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Sunday, 07 March 2010 17:38 |
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Author: Robert - Global Formula Racing Followers of the Formula SAE and Formula Student series will witness a groundbreaking event in the 2010 racing season. The BA Racing Team from the Duale Hochschule Baden-Württemberg-Ravensburg (DHBW-R), Germany, and the Beaver Racing Team from Oregon State University (OSU) have combined forces this year with the goal of competing as a single international entity.This innovative global collaboration is the first of its kind in the history of both the US-based Formula SAE and EU-based Formula Student programs and is the result of three years of discussions and planning between team members and faculty from both universities. Previously, DHBW-R and OSU students have collaborated on designing certain aspects of one another’s vehicles. This year the collaboration has moved to a whole new level: The two universities have designed an entire car together and are entering the US and EU competitions as one and the same team: Global Formula Racing (GFR). DesignDuring a series of meetings held in Germany in August 2009, GFR team leaders decided on the overall concept for the 2010 car: an ultra-lightweight vehicle with a full monocoque chassis and single cylinder engine. This concept has been realized over the last several months through trans-Atlantic collaborations on virtually all subsystem design tasks:- A team of students from both universities designed the suspension.
- The CFRP (carbon fiber) monocoque chassis was designed and analyzed by DHBW-R students while OSU students concurrently developed the CFRP manufacturing processes and designed the chassis interfaces.
- Engine development was also split between the universities, with engine simulation studies done at DHBW-R and physical validation of those simulations at OSU.
- DHBW-R students did electronics design.
In any team design project, frequent communication between members is a critical ingredient of project success. Because GFR team members are based at two different sites, this communication must be conducted virtually—and the fact that these sites are nine time zones apart has presented unique logistical challenges. Project meetings occur frequently and are held at all hours of the day and night. Communication tools include a variety of virtual teaming technologies, including Skype, Google Documents, Catia V5 and Teamcenter Engineering. ManufacturingThe collaboratively developed GFR design is being used to manufacture two identical cars—one at the OSU campus in Corvallis, Oregon, USA, and the other at the DHBW-R campus in Friedrichshafen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Effective supply chain management is a significant challenge in this effort, the biggest concern being where to purchase and manufacture vehicle parts. For each manufactured part, the team has had to decide whether to (1) manufacture two parts in Germany and ship one to the US; (2) manufacture two parts in the US and ship one to Germany; or (3) manufacture one part in each location. Off-the-shelf purchases require similar decisions. In a trans-Atlantic design collaboration, manufacturing capabilities, shipping costs, taxes and tariffs, and lead times must all be considered.ManagementClearly, managing such a venture is a not simple task, and GFR has developed a unique project management structure to deal with its globally distributed design, manufacturing and supply chain management issues. Upper management consists of a steering committee comprising graduate student advisors and faculty members from each university. This committee is responsible for high-level decisions regarding team structure and management. Undergraduate student leaders at both locations manage design, manufacturing logistics, communication channels and daily team operations and advise team members. Sub-teams of students from both schools handle detailed design and manufacturing responsibilities.CompetitionsThe Global Formula Racing team is registered for four 2010 competitions: Formula SAE Michigan, Formula SAE California, Formula Student UK, and Formula Student Germany. Students from both universities will participate in each of these events. They will use the vehicle assembled at OSU for the US competitions and the one assembled at DHBW-R for the European competitions.
GFR 2010 DHBW-R and OSU students are working effectively to design and build an excellent vehicle. By combining knowledge, experience, and resources of two top-10 teams from 2009, the Global Formula Racing team expects to be very competitive in the 2010 international events. GFR team members and supporters are excited to see what this season will bring. We look forward to seeing you on the track!
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Monday, 15 February 2010 18:16 |
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 Queensland is renowned for many things - pristine coastlines (littered with beaches to die for), a climate that screams of tropical perfection and an atmosphere that makes the average sloth look like a high-speed action-seeking hero. As if that weren’t enough, the state can boast of another undeniable drawcard to be proud of.
But it’s far from sand, surf and sunnies.
It’s a Formula SAE team.
Nestled within the heart of the city of Brisbane, settling in between its famous river and bountiful parklands, is the Queensland University of Technology. Whilst the cluster of ornate buildings and blend of history versus technology stand loudly and proudly against the backdrop of arguably one of the most beautiful cities in the world, it’s the small workshop underneath the discrete setting of the Civil Engineering block where QUT’s giant-killing Formula SAE team work their magic.
As far as experienced Formula SAE teams go, QUT’s version are only puppies - having been founded in 2003 after much heated discussion and enthusiastic planning, the team’s first car was constructed in time for the 2004 Formula SAE-Australasia competition. Since then, the team has built just 4 more machines, each a logical and progressive evolution of the last.
