TBR Newsletter: April 2015

CRASH TESTING COMPLETED

NEWSLETTER April 2015

TURBO TESTING STARTS

Newsletter TBR15 POWERTRAIN NEARING COMPLETION Team Bath Racing’s 2015 powertrain team have been busy developing the new KTM engine, with a means of forced induction being added. The new turbocharger, supplied to the team by Garrett, was proposed by the team last year for the Class 2 event and has now finally made its way onto the TBR in-house test bed. The dynamometer has been adjusted to include a range of new sensors for the turbocharger, allowing the team to monitor the operating conditions of the powertrain unit even more precisely.

Additional after-market components have been added to the powertrain system, including a twin-port

actuator and solenoids from Forge Motorsport.

The new twin-port actuator will provide a greater level of boost control than the original single-port, and the new developments on the base KTM engine have already shown promising figures in the low-end power and torque ranges. This will greatly increase the drivability of the car, through a new, flatter torque curve, as well as providing the car with increased acceleration. As well as the improved performance gained from the use of the turbocharger, the team has seen a dramatic reduction in the noise produced from the engine. The 2015 rules have reduced the acceptable level

of noise from the engine and the use of the turbocharger will hopefully allow TBR15 to pass the new noise regulations without problems.

TBR15 would like to thank Garrett for supporting the team with the turbocharger and will be continuing to develop the turbocharged KTM setup in the coming weeks, after the completion of Final Year Project work.

Written by Tom Stevens

ECO FIBRE SEAT IMPROVES SUSTAINABILITY Team Bath Racing has been testing flax fibre composite materials for use in its seat on the 2015 race car. The flax fibres come in both satin weave and unidirectional fabric with low and non-crimp respectively, which gives

excellent drapability and mechanical properties; ideal for our seat. Flax fibres are an environmentally friendly alternative to carbon fibre.

Combined with a bio-based epoxy resin system, TBR’s environmental footprint is being reduced through the use of this material.

Our initial test specimens have come out with an excellent surface finish using the resin infusion method and early testing on the Instron machines suggests comparable mechanical properties to

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the glass fibre making this a viable alternative to the carbon fibre used on last year’s car. Team Bath Racing are staying combustion but going green!

Written by Dequan Chen

April 2015 DYNAMIC CRASH TESTING AT CRANFIELD For the 2015 season, Team Bath Racing will again run a single piece composite impact attenuator. This design allows for the most efficient load paths into the carbon fibre monocoque, reducing the amount of material required.

Improvements over the 2014 full design include the

use of multiple types of carbon fibre (supplied by CYTEC Industries) in combination with a lightweight nomex honeycomb core, laid up as a sandwich structure.

Production and initial quasi-static testing to aid our design process was performed using the Instron machines within the university’s composite lab. The official dynamic crash test was carried out at the FIA approved Cranfield Impact Centre.

To best represent the configuration on the actual car, the crash test was carried out with a representative front wing installed. Performance requirements for a successful crash include the absorbtion of 7350J energy at an average

NEW BRAKE SYSTEM TECHNOLOGY The TBR15 braking system builds on the tried and tested system used to great success on TBR14. Once again, the AP Racing 4 piston front and 2 piston rear caliper setup graces the car, with stainless steel brake discs provided by our partner GOLDfren. GOLDfren are also providing us with custom brake pads, which if their discs are anything to go by, will serve us very well and we can’t wait to get our hands on them. These will be tested back-to-back against the

brake pads previously used to quantify the advantage gained for TBR15.

One key decision made this year was to revert back to

deceleration below 20g whilst not exceeding a 40g peak deceleration.

We would like to thank the Staff at the Cranfield Impact Centre for allowing us to test at their facilities and supporting the team.

Written by Kevin Johnson inboard rear brakes, with a view to reducing overall car and unsprung mass whilst alleviating packaging conflicts in the rear corner assemblies.

The new installation location has lead to a new rear brake disc carrier design, which has been validated through finite element analysis. These were recently water jet cut from steel plate and will be welded onto the rear driveshaft housings, allowing the transmission of the braking forces to the rear wheels.

Written by Peter Alton

Newsletter

OUR YEAR RED BULL KEYNOTE OPEN DAYS OUTREACH EVENTS

WILLIAMS F1 VISIT

WINTER TESTING teambathracing.com

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...AND W STILL TO

April 2015 COMPOSITE CURING

SO FAR...

