RangeVision PRO helps create UMATEX Rosatom sports fairing for YAMAHA R3 motorcycle

Goal: To build a sports fairing for a Yamaha R3 motorcycle with improved performance to participate in the motorcycle racing championship.

Solution: RangeVision PRO, ScanCenter NG

Summary: The industrial RangeVision PRO 3D scanner was applied to digitize Yamaha R3 and R6 motorcycles. The most accurate models of serial motorcycle fairings obtained as a result of 3D scanning were modified with the use of aerodynamic 3D modeling. Eventually, the Yamaha R3 sports fairing came into being with improved aerodynamic characteristics, high strength and less weight.

Motorrika company, a dealer of Yamaha motorcycles in Russia, planned to organize the Yamaha R3 Cup, a motorcycle racing championship for the customers. The race was to be held in Moscow in the summer 2020. The organizers invited customers to try on the roles of professional racers and take part in the fight for the title of the fastest pilot of a Yamaha motorbike in Moscow.

To make an amateur championship closer to a professional level, it was decided to present a professional motorcycle tuning service for the racers. All participants were offered to upgrade their motorcycles to a professional level by installing modified sports fairings of carbon fibre. There were several reasons for this. Firstly, off-the-shelf fairings have a large weight which does not contribute to achieving high speeds on the racetrack. Secondly, standard fairings made of plastic are hard to repair and remove after they get damaged in races, moreover, it is time-consuming. All these reasons make it difficult to maintain a motorcycle and can greatly affect the outcome of the races. To give competitors opportunity for better results and more pleasure from the competition, they were proposed using composite sports fairings designed specifically for racing Yamaha motorcycles.

To implement the project Motorrika turned to UMATEX Rosatom, a company known for producing carbon fiber and products based on it. The company specialists have a wealth of experience in reverse engineering, 3D modeling and manufacturing objects of composite materials. The goal of the project was to create sports fairings for the Yamaha motorcycle line in order to increase the strength of parts and improve the aerodynamic characteristics of motorcycles.

To complete the task, the specialists had to carry out different kinds of work: digitize the object and get its 3D model, conduct aerodynamic modelling and refine the project to the required parameters, as well as produce a new part.

To perform 3D scanning of motorcycles UMATEX Rosatom team used the industrial RangeVsion PRO 3D scanner with blue structured light technology. RangeVision PRO was chosen by Rosatom professionals, because it is regarded as an ideal solution for solving reverse engineering tasks. The scanner is designed for digitizing complex objects and allows you to scan objects with the 3D resolution up to 0.05 mm and the accuracy up to 0.018 mm. Besides that, the scanner allows you to get stable quality results in different light conditions.

The motorcycle has a complex geometry with many multidirectional elements and grooves. To speed up the 3D scanning process of such a complex object and improve the accuracy of the data the specialists used markers. Despite the fact the motorcycle is a dark shiny object, the RangeVision PRO 3D scanner perfectly solved the task of scanning without the use of the matting spray that is usually applied in such cases.

To get the maximum amount of data for creating a new fairing, all motorcycles were digitized twice: with a fairing and without it. Such an approach enabled specialists to get a general geometry of the motorcycle body, as well as precise information on the mounting points and local joints of the fairing with other body elements. All this data allows creating high – precision 3D models of parts that will perfectly fit in shape, size, and mounting for a further installation on a specific motorcycle model.

Having received all the necessary information, the specialists started working on aerodynamic modelling and improvement of the fairing model. The task included performing calculations to reduce air resistance in high-speed sections, as well as to reduce the weight and boost the strength of the part.

After carrying out all the necessary activities, the team prepared the final 3D model of the new sports fairing for the Yamaha R3 motorcycle. The model was split into several parts for the production process and subsequent installation.

The production of the new fairing included the creation of moulds, putting composite materials in forms, processing materials with temperature and pressure and processing of the final part.

Picaso 3D, the largest Russian manufacturer and developer of 3D printers, was responsible for creating the moulds. The company specialists printed the tooling for the parts on a 3D printer. Carbon-filled material FORMAX was used as feedstock for the production of tooling. After the moulds for the parts were ready, UMATEX Rosatom specialists put layers of carbon in and sent them for further processing.

This project serves as an example of a really effective and modern approach to the solution of tasks, where old ways no longer work. In the old days one would have to resort to an army of specialists using the method of creating casts, and spend incomparably more time on this task than now using 3D scanners. 3D scanning technology has gone far ahead and now allows you to get models with such accuracy that it is simply impossible to get any other way.

It is not the first time that UMATEX Rosatom has applied  RangeVision 3D scanners in its projects, which proves outstanding efficiency of the scanners and high quality of the data. In one of the projects, for instance, UMATEX Rosatom developed a sports fairing for a motorcycle of Kawasaki Puccetti Racing team that managed to win impressive victories in professional motorcycle racing competitions. After the team received the motorcycle with a new composite fairing, their drivers significantly improved their speed indicators, which was the reason for a series of brilliant victories in sports competitions in 2019-2020.

If you would like to get such amazing results in your reverse engineering projects, do not hesitate to contact our team for the right solution!