Siemens Software Accelerates ORECA Group High Performance Racing Vehicle Development

Siemens Digital Industries Software and the ORECA Group have established a technical cooperation to implement advanced simulation technologies for high-performance racing vehicle development. This partnership replaces legacy systems with integrated digital twin software to enhance engineering workflows in elite motorsport programs, including the Le Mans 24 Hours initiative with Ford Motor Company.

Industrial Challenge and Collaborative Rationale
Developing competitive motorsport assets requires rapid iteration cycles where aerodynamic efficiency and structural integrity must be optimized simultaneously. Physical wind tunnel and track testing are constrained by tight regulatory timelines and high operational costs. To overcome these limitations, the ORECA Group required a unified digital infrastructure capable of executing multi-physics simulations. The complexity of combining fluid dynamics with structural composite analysis necessitated a software suite that could streamline data transfer between engineering disciplines and eliminate silos present in legacy computational fluid dynamics (CFD) environments.

Technical Solution and Functional Architecture
The deployed solution integrates Siemens' Simcenter STAR-CCM+ software and Simcenter Optistruct software into a cohesive digital twin framework. ORECA utilizes Simcenter STAR-CCM+ to manage complex CFD workflows and execute multi-physics simulations. This software models interacting physical phenomena by combining aerodynamic forces, thermal behavior, and brake-system thermal degradation into a single computational model.

Concurrently, Simcenter Optistruct is applied to analyze and optimize carbon-fiber composite layups. This structural optimization tool evaluates the fiber orientation and layer stacking sequences of performance-critical components. By utilizing these parallel digital tools, engineering teams can precisely calculate and balance the trade-offs between structural stiffness and component weight, ensuring safety margins are met without compromising vehicle dynamics.

Workflow Integration and Operational Deployment
The implementation phase focuses on replacing ORECA's legacy CFD infrastructure and embedding the new tools directly into the engineering team's daily design-to-simulation workflow. The software architecture utilizes open interfaces to facilitate continuous data exchange between aerodynamicists and structural engineers. Siemens provides technical support to ensure the software leverages high-performance computing (HPC) clusters efficiently, allowing ORECA to run high-resolution meshes and complex solver iterations within compressed development schedules.

Engineering Applications and Industrial Impact
The primary application areas include high-performance sports prototypes and GT racing cars. By utilizing virtual-first development methodologies, the collaboration reduces dependency on physical prototyping and iterative wind-tunnel testing.

The operational benefits of this engineering approach include increased process stability, enhanced simulation accuracy, and shorter time-to-market for aerodynamic updates. The mechanisms established through this digital twin environment provide a scalable framework. While optimized for the extreme demands of motorsport, these software-driven engineering workflows are directly transferable to broader automotive and advanced manufacturing sectors facing similar complex engineering constraints.

Edited by Evgeny Churilov, Induportals Media - Adapted by AI.

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