World record breaking JCB Dieselmax owes success to UGS NX CAD

The JCB Dieselmax achieved 328.767mph, well in excess of the previous diesel powered world record of 235.756mph set in 1973 by American Virgil Snyder’s Thermo King Streamliner – although not a patch on Green’s achievement with the amazing Thurst SSC in 1997, which achieved 763mph. The diesel record breaking machine was powered by two twin-turbocharged JCB444 engines, and is being hailed as the cleanest and most efficient land speed record car ever built. It produced twice the power of an F1 car while weighing in at more than four times its weight, yet had half the fuel consumption. In fact, each JCB444-LSR engine displaces five litres, weighs 382 kg, and produces 750bhp at 3,800 rpm on a relatively low 10.5:1 compression ratio, and in excess of 1500 Nm of torque at 2,500 rpm. That engineering challenge was achieved with UGS’s NX digital product development system. NX enabled the JCB team to take early ideas right through rigorous virtual and physical testing process to produce the finished 3D model. Data from the NX solid model was then used in the manufacture of the final components that contributed to the first launch. Says JCB director of engine programmes Alan Tolley: “NX played a significant part in our eventual success. The integrity and accuracy of the NX data was something we relied on heavily throughout the development phases, while the software’s parameterisation facilities afforded the flexibility to work in an iterative way, making rapid edits as the product evolved.”