Newsletter November This month CFS10. Engine. Body. Welcome CFS10 p.1 CFS10 West p.4 What now? p.5 Interested? p.5

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1 Newsletter November 2010 CFS10 This year s team includes 25 members of different nationalities and with different educational backgrounds. The team consists of six different subgroups, responsible for different tasks. During ten months the team will work with this inspiring project in an creative environment. Apart from having a lot of fun we will increase our knowledge within several different areas such as manufacturing processes, project work, team work and cost estimations. Participation in the project and the work towards a common goal will give us a useful reallife working experience. This years team goal statement is; By good teamwork and benchmarking, we will build a reliable, welldocumented car, make CFS10 well-known in Scandinavia and finish top ten at Silverstone in July Thus the competition in Silverstone will be the ultimate showdown and an indication of CFS10 s project performance. Welcome CFS10 A new academic year means new challenges for a new team and of course also a new car. The concept for the car is now completed and the design phase has just started. Let us introduce the concept for 2010! Body The general concept for the body is decided. It includes design sketches, choice of material, mounting plans and ergonomic aspects. Now that the concept is finished, it is time for the design phase. This means that we are going to make a detailed design of the body and the seat, test materials and work with CFD. In the end of this phase we will have a complete CAD model. Engine This month Welcome CFS10 p.1 CFS10 West p.4 What now? p.5 Interested? p.5 The concept for the engine is now chosen. This year s car will be based on the Yamaha FZ6 engine. The engine will be naturally aspirated and managed by a Nira i3+ management system. The transmission will be modified with a slip clutch and paddle shifting. The lubrication system will be a dry sump system and the differential will be the DSLD, developed and built at Chalmers.

2 Frame The frame is a substantial part of the formula car. Everything attaches to the frame and therefore it must meet strict design criteria for torsional rigidity, suspension hard-point precision, ergonomics and driveline stability. The objective is to build a reliable frame that meets the FS 2010 rules and the requirements of the other subgroups, but also to achieve considerable cost savings, weight savings, compatible cockpit ergonomics and space optimization. In order to achieve this design different options such as Full Tubular Space Frame, Split Tubular Space Frame and Composite Monocoque have been investigated. After studying the advantages and disadvantages of the designs, the group finally decided on a Split Tubular Space Frame in Mild Steel. The major advantages of this frame are simplicity of design, stiffness and ease of production. The benefits of using these systems are good accessibility, good feeding of the suspension loads into the frame, and few mounting points which means flexibility in the frame design. Z -type anti-roll bars are mounted front and rear to provide adjustability. The steering system is a quite basic layout with the steering column being split by a universal joint. The main objective for choosing this concept is to minimize the steering play, which has been an issue previous years, and at the same time save weight. For the upcoming design phase, the plan is to continue dimensioning all the suspension and steering parts. Simulations of the suspension will be carried out in a suspension analysis program developed by Lotus Engineering. We will also design our own corner-weight and wheel alignment systems, which were absent in past CFS projects. Suspension The objective of the first stage of the project was to arrive at a concept for the suspension and steering systems. This was done by benchmarking the competition, looking at old CFS cars and speaking to alumnis. The chosen suspension system is a double wishbone suspension, with the dampers mounted transversely across the top of the frame, actuated by push-rods. Example of the chosen suspension type

3 Technical Communication This year the Technical Communication group will focus on communication, both internal and external. In order to build a wellfunctioning car, communication between the different subgroups is crucial. Therefore a so called Technical Steering Group, with an overall perspective of the car, has been implemented. The group consists of both alumnus and members of this year s team. In order to improve the internal communication further and at the same time prepare for the competition, we have been driving go-cart two times the last few weeks. These activities were highly appreciated by all the team members! Unsprung Mass The Unsprung Mass group is currently evaluating sizing of the braking system; caliper and master cylinder sizing, rotor material and diameter. Bearing calculations are next on the priority last along with hub designs. The suspension group has sent over preliminary hardpoints for the uprights and various design considerations are currently being evaluated. The external communication will be improved by the new webpage. The goal is to update the webpage continuosly with information about how the work is proceeding. Monthly newsletters, new sponsor material and participation in exhibitions are other means for external communication and for promoting the team. Go-cart driving

4 CFS10 West Chalmers Formula Student 09 finished as best Swedish team on a total placement of 15 out of 82 teams at the Silverstone competition in July this summer. In late August some team members went to Gelleråsen at an STCC competition to race against the Swedish teams Clear River Racing, KTH Racing and LU Racing and to make sure the success was not a one-time occurrence. The race went as planned and once again the title of best Swedish team was proven right worthy for the CFS09 team. For four of the team members this success further increased the hunger for continuing working with the car in order to make additional improvements. Together with two other interested students they formed Chalmers Formula Student West with the main mission of competing again with an even better car. The competition they are aiming for is called Formula SAE California, held at California Speedway the following summer. In order to accomplish this a substantial budget is required to fund flights, car shipping, accommodation and rental cars on site since Chalmers has no possibility to finance the project. Due to this most of the team s available time is spent on getting sponsorships, most recently by participating at an exhibition held at the City Arena. If you and/or your company would like to sponsor us, please contact our project manager Camilla Östman by ing ostman@student.chalmers.se or calling ! Chalmers Formula Student West at City Arena.

5 What now? Now that the concept for the car is completed we are going to start the work with the CAD-models. The goal is to have a complete model before Christmas. How the work proceeds you can read about in the next newsletter, in the beginning of December. Until then the team will face a lot of hard work and several challenges. But we are prepared and if problems arise we will try to remember that if everything is going our way, we are in the wrong lane! Interested? The webpage is currently under construction, but soon you can find further information by visiting By good teamwork and benchmarking, we will build a reliable, well-documented car, make CFS10 well-known in Scandinavia and finish top ten at Silverstone in July CFS10