Science meets surf: The sustainable future of surfboard manufacturing
Benoit Coudray – Global Business Enablement Director, Hexagon’s Manufacturing Intelligence division
Riding the Wave of Innovation: Hexagon's Role in WYVE's sustainable surfboard manufacturing
Dive into WYVE's transformational journey of manufacturing sustainable, high-performance surfboards.
By investing their savings in research and development, they were able to design and build their first prototype: a hexagonally-shaped surfboard optimised for flexibility. Committed to environmentally friendly standards, they used 3D printing technology for their project. This technology offered them greater freedom in selecting bio-sourced materials.
Equipped with their first three prototypes, Sylvain and Léo headed to California, the epicentre of surfing culture and innovation. There, they met renowned shapers, acclaimed surfers and industry experts who shared their vision and offered expert advice to help them fine-tune their approach.
In France, WYVE realised they couldn’t offer competitive prices for their boards. Solving this involved bringing the entire innovation and manufacturing process in-house. That’s how their idea for the ‘micro-factory’ was born: a delicate balance between cutting-edge technology and expert artisan skills.
They set up shop in Anglet, in the heart of the Basque Country, and invested their funds in their first 3D printer. Their ultimate goal was to produce hundreds of customised sustainable boards.
Pushing the boundaries of peak performance
Today, WYVE’s passion for innovation and commitment to excellence stands out within the surfing community. The organisation pushes the boundaries of performance in the field of surfboard design, relying on cutting-edge, environmentally friendly technologies.
Creating a better surfboard through a scientific approach involved making many prototypes and obtaining extensive customer feedback.
To do this, WYVE hired several material and numerical calculation experts and called upon SEATECH, an engineering school based in Toulon, France, to help optimise the manufacturing process.
Hexagon and WYVE: Working together for sustainability
To create a sustainable surfboard production process that would work for WYVE, SEATECH leveraged Hexagon’s expertise.
The team defined an end-to-end workflow that used Hexagon’s software and hardware solutions at every stage. That included everything from capturing real-world data to design and validation, ensuring manufacturability and optimisation, production and, finally, quality inspection and reporting.
What follows is the complete workflow SEATECH and Hexagon engineers defined for creating WYVE’s cutting-edge surfboard design, including a breakdown of how the company used Hexagon’s technology at each stage.
Figure 1. Real-world data capture with the Absolute Arm and Absolute Scanner AS1.
Stage 1: Real-world data capture
The process begins with transforming real-time data about the initial surfboard design into digital data. The surfboard has tight tolerance requirements, and therefore requires extensive scanning to obtain a good profile for reverse engineering. Given the extensive number of design changes, frequent reprogramming is required.
To obtain the precise data required to meet strict tolerance requirements and perform quality analyses, WYVE uses Hexagon’s Absolute Arm. This all-in-one, user-friendly portable measuring arm enables fast and accurate 3D measurement that can be carried out in the design offices or on a production floor. It can be used for a wide range of tasks in challenging environments, from high-accuracy probing to high-speed 3D scanning. The Absolute Arm is fitted with an Absolute Scanner AS1 that can capture fine details that require high accuracy.
Stage 2: Design and validation
To ensure the design of each part of the new surfboard is as close as possible to the original scanned part, WYVE will need to get a real part into the CAD system.
This can be done by using Hexagon’s portable measuring arm together with its DESIGNER software’s REcreate module, a dedicated reverse engineering solution that provides a powerful and vital set of capabilities designed to streamline the reverse engineering process. The program’s features allow the integration of real parts into the CAD system while also maintaining the precise design parameters of the real-world surfboard model.
Figure 2. Reverse engineering data analysis in DESIGNER.
Stage 3: Ensuring manufacturability and optimisation
To assess the behaviour of the board under strain, the next step in the process goes back to the real-world model and calls on the use of Hexagon’s DPA Series photogrammetry solutions to measure deformations and track strategic points.
The speed and flexibility of this measurement technology allow for efficient deformation analyses on components that make it possible to solve measurement tasks with high precision and speed, while ensuring that the test object remains unchanged through a non-contact measurement process.
Given that the ideal characteristics of surfboards vary depending on the ride scenario, the WYVE team need a solution capable of finding a balance between these characteristics on each different section of the surfboard. While tricky to figure out, Hexagon’s Cradle CFD software offers the perfect solution for analysing each section of the board individually to optimise its hydrodynamic characteristics. The data from Cradle provides a thorough overview of all possible configurations and allows each section of the board to be optimised separately. This kind of analysis is vital for accelerating the learning process and capturing significant efficiency gains.
To validate the flexibility of the boards, the next step in the process calls for Hexagon’s Marc software, which delivers virtual static and dynamic structural analysis testing capabilities. This would give the team fast answers to specific “what if” analyses and allow them to extend the tests to other types of loads.
For the final part of this stage of the process, the team would need to reduce the mass of the surfboard and build a customised surface.
Using Hexagon’s Apex Generative Design software allows a design team to determine load paths while still considering manufacturing constraints. This is the key to optimising the mass and stiffness of the surfboards while also offering the innovative board shapes that have helped cement WYVE’s reputation as a producer with a unique aesthetic.
Figure 3. Deformation simulation using shop-floor photogrammetry.
Figure 4. Computational fluid dynamics analysis in Cradle.
Figure 5. Analysis of individual section contributions to drag and lift forces.
Figure 6. Structural analysis using virtual testing in MSC Marc.
Figure 7. Optimising structures in advance of production with Apex GD.
Stage 4: Production
Printing the surfboard using the fused filament fabrication (FFF) process is a true multi-scale challenge. Process parameters such as temperature, material and tool-path properties can influence the quality of printed parts, so it is important that everything is calibrated correctly.
Hexagon’s Digimat software, an additive manufacturing and simulation solution, has the facility to leverage material usage to its full potential, including improving sustainability measures by making sure the design is printed right first time. It also helps estimate printing costs and optimise process parameters to enable lightweight product design and reduce waste.
Finding the right part orientation, developing the right supporting structure and maximising printing throughout production, all while also maintaining quality, are key challenges. Hexagon’s ESPRIT EDGE software optimises orientation based on printing time, material usage and the risk of distortion. That results in a wide choice of supporting structure types and options that can meet even the most advanced requirements.
Figure 8. Digimat software simulates the additive manufacturing process
Figure 9. ESPRIT EDGE software manages additive manufacturing preparation.
Stage 5: Quality inspection and reporting
For quality control, the process once again comes back to the Absolute Arm and Absolute Scanner AS1, combined with Inspire software – a comprehensive portable metrology solution designed to simplify the process of taking measurements to save time and improve productivity.
This solution allows the team to import and use all native CAD formats with minimal training required – they are now able to compare each printed part to the original design to ensure it meets requirements.
Figure 10. Quality inspection with the Absolute Arm and Absolute Scanner AS1.
Figure 11. Metrology Reporting provides a wide range of useful measurement report options.
Figure 12. Comprehensive reports support faster and more confident decision making.
Offering superior quality products through collaboration
Collaborating with Hexagon and SEATECH has helped WYVE make a significant start on their journey to optimising the additive manufacturing process that will enable them to create a unique and sustainable surfboard from a 3D model using 3D printers. This puts them in the perfect position to offer superior quality products designed to meet the specific needs of the most demanding surfers.
With the integration of advanced scanning, reverse engineering, simulation, production and inspection solutions from Hexagon, WYVE are ready to push the boundaries of innovation by creating an ultra-performing and durable surfboard ideal for expert surfers across the world.