That is, except for the latest QUT challenger. Whilst logic certainly hasn’t deserted the clever clogs within the Engineering faculty, the university’s 2009 machine could only be classed as a revolution. With every system on the car undergoing a complete ground-up overhaul, the latest incarnation has a grand total of zero percent carryover parts to display - a testament to the mighty efforts of the car’s design team.  For 2009 the design philosophy was the same as in previous years - reliability is paramount, and although QUT’s young team are still climbing the ladder of engineering prowess, they’re laying the foundations for a reliable car before perfecting the package, and therefore the speed that they all know they have. In addition to that, QUT’s design vision is beyond just the one-hit Formula SAE competition, and the team’s goal to create a simple, lightweight and effective competition vehicle extends its use to the wider motorsport-based public, who could effectively use the QUT machine for hillclimbs and other sprint events. One of the aspects that proved a hit with the sharp-eyed engineers among the other SAE teams was the revolutionary 3-spring design incorporated in the latest QUT “Ozanne” car (named after a team member who so tragically lost his life as the car went into its final construction stages). This spring set up was in place to solve the problem of dive and squat when the car accelerated or braked - whilst the two outside springs in the cluster independently took care of the forces from each wheel, the centre spring compressed when the forces from both wheels took hold simultaneously, stopping undesirable chassis repositioning. Needless to say, the brainchild of the idea was rather pleased with his efforts. A feat just as impressive as the trick suspension is what’s holding it to the rear of the car; a fully machined aluminium rear end groups the spool, sprocket, braking apparatus and rear suspension components together in one piece of engineering marvel. All this was designed using Solidworks underpinnings, with Ansys, Adams and AVL analysis tools giving the figures.
 The design overhaul evidently caused some dramas - the car was only just together in time for the 2008 edition of the Formula SAE-A championships after several setbacks, and despite a never-say-die attitude jettisoning the untested car through most rounds of scrutineering, the car’s rear brakes developed a problem, and as such, failed to lock for the brake test. The electronic paddle-shift gave eternal trouble, and was only truly perfected just in time for the 2009 competition. Despite facing incredible odds, the team’s 20-strong competition never put down their tools.
The said 20-odd competition team members are the prime movers and shakers in a 50-or-so team of highly dedicated QUT students, from all walks of university life - aside from the engineers who form the staple diet of any Formula SAE team, QUT’s sprightly bunch are a combination of business, electrical, finance, journalism, PR and photography students. On top of this, QUT’s second-to-none faculty and university staff have provided unwavering and unmatched support, with academic advisors and staff members alike passionate about making the most of QUT’s exceptional team.
With the engineers taking care of building the car (with the occasional foray into the guild bar for a few ‘meetings’), the business students proudly develop the team’s publicity and media interests. Like any professional race team, QUT are gratuitously proficient at making sure the team’s image and professional relationships are kept at their highest possible level. Sponsor/team events are not uncommon, and the team’s top business brass spread the word at many of the major events in Queensland, including the Gold Coast Indycar round, and the Queensland 500 V8 Supercar round. If not for the efforts of the business gurus, partnerships with such quality supporters such as Mazda, Laser Central and Parsons Brinckerhoff would never have been formed.
The business team take their job every bit as seriously as the guys that build the car, and as the editor of the team’s “OnTrack” news release, none can be in a more savvy position than yours truly. Throw in the fact that the business, engineering and design teams all work together in almost seamless harmony, and you have one fancy little racing team.
Even the drivers are considered seriously - the team’s latest initiative has been a driver development program, where go-karting trials are held and the best and most promising QUT student candidates are selected for proper honing and refined training, to make the most of our home-grown talent.
The direction for QUT’s revelers is onwards and upwards - with the 2010 car already getting its skeleton tacked together (the chassis and suspension are completed, and assembly has begun), preparation for the upcoming Formula SAE season has never been better. After 2009’s impressive personal best results at the Formula SAE-A competition - where the team collected a creditable fourth place in the autocross event, a phenomenal second place in the prestigious endurance event, and placing fourth overall for the competition - 2010‘s goal is to move even further in to the dizzying heights of the Formula SAE stratosphere. Being so privileged as to be on the inside of this impressive operation, I’m fascinated and excited to see the calm before the storm. All this, and I even get to be so lucky as to be lead driver for the team for a third year running.
