Bodywork

In 2009 we made links with Lotus who very kindly offered to help in the manufacture of a mould. We have discussed design points, conducted wind tunnel testing and made a wooden plug. Lotus have also provided help in ensuring the plug is suitable for moulding. Lotus are world famous for the manufacture of cars from composite materials and this includes the latest models like the Lotus Elise.

The Car 2010

For 2010 we are again going to use moulded composites but are looking more closely at carbon fibre or carbon kevlar composites. As ever our aim is to make a racer that actually looks like a car. Aerodynamics are important but with such low Reynolds numbers there is still the opportunity to think about asthetics, without having a significant effect on the laminer flow of air accross the body. Video analysis of the racing certainly suggests the addition of the spoiler improved handling. Our initial thoughts are that creating drag or turbulant flow actually reduced the sensitivity of the handling by giving the engine and suspension more to work against. Another alternative would be to increase the weight of the car but we dont really consider this a realistic option in a race car because it would reduce acceleration, wind resistance will only increase with increasing velocity or air flow.

Past Cars

In the past Serlby Park has used plastic and sheet aluminium to construct the bodywork. We have found the rigours of the race cause large amounts of damage to the bodywork. The plastic bodies we found struggle to cope and are difficult to finish to our exacting standard. A body beaten from a thin sheet of aluminium can be finished to a far higher standard, especially around the wheel arches where the plastic bodies tend to show rough edges. The aluminium body does provide good strength but unfortunately does result in added weight and limits the complexity of the shape available. We have also found it bends and loses rigidity during racing.

In 2008 we used a cardboard and kevlar composite body made using a blank cut from cardboard and then epoxy resin to from the composite. Kevlar was epoxied in to add extra strength at key points. This design enabled us to make three separate bodies which were changed as they incurred damage in the racing. This tatic is allowed as long as the body is not changed in the middle of a race, between separate races is fine

The strength, rigidity, impact resistance, and weight of the bodies will all be taken into account. Laboratory testing has shown the potential strength in the composite and can be seen in the picture below. We decided to concede defeat after 12kg.

  

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