Newsletter joanneum racing graz July 2014 english

| Newsletter 07/2014

>>ju

ly 2

014

>>

NEWSL E T T E R


editorial >> Dear Ladies and Gentleman,

joanneum racing graz is back home from the US. The competition at the Michigan International Speedway was the highlight of the most successful season in the history of the Weasels. I hope, many of you have followed our activities across the Atlantic Ocean. It was an unique experience which was not without its problems but finally leading to pure thrill.I am sure many of you know everything about the results of the competition. Therefore I am not going to tell you more right now. I just want to encourage you to read all about the incidents at Michigan International Speedway.After nearly four years of education at the University of Applied Science, we are working towards our degree. Straight after our return, we continued working on our diploma theses to reach the goal of graduating in September 2014. Independently, we are celebrating our personal highlight: the best Formula Student season ever of joanneum racing graz! For the first time in history, we are among the ten best Formula Student teams all over the world. This is an unbelievable success especially when looking at the number of 500 different teams. We would not have dreamt about this at the beginning of our studies, but it

is a result of a wide-ranging education at the Automotive Engineering department of FH JOANNEUM. All the team members who never stop pushing, are one of the the key reasons and, therefore I want to thank all my colleagues for their neverending dedication and for doing a lot of night shifts, that allowed us to have such a wonderful success.In the name of joanneum racing graz, I want to thank all sponsors, manufacturers and suppliers, who allowed us to have such an unique and unforgettable adventure in the US. I hope that they will continue supporting our teams like in the past and help us to manage season 2014/2015 as successfully as the seasons before. The new team is very excited to start into a new season and has already started to think about new concepts for the upcoming race car. Now, for me and my friends, it is time to say goodbye. It makes me sad, looking back to a unique season with a lot of experience and fun, but we are also facing the end of four years of studying at FH JOANNEUM. Looking forward to our diploma theses and the upcoming diploma examinations, I hope that we will continue working as hard as we did in the past to reach our goals. Enjoy our newsletter!

Daniel Maierteamleader jr13evo

mastheadNewsletter april 2014 >> Newsletter of joanneum racing graz from the FH JOANNEUM; April 2014 | Publisher>> joanneum racing graz represented by Daniel Maier, teamleader joanneum racing graz | Editors >> Josef Hinterhölzl,Julia Leibetseder, Marlene Penn, Raffael Reithofer, Sandra SuppanArt directors>> Florian Born, Lisa Mayrhofer | Photo credits >> Laura Matzer, Michael Weber | R.a.t.t.p.l. >> Julia Leibetseder | Address>> Alte Poststraße 149, 8020 Graz; E-Mail: [email protected]; Internet: www.joanneum-racing.at | Publication frequency>> 3 times a year

Special thanks to>> FH JOANNEUM for funding

the actual newsletter >> 2


content

michigan 4

box report 6

the future of the team 11

6 results

10 what else?

12 sponsoring

where‘s what >>3


A whole year the joanneum racing team prepared for that event. It is

not any competition, it is the Formula Student in Michigan, one of the biggest international competitions of all. For four days, 120 teams from all around the world compete overseas with their self-constructed racing cars in eight different disciplines for the first place.

The Weasels start with their jr13evo. In the USA, they experience fifteen exciting days, but also fifteen days of effort. Fifteen days, characterized by many high and low points. Fifteen days,making the team even stronger.Fifteen absolutely unbelievable days, ending with a sensational fourth place in the end rating.

Day 1: Ten students and a professor in red jackets, big suitcases behind them, marching determined through the airport of Graz. They checked in themselves and their luggage, passing the security checks and got on the plane. The team of joanneum racing graz embarks on a trip overseas, in the United States of America, where the FSAE Michigan at Michigan International Speedway starts in just nine days.

In Frankfurt they change and the journey continues. After nearly 13 hours of flight time, joanneum racing graz finally arrives at Detroit Metropolitan Airport in the U.S. The team is exhausted and is finally looking forward to moving to the accommodation at the University of Michigan, whose students attach utmost importance to hospitality and host the Graz team for the period up to the competition.