WHAT’S O COME!

SPACEFRAME MANUFACTURE

MATERIAL TESTING

CARBON WHEEL LAYUP

Newsletter TBR16 GETS STARTED Febuary is an exciting month in the Team Bath Racing calendar, as it marks the start of the design for next year’s car. This year, a group of our 3rd year students came together to form TBR16 and have been working hard developing the emerging car.

As a first step the team agreed on what the overall objective for TBR16 is - to win FSUK 2016. This has been the driving force behind our design and will continue to shape the car and the way we operate as a team.

As with every year, the next TBR car began life as a blank sheet of paper. Six teams were formed, each one focussing on a different phi-

losophy or concept. These six teams fed back their findings, which identified several key vehicle attributes to optimise.

Discussion came to the big powertrain decision internal combustion versus electric. Metrics were chosen to weigh the two options against each other and it was determined there was enough evidence to take both through to the feasibility study stage.

Splitting the team into two groups, one for ICE and one for electric power, each group analysed the best car that could feasibly produced.

After critically reviewing both cars’ potential dynamic performance and technical risks, the internal combustion concept was chosen as the best solution to achieve our aims.

NEW LIGHTWEIGHT STEERING WHEEL The steering wheel for the 2015 car has been completely redesigned in order to reduce weight and improve ergonomics, with an estimated 35% weight reduction. By lowering the mass, the steering wheel

inertia is reduced and therefore the forces required to turn it are lower as well. This results in more feedback to the driver from the wheels, allowing the driver to push the car further.

The main weight reduction comes from the Carbon Fibre rim, which for the first time forms the grips, replacing the 3D printed versions on the previous wheels.

Another major change for 2015 is that the electrical wiring is now run through the quick release mechanism and down the steering

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Technical design has begun on our class 2 FSUK 2015 entry, which promises to be a fantastic event. TBR16 are looking forward to presenting our car design and begin the build process this October!

Written by Noel Moorhouse TBR16 Project Manager

column, helping to improve the aesthetics and funtionality of the steering boss.

The manufacture of the wheel starts with a Rohacell core, machined to the correct shape. The carbon fibre is then wrapped around the core and placed into the mould, forming the external shape, before being fired in the autoclave.

TBR would like to thank Cytec Industries, Emkay Plastics and Freeform Technology for their support, allowing us to bring our design to reality.

Written by Mark Tranter

April 2015 BATH TAPS INTO SCIENCE On Friday 20th March a group of Team Bath Racing representatives set up an exhibition at the Bath Taps Into Science School Fair, held at the University. The event gives the opportunity to children from Years 5 & 6 (ages 9-11) to get hands on with science, helping to stimulate their interest in STEM subjects as well as to promote Higher Education.

The exhibition included our TBR13 car along with the oppertunity to get hands-on with real components.

The stand was topped off with a Racing Simulator built into the chassis of our 2006 car (which proved very popular with the children).

The following day in the centre of Bath was the Bath Taps Into Science Family Fair.

This allowed the children to bring along their parents to involve them in the promotion of Higher Education and STEM subjects. Both events

SPONSOR VISIT: CATERPILLAR PERKINS Team Bath Racing visited sponsors Caterpillar at their Perkins site in Peterborough.

The day was a great oppertunity to present our recent activities and progress to Caterpillar, who in turn presented an overview of the company and gave us tours of the

Global Engineering Development (GED) department and production line.

The Caterpillar presentations gave us a feel for how our skills would be utilised in industry and the different aspects of diesel powertrains that we could become involved with at Perkins. The

proved to be a great success, with the general public seeming really enthused by the Team. The events also benefitted the Team, helping raise awareness of Formula Studet in the local community as well as providing a chance for us to hone our pitching skills!

Written by Charlie Ripman tours were particularly interesting, giving us insider information regarding their test cells, testing requirements and processes. This knowledge is of particular relevance to our powertrain development cycle and will help our powertrain team greatly.

TBR would like to thank Chris Pusey, Graduate Engineer, for the event and David Moore, Engineering Manager, and the whole of the Caterpillar family for the longstanding support of TBR. Written by Matt Alcock

Newsletter

April 2015

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