our past and future with Solar Team Twente.
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Collaboration with Solar Team Twente, a multidisciplinary student team, which is part of the University of Twente, Saxion University of Applied Sciences and ROC van Twente
Solar Team Twente is a multidisciplinary student team with one common goal: building the most efficient solar vehicle of the world. They develop a new car within only one year, which is able to drive more than 3000 kilometres. The final test is the race: the Bridgestone World Solar Challenge, driving from Darwin to Adelaide through the outback in Australia.
Collaboration between Demcon multiphysics and Solar Team Twente
Demcon supports Solar Team Twente for multiple years already and many employees were once part of the team as well. Including four employees of Demcon multiphysics. They are still in contact with the current team and visited the Car reveal two weeks ago the 22th of June. This blog will reflect on the last 4 years of cooperation and old team members.
Multiphysics engineers and their role in Solar Team Twente
Our collaboration highlights
20 years of Solar Team Twente.
2017
A better meshing and simulation approach was developed. That way more and better simulations could be run to optimize the aerodynamic drag of the solarcar.
2019
A simulation approach was set-up to investigate the influence of rotating wheels on the aerodynamics of the car, further improving the simulation capabilities.
2021
A water cooling system was developed to help cool the in-house designed electrical motor of Red Horizon. This was necessary to help conquer the mountainous terrain in Morocco.
2023
Topology optimization was utilized to help the mechanical engineers. Additionally, Marijn will travel to Australia to help the team during their upcoming race!
Our experiences
collaboration from both perspectives.
For us, Solar Team Twente was the first time that we applied CFD and dynamics in a practical way. Simulating airflow with the aim of making the car as good as possible for a race is different compared to understanding the academic theory of flow streams. On top of that, we gained more knowledge on mechanical and structural simulations and disciplines such as electromagnetics and mechatronics. In addition, we learned to systematically solve and tackle problems from different perspectives at a rapid pace. Next to the (multi)physics that we focused on, we were also engaged in finance, planning and production in a project.
This experience is of great use in our current jobs as multiphysics engineers, especially in exploratory meetings with customers to quickly understand their questions and needs. Finding out which questions need to be answered and which conditions are attached to a design is crucial to create a useful simulation to provide the best solution.
“Demcon has been providing support to the solar team in various fields for many years, Demcon multiphysics supported by performing different types of simulations. As a former team member, it is nice to be able to contribute to continuous improvements and innovations in the current team. It is also an exciting project for colleagues to work on. Solving difficult problems and pushing the boundaries of what is possible is exactly what this department does. That makes Demcon multiphysics and Solar Team Twente a great combination!”
-Joost Mulder Managing director of Demcon multiphysics
