Implementation of NX software, Simcenter software, and Teamcenter software

Siemens PLM Software and Hendrick Motorsports, a 12-time NASCAR Cup Series winner, announced that they are extending their long-standing technology partnership through the 2024 racing season.

Hendrik Motorsport is one of the top 15 teams to have won the NASCAR National Series title. Hendrik Motorsport's engine engineering department began using software in the early 1990s and has been using Siemens PLM Software's solutions since 1997. To meet its product development requirements, Hendrik Motorsport adopted Siemens PLM Software's NX, Simcenter, and Teamcenter software, and sought to enhance its competitiveness by building digital twins every week before the drivers entered the main race.

"I believe that if we can take advantage of change more quickly and develop and implement new ideas faster than our competitors, we can achieve the result of winning races. We are gaining a company-wide competitive advantage by using Siemens PLM software," said Tad Merriman, Engine Engineering Manager at Hendrik Motorsports.

Hendrik Motorsports designs and optimizes race car performance using NX software, a comprehensive digital product development solution from Siemens PLM Software. Team engineers utilize NX's design and analysis tools to virtually design and test parts. This helps maximize the horsepower and performance of the race car at the actual race track every weekend.

Through Teamcenter, a digital lifecycle management solution, Hendrik Motorsports can manage the entire lifecycle of race operations. The Teamcenter solution forms a digital backbone, ensuring that requirements are properly reflected in the design and allowing engineers and other stakeholders to access information anytime, anywhere.

Along with CAD, CAM, and CAE information, various data including track performance data and build sheets are organized and connected in a way that everyone in the organization can understand. By using this digital twin, data can be accessed quickly and easily, helping to provide consistency and efficiency to the entire team.

“The Hendrik Motorsport team demonstrates how effective digital twins are in fast-paced environments like racing. This partnership extension proves how well our collaboration has worked over the past few years. The tremendous success the Hendrik team has achieved is in the same vein.” "I also have high expectations for the achievements to be made over the next seven years," he said.

Hendrik Motorsports utilizes the Simcenter portfolio to optimize performance ranging from individual components to the overall operation of the vehicle. This includes the evaluation of new components and systems, pre-launch design optimization, forensic analysis and decoding of the mechanisms of failures, and an understanding of generally accepted performance regulations.

Jim Wall, Engine Program Director at Hendrick Motorsports, said, “What we do is like launching a new product every week for 38 weeks. We have to rediscover ourselves every week. Understanding strengths means being the first to bring ideas to life on the racing track. Over the past decade, we have progressed from the concept stage to increasingly optimized designs. Because we use finite element analysis (FEA) as a preliminary design tool, there is no need to disassemble parts before improvements are made.” "I intend to engineer the parts so that our team can perform to the fullest," he said.