Day 2: The racing car, the jr13evo, was sent even two weeks earlier to America and was received by AVL. When joanneum racing

15 days beat the limits


T o d a y another Weasel also ends up at the airport in

Detroit: Arnold Metnitzer arrives, the last driver of the team.

Day 6: Bosch, one of the biggest automotive suppliers in the world, organizes a test day for all Formula

Student teams. joanneum racing graz cannot miss this chance and competes for the first time with the jr13evo against the racing cars of the other teams. Unfortunately, not everything runs smoothly even there, the differential cover breaks at the end of the testing day.

But there are also good news: Today the last two team members, Laura Matzer and Philipp Eder, land on American soil.

Day 7: The first week in the United States is over. But time to relax does not exist. Instead, it is continued testing at the large parking lot of the University of Toledo together with a few other teams. Also it does not really work this time, the problems with the clutch of the jr13evo become more frequent.

Day 8: The first competition, although unofficial, is on the agenda. The Group IMCO invites Formula Student teams to compete in various disciplines even before the FSAE Michigan. joanneum racing graz wins this contest and, with a trophy in its hands, it can look confidently towards the official competition.

The team changes

its location this day. The Weasels rent two homes right next to the lakeside to be closer to the race track the next days.

Day 9: Today, the last d a y before the FSAE Michigan, the registration is planned. To print the required team list with all data of the individual students, an extra printer has been packed into the shipping crate. Every detail was thought of in advance. But even here, the technology puts a spoke in the team‘s wheel. The printer simply did not want to print for some inexplicable reason. Therefore, there was nothing left for the organizational leader, Daniel Maier, but to search for a new printer, play it safe and just buy a new one. Armed with the printed and the signed list, the team leader went, together with the Faculty Advisor, Dipl.-Ing. Michael Trzesniowski, to the “Super 8 Motel“, where the registration took place. At this point the meticulous preparation paid off for the first time: The Weasels had filled out everything correctly, so they could pass the long queue of waiting teams safely.

Day 10: The FSAE Michigan, the team has been working towards for more than a year, finally begins. First, the scrutineering is on the agenda. Therefore, the vehicle is technically examined on its safety and compliance with regulations and also weighed. Meanwhile, the four drivers must also undergo a security check. The jr13evo passes the inspections and gets the first sticker of scrutineering.

graz gets it and opens the

transport crate for the first time, there is big pleasure: the vehicle as well as all the other pieces of luggage have survived the flight unscathed.

Day 3: Two of the four riders of the Weasels, Lukas Rechberger and Kevin Berger, go on the race track for the first time in America and must undergo driver training at Ford.

Day 4: The jr13evo has been released from his crate and can smell racing air again, on the test track of Ford. The whole team suffers a setback. On this day and on the next days, technical problems appear. However, the problem, a fraction of the universal joint of the steering is resolved quickly, so the team continues testing the next day.

Day 5: The preparation phase continues. At the Michigan Proving Ground of Ford, the jr13evo is tested further together with the friends of MRacing, the racing team of the University of Michigan. >>


stickersafter the brake-, noise- and tilt test. It‘s official: The technical inspection has been completed successfully. Thus the car has the permission to start in the upcoming dynamic competitions.

After the Drivers Meeting and a first inspection of the course took place for tomorrow‘s autocross competition, the design finalists will be announced.

Unfortunately joanneum racing graz did not make it to the finale this time, but the weasels can be more than proud about the 10th place. The results of the two other disciplines are also disclosed: a 31st place in the business event and a 85th place in the Cost Event.

Day 12: Today, the dynamic competitions are on the program. Finally the jr13evo can show whether the changes take effect. In the acceleration test, the acceleration event, Gerhard Hofer and Arnold Metnitzer manage to get everything out of the racing car and reach a 7th place. At the skid pad, in which a figure of an eight must be driven to put the lateral acceleration to the test, Metnitzer surpasses this placement once again: he drives a sensational time and catapults joanneum racing graz on the 4th Place.

In the late afternoon the last event for this day follows: the autocross. Unfortunately, not all things are going well here. Only

L u k a s Rechberger can go to the start, since the spark plugs fail for some unknown reasons after one pass. Lukas Rechberger seemed to have suspected this, with a sensational ride he finishes 8th.

