Blog 1

 Blog 1: Team 15

Written by Melissa Gomez, Thomas Tran, Leonel Mata, Hisham Hito

    Our team is working coherently with Formula SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers) in the process of creating new uprights that fit the new design of the car. FSAE allows students at the University of Houston to participate in different groups and build the components that make up a formula-style vehicle. Our capstone team will be in charge of building the new uprights that will have to connect to the designed suspension of the vehicle. Figure 1 showcases an upright design that would potentially be optimized during our project. The upright is an important component of this car because it acts as a pathway from the wheel hub to the chassis, this holds the wheel and connects the wheel to the transmission shaft. An optimized upright design can provide many advantages when it comes to racing performance. Weight reduction can increase car acceleration and the reduction of unsprung mass (mass not suspended by the suspension springs) allows for a smoother ride. 

Figure 1: Image of upright assembly

    The main problem our team is trying to address, aside from completing a design that fits into the new chassis, is the ability to produce a component that will be able to sustain the loads experienced during cornering and braking as well as improving the handling of the vehicle. The physical constraints surrounding the design integrating into the current chassis call for the uprights to fit into the already-designed suspension pickup points. Ensuring that the upright design adheres to these constraints is a nonnegotiable since these mounting points have been previously designed, and ensure the desired handling and performance is achieved during the race. In terms of the loads the uprights must be able to sustain there are a few physical constraints. The uprights have to endure the loads that come from lateral loads during the turning of the car, and the longitudinal loads that are caused during the braking and acceleration of the car. There are also some unexpected loads that our design must take into consideration. This refers to the impact loads that can come from collisions or running over curbs/obstacles during the race. In order to address these loads our team has to take into the following considerations, the material we plan to use having the optimal strength-to-weight ratios, performing a Finite Element Analysis (FEA) to simulate different scenarios with the above loads, and ensuring that our upright design can handle them.

    One of the primary challenges our team anticipates is the manufacturing process for our design. While 3D printing in metal could offer the best balance of intricate geometries and an optimal stiffness-to-weight ratio, we have initiated discussions with CNC machinists to explore alternative manufacturing methods. This decision necessitates careful consideration of their machining constraints, requiring us to make intelligent design choices that facilitate easier and cost-effective machining. In an exciting development, one of our key contacts may grant us the opportunity to handle the machining process in-house, reducing labor costs and granting us greater freedom to create intricate and performance-enhancing designs. Another key obstacle we could encounter is not having a car ready for our validation testing. In the past, capstone teams that do a project for FSAE have not been able to test their projects due to the lack of a working car multiple times. The chances of this happening for our project are low since the organization has improved their structure and are currently manufacturing and assembling the car. Nevertheless, we have been actively thinking of different validation methods for our project. One of these include static load testing using strain gauges, while other ideas are still in the works.

 

Figure 2: Example of topology optimization method for weight reduction

Figure 3: Example of CNC machining to make an upright