Strength of carbon fibre componants

[beelsebob]

I will bet you $1000 USD that you can not break an F1 Arm kicking it at any angle you want.

Yes they are weaker in some directions than others but not that weak.

The resin used make a big difference in the impact tolerance of a CFRP

In this instance a little more than a kick, but really not much:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wzXEa1ZZ ... re=related[/youtube]

[Dragonfly]

Designed to crumple to dissipate energy:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXf2jx-fHZ0

Exactly what I had in view.

[Tim.Wright]

I will bet you $1000 USD that you can not break an F1 Arm kicking it at any angle you want.

I'm half-tempted to take you up on that. Such items aren't that difficult to acquire, especially around here.

if you win I will deliver in person in Austin

This is tempting to join in. I have 1000USD, an A-arm from a mid 2000s Renault, and some composites experience from early on in my career.

I'm quite positive if I put the arm at a 45deg angle between the wall and floor I would be able to make it unuseable from a single kick. Not sure if Im willing to try it though. The bet would have to at least be increased to include a new A-arm!

Tim

[NathanOlder]

As BHall said, There is no reason why a suspension arm would be built to withsatnd a "kick" half way along the arm in a Virtical motion. Thats not how the forces transfer through the arm from the wheel. I would say flynfrog would lose his cash.

They are not made with the thought of someone kicking it. If they were, Damon would be a double world champion and Senna (could) be still alive.

[raymondu999]

In this instance a little more than a kick, but really not much:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wzXEa1ZZ ... ed[youtube]

I think Alguersuari in Spa would be a better example

[Websta]

In this instance a little more than a kick, but really not much:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wzXEa1ZZ ... ed[youtube]

I think Alguersuari in Spa would be a better example

In both these instances, the arm appears to remain intact - it is the connections that break. I'm not disagreeing or agreeing, but this doesn't seem to be good evidence.

[NathanOlder]

Damon Hill 94!

[neilbah]

i think ud be surprised just how hard a kick the arm got in that video, when tires touch theres quite a rotational force exerted, one cars tyre tries to climb the other

[Nando]

I will bet you $1000 USD that you can not break an F1 Arm kicking it at any angle you want.

Yes they are weaker in some directions than others but not that weak.

The resin used make a big difference in the impact tolerance of a CFRP

In this instance a little more than a kick, but really not much:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wzXEa1ZZ ... re=related[/youtube]

SPA is an even better argument. Remember Alonso getting hit extremely hard dead on the rear wheel and the car was fine.

Despite the fact that it´s most defintely made to withstand the twisting forces by the engine rather then a head on collision on the rear wheel.

[raymondu999]

In Spa the collission energy mostly went into spinning the car - hardly a good example.

The most recent suspension break I remember is Lewis in Canada

[flynfrog]

A professional kick boxer can maybe put 2000 PSI in a kick it doesn't take much of a laminate to take that. Can any one find the thread where the guy cuts up the A-Arm on here?


beelsebob that is much more force than can be applied by kicking at it looks like it broke the steering linkage not the A-Arm

[raymondu999]

I thought the bit at24:20 might be a bit relevant to all this... somewhat. Ish. Kind of.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7YQ0_CG9kp0[/youtube]

[Nando]

In Spa the collission energy mostly went into spinning the car - hardly a good example.

The most recent suspension break I remember is Lewis in Canada

But he still hit the car dead on at probably around 100km/h.
To hit 600kg´s and send that away says something about how strong the rod is.

The Hamilton incident is a bad example because it had been dragged out of it´s position, not cracked under pressure.

[beelsebob]

In Spa the collission energy mostly went into spinning the car - hardly a good example.

The most recent suspension break I remember is Lewis in Canada

But he still hit the car dead on at probably around 100km/h.
To hit 600kg´s and send that away says something about how strong the rod is.

The Hamilton incident is a bad example because it had been dragged out of it´s position, not cracked under pressure.

Note – the original assertion was that if you hit it in the wrong way it will break easily. So, the case in which it's dragged around in an odd way is exactly the case being talked about.

[xxChrisxx]

Note – the original assertion was that if you hit it in the wrong way it will break easily. So, the case in which it's dragged around in an odd way is exactly the case being talked about.

Not really, being a bit more scientific about this.

Suspension members are designed to resist axial forces,(tension and compression).
As they are pin jointed (rose joints) at the ends, they should never experience bending, as any moment is transferred to the connection point.

Being dragged round whilst still attached to the car would load the members (approximately) how they were designed to be loaded. A kick would be putting the member into bending.

I don't think a man could break it with a kick though.