Egg-cellent Engineering: Find Out Who Did Not Crack Under Pressure 

A high-stakes engineering showdown is underway: two innovative designs face off with a single mission—protect a fragile egg from the crushing force of a falling brick. This challenge isn’t just about clever designs; it’s a test of creativity, precision, and resilience under pressure. Enter the contenders:  

• The Thundercone - featured a conical structure with a hanging basket at the center to hold the egg. This shape was intended to deflect the falling object and distribute the impact force. 
  
  
  

   

• The Humpty Dumpty Defender - This design consisted of three main parts: a sliding faceplate, a protective cage, and a cradle for the egg. The faceplate was meant to absorb the brunt of the impact, while the cage and cradle ensured the egg remained stable.

Which design will triumph in this ultimate test of engineering ingenuity? Let’s dive into the challenge details, the design teams, and the stakes that make this battle one for the books. 

Set-Up of the Challenge

The challenge was simple yet unforgiving: the egg must endure the impact of a brick dropped from heights of 2-4 feet (if the competition heats up, we might take the stakes even higher—literally). Designs were judged on their creativity, functionality, and resilience, pushing participants to think beyond the ordinary. Both models were printed on our Stratasys F370. The material of choice? Nylon CF10, a carbon fiber filament made of nylon with 10% chopped carbon by weight. This composite is much stronger than nylon alone, making it ideal for lightweight, durable 3D prints.  

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Due to weather conditions, we decided to move our competition to our additive manufacturing lab. Don’t worry—no machines were harmed in the process! Before the official showdown, we held a trial session, dropping bricks on old 3D prints gathering dust around the office. It was the perfect warm-up for the ultimate test of engineering grit. 

Introducing the Teams and Their Perspectives 

The faces behind Thundercone – Fred Compton, Cam Murray, Jim Foy and Raistlin Skelley.

“The purpose behind the Thundercone design is that we wanted it to survive the brick with the outer shell which is almost like a sacrificial piece to say in a certain way where we're expecting it to break. We also added a little basket on the inside which is hanging and the whole point of it is to try to reduce extra vibration from the initial shock to allow it to rotate and kind of swing if it needs to. We also added a little ‘hit me’ on the top as a bit of humor, but we ended up finding out that this works slightly as a crumple zone in the simulations that we performed.” – Fred Compton 

The faces behind the Humpty Dumpty Defender – Dave Murray, Autumn Dekay, Chris Card and Jeff Parker.

“The team got started by having everyone come up with their own designs and load them onto the 3DEXPERIENCE platform where they did design reviews. The team ultimately picked the Humpty Dumpty Defender – a design that would allow for the brick to hit a sliding plate, hoping the plate will slide off after impact and underneath we have our egg protector that should hold the egg perfectly in place.” – Tom DiLaura 

Stephen Zalys, our Simulation Product Manager, brought his expertise to the forefront during the Egg Drop Challenge by running advanced simulations using Structural Mechanics Engineer on the 3DEXPERIENCE platform. Collaborating with our technical support engineers, Stephen analyzed the protective models, pushing the limits of their designs under real-world conditions. One of the most intriguing moments came when the Thundercone design made the brick bounce back into the air upon impact which happen during our live test as well. 

Stephen Zalys

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Matt Corcoran, our Senior Additive Manufacturing Application Engineer, also played a pivotal role in ensuring the success of the Egg Drop Challenge. With his expertise in the field, Matt helped the teams navigate complex questions about transforming their designs into reality. He also utilized GrabCAD to run weight calculations, providing critical insights into the feasibility of their models. 

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Let the Competition Begin (Watch the full video below) 

Make sure to watch as things take an unexpected turn! 

The Results Are In 

And that’s a wrap! Thundercone totally dominated. Congratulations on the outstanding win, team! 

Key Takeaways and What to Expect Next! 

This competition provided invaluable lessons in engineering principles, design challenges, and ingenuity. We put our engineering teams' designs to the ultimate test and highlighted the incredible talent within CADimensions. Ready to take your projects to the next level? We challenge YOU to test the limits of your business through our capabilities and team collaboration. Also, keep an eye out for future CADimensions competitions and projects as we continue to redefine what’s possible. 

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