Vehicle Development Project - Interests

[humble sabot]

Here are the shots of the Caterham/Reynard design:



it's quite clever, and it's kind of funny that the elise came out with the same architecture but in alu pretty much the same year this was supposed to come out. They've a new project now with an alu chassis.

Hey wasn't that my idea with the wb and track

[humble sabot]

Once I've got a fuller picture of the mass of the chassis that will give us the relative dimensions of the front subframe and what work we have to do at the back to give us a nice cg, and the moment of inertia we want.

[Richied76]

http://catalogue.chilterntimber.co.uk/p ... 20625.html

This is the glue i use. Its quite cheap as the amount you have to use is vastly smaller with is expanding. At this moment in time i have 2 sheets of 4mm ply compressed together with a 10mm balsa core (PICS TO FOLLOW) using this glue.

Bit of an experiment but i'm hoping that it the material hold the same strenth as a single peice of 18mm ply then we may have an answer to the weight problem. I do know that balsa will not hold well to polyester resin well though. I put forward an idea that the sandwich core material i'm testing could be used in the same manner as score and fold carbon/aluminium construction. remove balsa and exchange for sapelia for hardpoints. And use aluminium as noted above for firewalls/extra enforcement

[humble sabot]

end grain balsa core i imagine?

Sapelia is a new one for me.

[humble sabot]

aka Sapele, i knew that! Which look like as good an option for hardpoints as any at first blush.

a slight slow up on my end with the cad drawings.

I'm still struggling with a method of optimizing geometry while maintaining ease of construction. More because I'm picky, and less because it's difficult.

[humble sabot]

Paulownia is new to me.
usually equivalent to the heavier balsa stock, it's known for being particularly stable. But it seems less prevalent in supply. THough if you wanted to grow your own stock, apparently it's the fastest growing hardwood there is.

While we're speaking of wood, does anyone remember Mallite? That was the composite used by Mclaren of balsa core bonded to aluminium skins. The m2a actually. It presents the same challenge as readymade honeycomb cored sheet in that curves can only happen in one plane. I like the potential ruggedness of it for a floor though. I hear foam core is easier to work with and available thicker,

related project: http://www.gt40s.com/forum/gt40-build-l ... -mono.html

gotta love those people passionate about the GT40!


Almost going to turn into a running blog it seems

I feel that a few topologies could be best exploited by building molds.
I've done a lot of research in the past on boatbuilding. The principle was used in the building of the Mosquito and a few other early planes. But i'm trying to get away from that for the sake of making the project more open. Unless those interested in non-chassis aspects of the project would be willing to simply take delivery of a tub??? One or two of us could tool up/contract construction of the chassis.

[humble sabot]

Since we last spoke some thought has tended toward this idea.

I was by the hardware store the other day and happened upon a bamboo sink
Can't be too unstable under high humidity. Though understandably it was well finished with lacquer of some kind. I imagine these days it's likely to be urethane, but it wasn't giving up its secrets.

Looking at the need to precisely locate the front and rear mechanical systems on the tub i came up with a relatively simple, almost idiot proof idea.
Plans are provided for precise dimensions of bulkheads and how to build them with precisely located hardpoints for the subframe mounts, these would then be joined by a supplied torsion tube. The various other panels would be a more freeform afair that can be completed as each builder chooses. This has the benefit of making the fit customized for each person.

But the more i think about it the more i'm leaning towards building a tub and doling them out. It makes the supply of parts less of a hassle, and we all know how much development needs to go into a car outside of the sourcing of raw materials for the main chassis unit.

It's times like these i'm reminded that I live almost downtown without a workshop or private garage that could be used as such. I love it, but building things is a pain. Especially large things.

so in usual fashion i end with a question:
in the context of this kind of project what would you be willing to spend on the main chassis component, the tub

-as a flat pack/set of plans

-as a pre built tub

[MIKEY_!]

Structurally speaking a one piece tub is better of course.
The largeness of the tub may be offset by the possibility of packaging some of the other components inside it for delivery. It could also give a little protection for these components while in transit.

I must read back through this, I'm very interested by your project.

[Kambu]

Why the obsession about building the car from wood?
Cost of Building?
I have helped to build a Carbon Fiber Monocoque, and it can be done, without an expensive autoclave, and built for less than 10K USD.
The method for building it is relatively simple if you keep the design simple. - Use Large Carbon Fiber Aluminium Honeycomb sheets, and make a boxy looking monocoque. Have the sheets waterjet cut, for corners use Epoxy Filler, and laminate it over with Carbon Fiber. For attachment points to the chassis, insert a textolite, (Fiberglass Board?) fitting into the honeycomb panel. (When first making the sheets, not afterwards).

I think this is the easiest method, for making a VERY stiff chassis, in home garage conditions.
For even greater stiffness, you could make the chassis, with internal cavities and fill those holes with expanding foam.
This will make the chassis extremely stiff. Infact, so stiff, that it is extremely difficult to measure the torsional stiffness of the chassis in home garage conditions.

The only downside of making it this way, is that it can take a while to build it and is labour intensive.

[Ted68]

Here is a current Reynard project. An open source carbon fiber super 7 type car.

http://andrecars.wordpress.com/cars-2/os7-0/

[superflyte]

gotta love those people passionate about the GT40!

Ahh, yep. I'm a regular on GT40s.com. I Just sold mine, but kept the engine and 6 speed sequential race trans for separate sale.

Just for interest's sake, here is the tub I'm using on my new project. It's a Riley & Scott chassis from the 2001 Cadillac LMP program. I'll be posting loads of details on the GT40 forum soon, but for now, you guys get the inside scoop

[humble sabot]

What does the weight of that as it stands?
What's the story with the pedals?

[superflyte]

Will weigh the tub when at the factory next. Obviously there are some extras fitted to the chassis at this point, such as steering rack, suspension mounting points, master cylinders, etc.

No story with the pedals. They aren't fitted! The master cylinders are fitted to their bracket, but will all be changed in due course. We're going to be using wheel mounted clutch paddles, making the current arrangement redundant.

[superflyte]

Ok, so I forgot to post this a while ago...

The tub weighs 96.1kgs with steering rack, fuel cell, suspension mounting brackets, master cylinders, gear lever, numerous sensors and the aluminium rear bulk head plate all fitted.

Hope this helps

[truecadd]

Well We have just started Automotive Segment where we have expertise in the domain of Body, Chassis and Power train Engineering and in the area of CAD, CAE/FEA/CFD analysis and Simulation. If you have such projects related to our specialization, please let me know.