Registration deadline: November 30, 2016 | Register here
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Project submissions deadline: April 30, 2017
Eligibility: Participants can be individuals or teams up to 5 people currently enrolled in a postgraduate or undergraduate university course
1st Prize: 6-month internship at Aprilia Racing
Visit of the Aprilia RC headquarters and labs
1 year of ESTECO Academy membership for each team member
2nd Prize: Visit of the Aprilia RC headquarters and labs
1 year of ESTECO Academy membership for each team member
ESTECO Academy & APRILIA Racing Design Challenge
ESTECO, Aprilia Racing, and Gamma Technologies are pleased to invite teams of undergraduate and graduate students attending the Faculties of (including but not limited to) Engineering in universities around the world, to submit a project and compete in the ESTECO Academy & APRILIA Racing Design Challenge!
Test your skills in numerical analysis, simulation, and testing to design the perfect race engine. The winning team will enjoy a job experience with the APRILIA Racing team, which during its young history already counts on several World Championship Awards.
Competing teams will enjoy a hands-on experience and learn how to balance the use of cutting edge software technology with their analytical applied mathematics background, in the quest for the optimal design.
Challenge overview
The Racing Design Challenge consists in the design of a 4 stroke single cylinder engine through multidisciplinary optimization, using principles of engineering to find the highest improvement in the engine performance, respecting the constraints and starting from the baseline configuration outlined in the presentation attached.
The submitted work should be innovative and should demonstrate the use of the modeFRONTIER optimization platform and Gamma Technologies solution. The jury will favor designs providing significant improvements in energy usage and sustainability
The most successful entries will be those that leverage advanced or novel engineering applications while adding creativity to the entire design process.
The objective of the Design Challenge is to draw students to prototyping, design and engine component manufacturing stages; the scope of the design problem is intentionally broad so as to foster creative thought and produce innovative devices.
All intellectual property (IP) generated during the Design Challenge will be wholly owned by the inventors. ESTECO, Gamma Technologies, and Aprilia Racing will not claim a stake in the students’ IP as a result of their participation in the ESTECO Academy Engine Design Challenge.
Deliverable formats
- Submissions will be judged on the basis of a technical report (maximum 20 pages) integrated by a PPT presentation (maximum 20 slides) with project strengths and the motivations behind the proposed design solution
- The technical report should clearly identify the assumptions made and the eventual limitations of the simulation model used
- Engineering choices not verified by a quantitative analysis should be justified with other means
- All submissions must be sent to academycompetition@esteco.com
The results will be judged on the basis of three criteria:
- an innovation proposed by the team compared with traditional solutions
- predicted (and justified) performances
- methodology adopted
Engine Specifications
- Displacement: 250 cc
- Cylinder bore D = 81 mm
- Stroke S = 48.5 mm
- Rev limit 17,500
- Conrod length L = 105 mm
- Throttle body diameter D_Throttle < 53 mm
- INLET Valve Diameter D_ASP <=35.5 mm (2x)
- EXHAUST Valve Diameter D_SCA <= 27.5 mm (2x)
- Valve Cams timing fix – NOT variable
- Rc <= 15.8 (compression rate)
- Fuel: STD (refer to GT-SUITE internal configuration)
- Natural aspiration (without turbo system)
- ISO Boundary conditions (air temperature, pressure, humidity)
The design team may concentrate on the optimization of the 1-D engine model respecting the overall engine specifications, identifying objectives and constraints to the problem in order to reach the best engine performances possible (measured in terms of engine power curve, as simulated within GT – POWER).
Specifically, the aspects to be modeled and improved are:
- Airbox volume and air filter surface
- Throttle valve diameter (single), no barrel or slide system
- INLET duct in the head (section and length)
- EXHAUST duct in the head (section and length)
- External exhaust pipe (section and length, no silencer)
- Intake cam duration and lift (lift < =15 mm)
- Exhaust cam duration and lift (lift <= 13 mm)
- Friction coefficient estimation
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