Published 12/15/2011

Ten Technologies Supporting Performance Racing

This slide show contains a variety of manufacturing solutions on display at the recent Performance Racing Industry Show.

Automotive

Derek Korn

Executive Editor, Modern Machine Shop

Centroid offers a cylinder head porting system that achieves five-axis movement using a tilt table. The table uses a ballscrew drive to provide B-axis motion around a central pivot point.

Sunnen showed a proof of concept version of its SV20 honing machine. The production model, which will be available in June, will come with full guarding. The competitively priced machine uses a linear vertical servo stroker motor for true vertical stroke and consistent crosshatch pattern throughout a bore.

The Lincoln Electric Company has partnered with the American Welding Society to provide a cool, hands-on welding experience to attract new people to the profession: the VRTEX 360 virtual reality arc welder. It enables users to get first-hand experience with SMAW (stick), GMAW (mig) and FCAW (flux-cored) welding processes.

One of the machines on display in Mazak’s booth was this Quick Turn Smart 200M. Company representatives say shops serving the racing industry are starting to embrace more sophisticated machines such as turning centers like the 200M that offer live tooling stations for milling and drilling.

Rottler’s F70 series of multiple-purpose CNC machining centers are primarily designed for both small- to medium-sized diesel engine rebuilders as well as the racing engine builders. When used in conjunction with Rottler CAM software, the machines are able to perform common jobs such as boring/sleeving, surfacing (for heads and blocks), main and camshaft line boring, and general industrial CNC machining.

This new vacuum system from Jet collects grinding debris to help maintain a clean shop.

Many racing components require force testing. Starrett’s FMS series of force measuring systems is designed for universal testing of tension, compression, cyclic, flexural, creep and so on. The series is available in four models with load capacities ranging from 500 N to 5 kN.

Quality surface finish is imperative for many racing components. Mitutoyo offers both benchtop and portable surface roughness testers as well as the choice of data analysis by PC or dedicated processor.

Trumph’s TruMark 6030 marking laser is well-suited for processing metal components for automotive, aircraft and medical applications that have strict traceability requirements.

PRI is a great show for Dynabrade, which offers a range of industrial abrasive power tools for grinding, deburring, filing, sanding and polishing applications.

Earlier this month, I got to attend the 24^th annual Performance Racing Industry Show in Orlando. The PRI Show offers the latest advances in race products and engineering, such as engine parts, suspension components, data acquisition, electronics, safety gear, machining equipment and new metal alloys and coatings. It’s the world’s largest racing trade show, and this year’s event attracted 38,000 attendees and more than 1,000 exhibitors. Racing enthusiasts must feel like kids in a candy store walking the aisles of this show.

This is the second time I’ve attended the PRI Show, which is nice being the car guy that I am. I like the neat vibe you feel as you walk the show. The people there are passionate about racing, whether it’s their hobby or their business.

What I also appreciate, and I hope others who attend do as well, is the degree to which advanced manufacturing technology enables companies to create innovative new racing products. Some such equipment was on display in the show’s “Machinery Row,” Click through the slide show below to see some manufacturing solutions that caught my eye.