Machining the Chassis

We soon got some machine time over at Rocky Mountain Composites and machined the chassis.

Here is the Chassis before we started cutting.

After about the first 5 minutes of cutting time starts to slow down... Soon watching the machine run is like watching grass grow.

Tyler from Rocky Mountain Composites and Dr. Drake, our advisor watch as the grass grows.

Here is the chassis about half way finished.

After the 12 hours of machining the chassis is back home safe and sound. The black is guide coat to help us sand evenly.

Starting the Chassis Tooling

After learning that our RenShape, "glue" and Rocky Mountain Composites CNC router was going to work as planned we starting constructing the chassis tooling.

Here is Brett measuring a cut in our new RenShape cutting jig. There is also the Black & Decker replacement.

Tyler and Guy prepping the boards before gluing.

Gluing the boards to the inner skeleton.

Nose to the Carbide End Mill

After looking all over Utah for a company that would allow us to use their CNC Router we finally found the great people at Rocky Mountain Composites. They quickly agreed to help the team cut all of the tooling for our car. Below is the machining process of the nose.

First RenShape chips made!


The nose starting to appear out of the block.

The start of the finish cut.


The finished product.

Final Drive Test Plate

The final drive for the formula car consists of a aluminum gear box that houses a two-pass gear train. This silver plate is the test plate which we used to ensure that everything fits just were we were expecting, which it does.

This blue housing is where the limited slip differential will be housed.

Starting to Construct the Nose

Here is (left to right) Tyler, Brett and Guy starting to cut the RenShape that was donated from Huntsman to create our nose buck.

The first cut we made in the RenShape. The Black & Decker was quickly replaced with a snap-your-wrist-500hp-worm drive-skill saw which worked much better!

Our concoction of "glue" which is a mixture of body filler (aka. Bondo) and styrene (aka. fiberglass resin). The reason we used this mixture is to obtain a glue that is thin enough to be used as a glue and it also sands very similar to the RenShape.

The final bond for the nose!

Brett proudly displaying his handy work!

Impact Material Testing

One of the great things about being an engineer is we get to smash things!


Before

After

This aluminum honeycomb core is fantastic as an energy absorber! The video above is a 50lb sled drooped from a height of 7ft... After a quick calculation we found that our impact attenuator will be substantially better then the previous years in both energy absorption and weight!

Having Fun

Our local indoor kart track, Speed Street, gave us a great discount on a full day of private racing! The facility is fantastic! The shop is clean and organized and the karts and track are vary well prepared. After a day of "Research" many of the team members discovered that kart racing is much harder then it looks, many of us leaving with sore arms and ribs.

Team Waiting for the First Race

The Fleet

Suiting Up

Bad Engine News...

After receiving the engine we removed the head to examine the cylinders to ensure that everything is tip-top. But sadly the engine had some serious internal issues!

At some point during the engines life it ingested some debris. We found some of the remaining debris stuck in one of the intake valves.

This debris contributed to some serious cylinder wall scaring.

So the engine is in no condition to be competitive in the competition so we boxed the engine and started looking for another engine, crossing our fingers that the second time is the charm because we can't afford to have it be the third time.

The first deliveries!

Early in the cars development the team decided that the Honda F3 engine is out dated and no longer serves as the best engine for the car. The new engine of choice is the Honda CBR 600 RR engine. It's factory fuel injection and compact design lends it's self well for our use.

We also received the generous donation from our friends at Huntsman Advanced Materials. 130 board feet of tooling block!

This material is what we will use to create the bucks for the chassis, body and nose.

Initial Concept

The first step in our design process was to develop a general shape and layout of the car that was able to accommodate all of the components of the car as well as a large range of driver sizes. Next the car was sketched to a general shape that was aesthetically pleasing to the majority of people interviewed. This general pattern was to change over the course of the car's development but it gave the team a good starting point.

The design of the chassis involved two major components. First is the lower carbon fiber sandwich composite. The second is the upper steel tube frame. The reason for this unorthodox design is to cope with many of the problems associated with composite monocoque chassis. These problem that were eliminated are: complex split molds or complex secondary bonding, poor access to internally mounted components, use of sub-frames. Thus creating a car which is both easy to manufacture and easy to service, without sacrificing stiffness or weight.

Getting Started

Throughout this website you will find the progression of the University of Utah's Formula SAE car. From it's design to it's creation and finally culminating with the Formula SAE West competition in California June 13-16. I hope you enjoy seeing the progression take place and also don't forget to check out our sponsors! This project wouldn't get anywhere without these great companies that support us!