Also the push bar finals take place this day. Nicolas Rieder tries to give a proof of advantages of the the Weasels push bar one more time. Unfortunately, joanneum racing is defeated by the team of the Clemson University with its hand-laminated Corvette-bar.

Day 13: Today the FSAE Michigan goes to the final. The team will see whether the effort and the long preparation really pays off. The supreme discipline is on the agenda: the endurance. 22 km, the jr13evo has to manage today. But first the two drivers, Kevin Berger and Lukas Rechberger may examine the course carefully once again. The starting order is determined by the reverse placement of the teams at the autocross, which means for joanneum racing graz: wait, a long wait. The team has number 89.

Once the jr13evo finally is on the track, it looks good, because it is fast and Rechberger manages not to knock down any cones. After eleven kilometers the driver has to be changed, Berger wants to start, but another racing car on the track catches fire and the race is interrupted. When it finally continues, the jr13evo

A f t e r serious matters a rather

funny competition is next - the push bar competition. The team with the most creative, most beautiful and best push bar wins. joanneum racing graz has good chances.

The day ends with an official welcome ceremony and a Captain and Faculty Advisor meeting.

Day 11: After getting the first day successfully over and done, one looks forward to the static events related to the plan, even if the weather is anything else than cheerful. Early in the morning the design event, in which five members present the design of the jr13evo and answer questions from a critical jury, is on the program. Shortly afterwards the Cost Event takes place. The jr13evo costs $ 19,000, that is why it is unfortunately in the upper segment. But quality has its price. One discipline follows another: After lunch joanneum racing graz tries to convince at the Business Event with an elaborated concept by the FH-course MIG.

The fact that the document got its share of some coffee in the heat of the moment, could not prevent a top placement thankfully.

Also the scrutineering enters the final phase, the jr13evo gets the last three


celebrated with a common dinner. In addition, a small gift for the hospitality is presented by joanneum racing graz.After fifteen exhausting and fraught days the adventure of the FSAE Michigan is over for the Weasels.

A year of preparation, countless hours in the workshop, many days of testing and the abandonment of free time. It all paid off, because joanneum racing graz not only managed a fourth place in the overall standings at the FSAE Michigan, but finally also reached the top ten in the world rankings. The Weasels around team leader Daniel Maier are proud to be able to call itself the most successful team in the 11-year history joanneum racing graz.

shows that it has what it takes to mix it at the very front. It overtakes and overtakes and completes fourth of 120 other teams. A sensational success! The team is beside itself with joy, immediately it is figured up and speculated that a top ranking could work out all in the overall standings.

At the final award ceremony at the end of the day it became official: joanneum racing graz finished fourth in the FSAE Michigan! An incredible success - the biggest in the history of the team. The other teams also become aware of this great result of the weasels. Even the racing team of the university of Stuttgart, the current leader in the world rankings, had to admit: “You have become serious competitors. We are watching you.“

Day 14: Still no one has really realized the success, but there remains little time for it. The jr13evo must be re-packed in the shipping crate. Moreover the team also shrinks, because four Weasels return home.

Day 15: The adventure of America ends also for the jr13evo. Therefore the neatly stowed away racing car is brought to AVL, which manages the transport back to Austria. Now one just can hope that the jr13evo survives his return unscathed.

The friends of the MRacing of the University of Michigan were also very successful at FSAE Michigan, which is

Acceleration: 7th placeSkid Pad: 4th placeAutocross: 8th placeEndurance: 4th placeFuel Efficiency: 9th placeCost Report: 85th placeBusiness Plan: 31st placeDesign: 10th place

Overall: 4th place

#1 Universität Stuttgart#2 Monash University#3 Hochschule Esslingen#4 Osaka University#5 University of Texas#6 TU München#7 University of Akron#8 University of Washington#9 Tallinn TU UAS#10 FH JOANNEUM (us)#11 University Helsinki#12 Universitário da FEI#13 Swinburne University#14 Université Laval#15 Global Formula Racing

results

world ranking


One of the most noticeable changes on the jr13evo is the new aerodynamics package. Front and rear wing as well as the sidepods and the diffuser have been changed completely. Due to the lower average speeds at Formula Student events, the wings have to work perfectly, in order to achieve sufficient downforce. The ideas of the previous season were worked out, CFD calculated and brought to the Rail Tec Arsenal wind tunnel in Vienna to test and validate our results.The new wings are almost twice as big as the jr13’s, but thanks to some tricks in the

manufacturing process, the weight of the car has not been changed drastically.When we started testing the new car in Graz, we soon noticed that the new aerodynamics completely fulfilled our expectations. Having survived the overseas travelling, our car was brought back to a driveable state at the workshop of M-Racing, the Formula Student team of the University of Michigan, and the wings were adjusted to work perfectly during numerous testing sessions. All these efforts were worthwhile in the end.

