McLaren - Full Vehicle Modeling
As a company, McLaren been using 3DCS since 2010. They started out with a basic model, very basic in the terms of the results and analysis, but now they are using complex models at several stages of the design process.
McLaren Objectives:
1. Model the entire vehicle (350 parts, 5400 points, 2500 tolerance groups)
2. Simulate fixture and process performance, and propose solutions to issues
3. Confirm and validate datum structure, tolerances, and critical features
McLaren starts right at the beginning of the project, when the car is just a styling theme. They work with the concept engineers on how to break up the panels and align those parts to each other as well as the structural elements of the car. The team then moves on to the design and development stages, which is analyzing the gap and flush conditions. That is the core part of what the dimensional team does. They approve all the engineering releases for all the parts. In doing so, they confirm that all of the geometry, all of the GD&T matches what is in the 3DCS model. The team then moves on to pre-production phases, confirming that what is actually being built is what they intended to build, and correcting any design engineering at that point before handing over the car to the series production team.
