Vodafone McLaren MP4-27 Mercedes

[Gridlock]

Actually Occam's Razor would say that they are copper coloured so the manufacturer can say 'any copper coloured driveshaft in F1 is ours'

[Shakeman]

to minimize the angle of attack at high speed!

I would not think this would be good for balance is high speed turns.

Brian

I had a similar thought when the FW F-ducts were being discussed.

Would they not tune the front wing flex to a particular circuit's requirements?

Would this not assist balance in high speed corners as you might not need as much FW DF would you? Think about the entry into Parabolica, you'd want the wing's DF to be just tuned for the entry speed, then regain max DF for the middle section then bleed the DF off during the exit phase onto the main drag.

Just throwing these Qs out there.

[hardingfv32]

I would say with the PVD coatings being very hard, that it is for impact protection. I believe titanium gets unhappy with surface irregularities.

Brian

[Gridlock]

I would say with the PVD coatings being very hard, that it is for impact protection. I believe titanium gets unhappy with surface irregularities.

Brian

They're maraged steel, I believe.

It's a fascinating material, with fascinating uses.

[beelsebob]

Back to specifically the McLaren – we saw them running with that odd patch on one half of their beam wing in testing too. Anyone got any idea what it's there for? Why is it only on one side? I had previously assumed they were testing something, but it still being there at the race says no.

The way it bulges, it looks like the patch is covering something fairly bulky, so I'd want to say that it's a sensor. I'd think a bulge like that would have a decent impact on the performance of the beam wing, wouldn't it?

The only thing that I can think would be beneficial is that they're putting it on the left hand side of the centre, at two right handed tracks - could it be as simple as indy car biasing their setup to one side because the majority (all in indy's case) of the corners are that way?

[hardingfv32]

They're maraged steel, I believe.

The Pankl Drivetrain Systems lists prop shafts (steel, MMC, carbon fibre, titanium). They are also showing a shaft with the same color but no indication what the material is.

Do you have any first hand knowledge of the F1 driveshafts?

Brian

[Gridlock]

They're maraged steel, I believe.

Do you have any first hand knowledge of the F1 driveshafts?

Brian

Yup, have seen loads, some in person!

I have some knowledge of maraging steel. It has very few uses.

[xpensive]

Actually Occam's Razor would say that they are copper coloured so the manufacturer can say 'any copper coloured driveshaft in F1 is ours'

That's a very good point Grid, when copper plating is very often used for decorative coloring of steel, when steel it is.

Maraging steel, that's a new one for me;
Low-carbon precipitation hardened steel with 20+% Ni, 1000-2000 MPa Yield, 15% elongation and 50+ HRC.

Interesting, most useful for a driveshaft I guess?

[Gridlock]

Its other main use is in uranium enrichment centrifuges

[ringo]

The drive shaft probably has a surface treatment that promotes long fatigue life.
It could be a heat treatment or some nitrite coating.

[xpensive]

Its other main use is in uranium enrichment centrifuges

Somewhat limited market that I guess, must be kinda xpensive for a non-stainless steel with all that nickel though.

I'm starting to agree with you, it's difficult to see any other use for that copper-plating than decorative and/or branding?

[hardingfv32]

The drive shaft probably has a surface treatment that promotes long fatigue life.
It could be a heat treatment or some nitrite coating.

This is not a color from heat treatment or nitrating. This is a PVD coating which of coarse does include forms on nitrites.

Brian

[PhillipM]

Very expensive in small batches! Wonderful stuff though, apart from the bank balance.

Driveshafts are very prone to stress corrosion cracking from any microscopic surface cracks, so it's not unusual for them to be ground, then polished, and then plated with a substrate that doesn't suffer from ongoing corrosion, or crack propagation , and can give a very smooth, flat surface - copper is great for that, that's why they use it as a base for chrome/nickle plating.

However, the driveshaft plating doesn't look to be pure copper, that's usually far more reflective, even though it's a similar colour, I'd perhaps expect it to be bronze oxide or similar

[Shrieker]

i think it is actually flexing backwards

Indeed it does. Presumably no need for a FW F-duct?

Read my mind there Why'd you need a fw duct if you could make it flex to achieve the same effect - and even better.

[xpensive]

Grid & PhillipM, thanks guys, I learned something today.