We already knew that we were not using the full potential of the car. Therefore we went back to our desks, into the CAD-Rooms and to the test bench. It took many hours to bring the jr13evo to its peak of perfection. You cannot win a competition by only having a fast car. It is a huge monetary and organizing effort to make things happen. We were planning to work 4 days on test tracks to do the setup after reassembling the jr13evo in the USA. Our turbocharged 2-cylinder engine suffered from temporary problems. It was triggered by

the difference in fuel quality. Some minor changes in the engine mapping could solve the problems quite fast. The steering wheel wiring harness was cut by the failure of the steering link. Therefore the conditions were very demanding to repair the cables. Based on the probability of Murphy’s Law, our electro-pneumatic shifting system stopped working two days before the race. With the help of the teams from Michigan and Toledo as well as the company IMCO, we could get some additional testing days to solve these problems.

boxreport

chas

sis

electrics

box report >>


At the Event in Michigan, the engine of the jr13evo once again showed that it is one of the best Formula Student engines all over the world. Ten times in a row, sin-ce the team used its self-developed engine called FS133, the event has been finished without an engine failure.To be able to compete with the best teams in the world, an engine at the latest stage of development with many new parts, for example new pistons, was used. With the new cooling system, it was possible to use the engine at maximum power for all the time.

This new developments of the powertrain team were an important part of the en-hancements of the jr13evo.Despite the professional preperations, a few challenges had to be mastered. In the first test days, we found out that the fuel in the USA is not exactly the same as in Europe so a few changes in the engine ap-plication had to be made. After a few tests in the week before the race, we were able to run the engine with maximum power again. At the dynamic events the engine could show its full power and reliability. The result speaks for itself.

As we arrived in Michigan, we immediately continued testing and tuning our suspension. Due to the knowledge we gathered with the jr13 in the last season, the will to increase the speed of our car and our strong endurance, we were able to set some fast laptimes at the event.But at first things went wrong at testing. Some parts broke due to exceeding their lifetime and it was on us to replace them as fast as possible to continue testing. Thanks to our great teamwork, we managed to overcome all the troubles and started the event well prepared.

The new suspension kinematics works well with the new aero package, and, due to our new rocker motion ratio and the very even surface of the track, we were able to lower the car extremely so the center of gravity was lowered to a minimum.The fact that we raced head to head against the top teams in the world ranking proves that we made the right changes within the bounds of possibility. Our knowledge will now be used to design the suspension of the new racing car from joanneum racing graz and we are sure that we will be racing to beat the limits again.su

spen

sion

powertrain

box report >>


FairsAnyone who wants to experience the latest cars of

joanneum racing and chat with the weasels about cars, there are a lot opportunities. The team of joanneum

racing graz presents their cars among others at the Auto Emotion Graz, the Car & Bike show in

Klagenfurt and the Alles Auto show in Bad Hall. There were also celebrities at the fair

in Oberwart. Olympic champion Julia Dujmovits and U23 World Rowing

Champion Bernhard Sieber marveled at the jr12 at the Moto Motion. Photos and

reports of the shows can be found on our

website.

SpritzerstandlTemperatures are rising, the days are getting longer and the nights warmer. Summer is finally here. A good reason to stop by at the Spritzerstandl of joanneum racing graz. A cozy atmosphere, upbeat music and numerous conversations about our cars are waiting for you! It is the perfect opportunity to get to know the team and build up friendships.

Choose between raspberry, peach or elder Spritzer, cool beer and a selection of soft drinks, for those driving. Make a pit stop. At the Spritzerstand of joanneum racing graz!

