A couple of elementary questions...

[fastback33]

1. Ok, so i'm kind of curious as to what are the main parameters in designing a racing chassis?

2. What does the torsional stiffness have to be to keep the body from flexing?

3. How do they measure torsional stiffness?
4. How does the weave of the carbon fiber determine how strong it can be?
5. is there any designs stronger/lighter then carbon fiber at the moment?(i.e. carbon kevlar, carbon with aluminum honeycomb construction etc.)

A little side note: I've been reading chassis engineering books and understand the differences between the ladder, backbone, etc.

So can someone please explain some of these things to me? I know it is a lot to ask but any help would be appreciated!![/b]

[Belatti]

A very basic approach:

1- light weight, high stiffness and low COG and inertia moment
2- body will always flex, rigidity can not be infinite. The problem is, how much is it flexing? I think chassis are designed to be as rigid as they can be.
3- ¿ load cells ?
4- cri cri cri... silence in the night
5- i dont think that foam metals are lighter and stronger, neither fiber glass... cant recall right now another good composite

[Tom]

Question 5 I might be able to help with if you can be a little more specific.

What do you mean by 'stronger'?
There are many types of strength, something can be strong in compression but no tension (concrete), or vice versa (iron), therefore concrete is reinforced with iron.
These are defined by several catagories, i.e. ductility, plasticity, elasticity, maliability (sp) and many more.

Aerogel which I mentioned here a few months ago is fantastically light, an amazing insulator, very strong but also very brittle, it shaters like glass if your not careful, so obviously its useless for constructing F1 tubs..

[fastback33]

A very basic approach:

1- light weight, high stiffness and low COG and inertia moment
2- body will always flex, rigidity can not be infinite. The problem is, how much is it flexing? I think chassis are designed to be as rigid as they can be.

More specifically this: http://www.autoblog.com/2005/11/01/volv ... lt-hotrod/


Seems like a ladder frame to me. But what i am curious about is WHY he chose to put the cross bars were he did? I guess put more simply is where do you decide to put the bars? Does it matter as long as it doesn't interfere with anyother components?

Thanks for the help guys, i actually do appreciate it and am glad i can find this kind of information!