Case Study: Segway achieves accurate stress and fatigue prediction for complex HT designs with ANSYS Multiphysics

Creating Empowered Pedestrians with ANSYS Multiphysics

Segway faced the challenge of validating the performance of multifunctional, nonlinear components packed into the compact Segway HT chassis—a design meant to carry operators up to 250 pounds and house motors, batteries and electronics with complex “swoopy” geometry that defeated simple calculations. To address this, Segway worked with ANSYS using ANSYS Multiphysics to analyze structural, thermal and NVH behavior across components, sub-assemblies and full assemblies.

ANSYS applied Multiphysics simulations to quickly mesh and analyze the large, nonlinear geometries, accurately predicting stress and fatigue “hot spots” and wheel load conditions; those predictions were validated with physical testing on a proprietary fatigue-testing machine whose design was itself guided by ANSYS analyses. The ANSYS-driven approach prevented major redesigns, ensured component and test-rig durability, and accelerated Segway’s development cycle by providing reliable, measurable performance forecasts.

Segway

Mike Martin

Head of the Mechanical Integrity Group