At the Long Night of Research, the team of joanneum racing graz was represented with a few activities. Children

could have their photos taken in the jr09. In addition, there was a contest in which visitors could win a T-shirt of the current team wear.

In order to win this, they had to guess where certain car parts are required in the jr13evo. All in all it was a great success.

We are looking forward to next year!

Long Night of Research

STUDY YOUR DREAM.

| APPLIED COMPUTER SCIENCES

| ENGINEERING

| HEALTH STUDIES

| BUILDING, ENERGY & SOCIETY

| MEDIA & DESIGN

| MANAGEMENT

FH JOANNEUM Graz | Kapfenberg | Bad GleichenbergAlte Poststraße 1498020 Graz, AUSTRIA, Tel.: +43 (0)316 [email protected]/fhjoanneum

www.fh-joanneum.at Austria | Styria

what else? >>


FairsAnyone who wants to experience the latest cars of

joanneum racing and chat with the weasels about cars, there are a lot opportunities. The team of joanneum

racing graz presents their cars among others at the Auto Emotion Graz, the Car & Bike show in

Klagenfurt and the Alles Auto show in Bad Hall. There were also celebrities at the fair

in Oberwart. Olympic champion Julia Dujmovits and U23 World Rowing

Champion Bernhard Sieber marveled at the jr12 at the Moto Motion. Photos and

reports of the shows can be found on our

website.

Next year Marton Szabo-Kass will replace Daniel Maier as the

teamleader of joanneum racing graz. The young automotive engineer has planned a lot with the new race car, the jr15. In the interview he talks about what it means for him to be teamleader, what distinguishes the jr15 from his predecessors and where it can be seen live.

Marton, you are next year‘s teamleader of joanneum racing graz – are you excited about this challenge?

It is a great honour for me to open the next season of joanneum racing graz as teamleader. The team has been existing now for ten years. This makes it even more honorable for me to be the next in this traditionional and long row to lead the team. It is of course a great challenge and a great duty that comes with a lot of responsibility. The motivation to go about these tasks is, however, huge. 2014 is not a usual year for us because of the change of the old system to the new Bologna system with Bachelor‘s and Master‘s degrees. Therefore the current team consists of old and new members. But our main season will be 2015, it is an extended season so to say.

What will distinguish the jr15 from the previous cars?

Because of the earlier mentioned adjustment, we have more time to prepare for the season in 2015. With previous experiences we try to optimize all sectors – the expectations are correspondingly high. The greatest difference will lie in the chassis, where we will attach a tubular rear frame to the monocoque. This concept was applied the last time in 2009, later on only complete CFRP monocoques were built. But for achieving better maintainability

The future of the team

and cooling effects, we are going for this so called hybrid construction method again.

What goals will you pursue with the jr15?

We will certainly try to chase our dreams and implement our plans. We want to build a race car that is a worthy successor of the jr-family and represents the team of joanneum racing graz well. Furthermore we will try to achieve even better results at the competitions and enhance our already amazing position in the world ranking.

Where will the jr15 presumably start?

As usual we are planning to face the first competition with the new car in Germany at the Hockenheim-Ring. Afterwards we also want to fight for good results in Spielberg at the Red-Bull-Ring, in Győr – Gönyü in Hungary and in Italy at the Riccardo Paletti Circuit in Varano de’ Melegari. What will be your personal highlight next year?

The first and greatest highlight will be the Rollout, where the car will be presented publicly for the first time. And later of course the competitions where we will hopefully see that our concept has proved its worth and we can beat our competitors.

A racing box full of lively weasels – how do you keep them together?

Of course, it is not always easy to control those fast, headstrong, sometimes a little aggressive and mostly nocturnal animals. But I am proud of the members. You can really feel how everybody pursues the same goal and works very hard for that. Hence the whole work is also a lot of fun and it makes teamleading easier.

Marton Szabo-Kassteamleader jr15

our future >>

| Newsletter 07/2014wir sagen danke >> 12

| Newsletter 07/2014 thanks to >>13

Newsletter joanneum racing graz July 2014 english

Documents

n t e r n

t h e s e s t o r e

t i e s

s t h e s e

g e s e

n t h e n

r e o n e o f t h e

r e c e