore new design strategies. The project was supported by Altair Italy with documentation, software licenses, and general support via the Altair University website.
Quantitative Benefit
  • Significant reduction in weight while increasing the stiffness of the boat.
  • Saved time and costs in the design and construction process.
  • Managed to meet the requirements of the special material to find the ideal solution.

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