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Fitting
custom cages to ARRC's standards means that the tubes should be as tight a fit
as possible to the car's body. We
use Bend Tech software to design the required
bends. The program allows for different materials, different tube sizes, different
wall thickness and the inevitable "spring back" which occurs after bending. |
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Our standard full 3D CAD package
is Ironcad, Andy and Luke Robinson are both fully trained users. Click
 to visit their site.
We use Ironcad to design parts for outside manufacture. This example was
developed by Andy and Luke to provide inboard disc brakes for an independent
rear end. An outside contractor then used CNC machines to make these brackets
from the ARRC developed model.
Click
3D to view this model with full rotation and
zooming using Adobe Acrobat ... the model does take a little while to load.
You can download the latest free version of Acrobat reader
here .
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This shows the original bearing
carrier housing in silver with the new design in black which includes caliper
mounts. |
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And the complete assembly with
discs mounted to the drive shaft inners. |
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Ironcad allows us to
reverse engineer existing products. We used it to create a model of a
damaged chassis brought in for replacement so we could check out the finished chassis for
dimensions.
Click
3D to view this model with full rotation and
zooming using Adobe Acrobat ... the model does take a little while to load.
You can download the latest free version of Acrobat reader
here .
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The use of Ironcad
also enables ARRC to accept customer CAD models as input to
the fabrication process. Typical file formats used for this are IGES or Autocad dwg. |
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The calculations involved in
setting up the typical 4 link suspension can be done by hand but the use of
this program speeds up the process enormously. This in turn allows for a
number of alternatives to tried quickly in order to find the optimum. This is
a classic example of computer garbage in - garbage out because any error in
measurement for input to the program can easily multiply the error in results. |
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Independent suspension geometry is even more complex and we use this suspension analyser
to search for the optimum dimensions. Most often this will be for circuit cars
or road cars; our extensive experience with drag racing chassis means that
appropriate geometry will be built in and this program used as a check and
balance rather than creating from scratch. |
