Black Falcon uses 3D scanning to verify rebuilt Nürburgring race car
Motorsport team combines SHINING 3D scanning with repair checks, inspection and CFD work
Black Falcon, a motorsport team based at Germany’s Nürburgring, has used SHINING 3D scanning technology to verify repairs on a race car after it suffered a serious crash during the Nürburgring 24 Hours.
The car was rebuilt rather than replaced, and the scan data was used to confirm the repair had been carried out correctly before the vehicle returned to competition on the Nordschleife.
Black Falcon has competed at the Nürburgring for more than 20 years, winning the Nürburgring 24 Hours twice and recording more than 300 class victories. The team expanded its technical capabilities through a partnership with SHINING 3D following the introduction of its new Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car.
Checking repairs
Because the rebuilt car was set to return to the Nordschleife and be driven at competitive limits, Black Falcon treated the post-repair check as a distinct step between workshop work and track use.
Rather than relying solely on visual inspection or conventional measurements, engineers scanned the repaired areas to examine the geometry of the rebuilt vehicle and assess the repair results.
With the intricate and complex nature of high-performance racing mechanics, a detailed revision of repair work was necessary to ensure all fixes were robust, and SHINING 3D’s FreeScan Trak Nova scanner enabled thorough processing.
Inspection, documentation and CFD support
The FreeScan Trak Nova scanner checked for chassis and crash-structure analysis, and also documented the condition of used vehicle surfaces, including components such as the car’s front splitter. The digital data allowed engineers to retain a record of each part’s geometry for inspection and further engineering work, beyond what the physical component alone provides.
The team has also applied scanned geometry to re-engineering and CFD simulation. A splitter can be scanned to create digital geometry that then serves as the basis for CFD work, an approach Black Falcon said can reduce time and cost on certain development tasks compared with wind-tunnel testing, which it described as expensive.
The method also lets engineers work from a part’s actual geometry rather than reconstructing it manually.
