Case Study: RCR (Richard Childress Racing) achieves fast, exact digital replication of hand-ground intake manifolds with 3D Systems (Geomagic Design X)

RCR Recreates Hand-Ground Intake Manifold Using Geomagic Software

Richard Childress Racing (RCR) discovered a one-off, hand-ground intake manifold on Kevin Harvick’s #29 car that produced noticeably more horsepower and usable RPMs than their standard parts. The team needed to reproduce that exact shape quickly and consistently for multiple cars, but manual copying was not repeatable and initial scan-to-CAD attempts failed to produce usable surfaces in the time available.

RCR used a Brown & Sharpe CMM to capture point-cloud data and Geomagic Design X to automatically generate watertight NURBS surfaces, then exported the model to Pro/ENGINEER and a five-axis CAM system. CNC machining produced identical manifolds in seven hours (vs. 35 hours by hand) within ±0.010" tolerance; the duplicates matched the original’s dyno performance and are now used across RCR’s Nextel Cup cars.

RCR

Rick Grimes

Manufacturing Manager