2010, the best yet? You better believe it. Technical Spec Sheet
| Car Number
| 046
| University
| Queensland University of Technology
| | | Dimensions
| Front
| Rear
| Overall Length[mm]
| 2338 | Overall Width [mm]
| 1476
| Overall Height [mm]
| 1404
| Wheelbase [mm]
| 1600
| Track [mm]
| 1130
| 1090
| Weight with 68kg driver [kg]
| 132
| 168
| | | Suspension Parameters
| Front
| Rear
| Suspension Type
| Unequal lenght double wishbone. Push rod & bell crank actuated spring/damper unit. | Unequal lenght double wishbone. Push rod & bell crank actuated spring/damper unit. | Tire Size and Compound Type
| 20x6,5-13 R25A Hoosier
| 20x8-13 R25A Hoosier | Wheels
| Spun Aluminium Outers and Machined Aluminium Centres 13"x150mm-21mm offset | Spun Aluminium Outers and Machined Aluminium Centres 13"x150mm-21mm offset | | Center of Gravity Design Height | 290 | | | Suspension design travel | 32mm jounce / 29 mm rebound | 48mm jounced / 36 mm rebound | | Wheel rate (chassis to wheel center) | 18.4N/mm | 47,3N/mm | | Roll rate (chassis to wheel center) | 1,44° | 1,47° (Relative to ground) | | Sprung mass naturally frequency | 2,76Hz | 3,56Hz | | Jounce Damping | 0,5 | 0,62 | | Rebound Damping | 1 | 1 | | Motion ratio / type | 1,064:1 | 1,175:1 | | Camber coefficient in bump (deg/m) | 0,4°/degree roll 13mm LF 9,9mm LR bump | 0,5°/degree roll 10,3mm RF 7,8mm RR bump | | Camber coeffizient in roll (deg/deg) | 0,4°/degree roll 13mm LF 9,9mm LR bump | 0,5°/degree roll 10,3mm RF 7,8mm RR bump | | Static Toe | 1mm toe out @ 215mm adj. by tie rods | 1mm toe in @215mm adj. by toe links | | Static Camber and adjustment method | 1,25° - by rod ends on wishbone | 1,25° - by rodends on wishbone | | Front Caster and adjustment method | 6° + by rod ends on wishbone | | | Front Kingpin Axis | 0° + adjustable with Camber | | | Kingpin offset and trail | 30mm offset, 32,3mm trail | | | Static Ackermann and adjustment method | 70% Ackermann | | | Anti Dive/Anti Squat | 8,7% Anti Dive, NA | NA, 4,78% Anti Squat | | Roll center position static | 37,4mm above ground, CL of the car | 42,1mm above ground, CL of the car | | Roll center position at 1g lateral acceleration | 37,3mm above ground, moves 1,88mm torward outer wheel | 42,1mm above ground, moves 0,13mm toward inner wheel | | Steering location, Gear ration, Steer Arm Length | Front steer, in line with lower A-Arm | | | | Brake System / Hub & Axle
| Front
| Rear
| Rotors
| Student designed Water cut 5mm thick solid disc, mounted outboard of upright, hub mounted | Student designed Water cut 5mm thick solid disc, mounted inboard on maschined rear end | | Master Cylinder | Tilton 77 Series pivot-type master cylinders(7/8" and 5/8") and Tilton driver adjustable mechanical bias bar | | | Calipers | 30,4mm Wilwood GP320 4-pot | 30,4mm Wilwood GP320 4-pot | | Hub Bearings | NTN 6815 LLU, deep groove roller bearing | NTN 6913 LLU, deep groove roller bearing | Upright Assembly
| Machined 7075 aluminium, integral caliper mount and bolt on steering arm
| Machined 7075 aluminium with bolt on toe link arms | | Axle type, size and material | IFS, gun drilled hollow 4340 steel | IRS, 4340 steel | | | Ergonomics
| Driver Size Adjustments
| Fixed seat and steering wheel. Pedal box adjust fore and aft 300mm | Seat (materials, padding)
| Carbon Fibre/Kevlar base headrest, adapted to driver with individual padding
| Driver Visibility
| 220° side visibility, no mirrors
| Shift Actuator (type, location)
| Electrically controlled Electric Solenoid acting on Shift Lever | Clutch Actuator (type, location)
| Foot pedal, cable actuated and or electrically controlled Electric Solenoid acting on Shift Lever | Instrumentation
| ILED Tachometer, Gear Indicator, Shift Light and LED Engine Temp and Oil Pressure Displays | | | Frame
| Frame Construction
| Chrome molly tube space frame with bonded Carbon-fibre Stress Skins | Material
| 4130 Chrome Molly tube
| Joining method and material
| Tig welded
| | Targets (Torsional Stiffness) | 8500Nm/deg | | Torsional stiffness and validation method | 8300Nm/deg Finite Element Analysis | Bare frame weight with brackets and paint [kg]
| 29
| Crush zone material
| Aluminium honeycomb and high-density foam
| Crush zone length [mm]
| 200
| | Crush zone energy capacity | 150kN + (estimated) in linear absorbtion | | | Powertrain
| Manufacture / Model
| 2003 Yamaha YZF R6 | Bore [mm]
| 65,5
| Stroke [mm]
| 44,5 | Cylinders
| 4 cylinder
| Displacement [cc]
| 599 | Compression ratio
| 12.4:1
| Induction
| Atmospheric | Throttle Body / Mechanism
| 34mm, throttle plate, cable actuation
| Fuel Type
| 98 octane petrol
| | Max. Power design RPM | 9.000 | | Max. Torque design RPM | 8.000 | | Min RPM for 80% max torque | 7.200 | Fuel System
| Student designed/built aluminium tank, Direct Port Injection | Fuel System Sensors
| TPS, CAS | | Fuel Pressure | 3,5bar (static) | | Injector location | 18mm above mounting face of head and pointing at back of inlet valves | | Intake Plenum volume and runner length(s) | 1,800l plenum and 275mm runner lengths | | Exhaust header design | 4-2-1 equal lenght (+/- 20mm), 32mm primaries, 38mm secondary and 50mm into the muffler | | Effective Exhaust runner length | 1200mm | | Muffler | Single perforated steel and glass fiber baffled camber muffler | Ignition System
| M&W ignition unit
| | Ignition Timing | Digitally programmable by engine management system | Oiling System
| Wet sump accompanied by pressurised oil storage vessel(Accusump) | Coolant System and Radiator location
| Side pod mounted radiator with electric fan and electric water pump controlled by engine management
| | | Drivetrain
| Drive Type
| Chain #52, RK 520GXW | Differential Type
| 7075 Aluminium Spool | | Final Drive Ratio | 3,154:1 with 13 tooth front and 41 tooth rear sprockets | | Vehicle Speed @max power (design) | | | 1st gear | 72,3km/h | | 2nd gear | 105,7km/h | | 3rd gear | 132,3km/h | | 4th gear | 154,4km/h | | 5th gear | 173,0km/h | | 6th gear | 190,1km/h | | Half shaft size and material | 20mm OD, 225mm lon, 4340 steel | Joint type
| Tripod type CV with custom Aluminium housing
| | | | | Aerodynamics (if applicable) | | | Front Wing (lift/drag coef, material, wheight) | N/A | | Rear Wing (lift/drag coef, material, weight) | N/A | | Undertray (downforce/speed) | N/A | | Wing mounting | N/A | | Optional information | Rear End: Machined Aluminium, bolts to the engine + chassis securing driveline, chain tensioner, rear brake caliper, suspension |
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Sunday, 07 February 2010 16:56 |
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Author: Thomas Weber, AMZ Racing, ETH Zurich Since global warming and dependancy on foreign oil are popular problems nowadays, my FSAE team AMZ has decided to replace the Japanese engine running on wood waste (also called ethanol) by electric motors full of rare-earth magnets fed by recycled electrons. While there are many different solutions of placing the components in a car, I would like to show you our layout.
Furka's exterior is pretty similar to our previous car simplon: 
The biggest difference between combustion and electric drive is not the electric motor, but the batteries. We have designed two battery containments, roughly 25 kg each, which are mounted to the sides of the monocoque and covered by sidepods. These containments incorporate additional side impact structure and a pair of chunky relay switches to protect the batteries, or their environment respectively.
The power from the batteries is directed into the rear section of the monocoque, where it feeds two motor controllers. The rear wheels are driven independently with two chains.
The rear section of the monocoque can be detached from the front, including the entire rear suspension and drivetrain. By placing the motors in the center, we were able to design a pullrod setup. To reduce parts count and weight, we integrated the sprocket mount into the aluminium tripod housing and the jacking point is enclosing the anti-roll bar.
We're looking forward to seeing you at the competition.
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Monday, 21 December 2009 11:45 |
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VI-grade is pleased to invite you and your team to participate in Virtual Formula 2010, a competition built upon the rules and regulations of the Formula SAE and Formula Student competitions. Sign up NOW (deadline for registration: Jan 31st, 2010)!
Register for the 2nd Edition of the VI-grade Virtual Formula competition and get access to our state-of-the-art simulation software to find the best set-up for your car (software, models and specifications will be sent to registered teams on February 1st 2010). WIN! A driving simulator powered by the VI-grade real-time vehicle model and the Concurrent Linux-based hardware, for a total value of 30,000 EUR. THE CHALLENGE Optimize the performance of a virtual race car, minimizing the lap time on a given autocross track. The competition will be won by the team that will drive the vehicle with the shortest laptime on the given circuit. Results must be submitted by April 30th, 2010! SPONSORS - Albatech Monaco
- Concurrent
- FStotal.com
- MIRA
- Danisi Engineering
- Triple8
DOWNLOAD VIRTUAL FORMULA 2010 FLYER
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