USM12 newsletter issue2

Well, a huge amount has happened since the last issue of the USM newsletter, so much so that it’s been difficult to find time to write the next one! This issue provides a summary of some of the setbacks and successes experienced by the team over the past few months - as always, you can keep up to date on our progress in ‘real time’ via our website and Facebook and Twitter feeds.

FSG Scrutineering Quiz

Having posted the second-fastest time for the FSG Registration Quiz with just 1min23sec, we were raring to go as the seconds ticked away before the opening of the Scrutineering Quiz, which determines the order in which teams are scheduled to unload, register and report for safety and tech inspection at Hockenheim.

After spending two days waiting around in 2010, we were well aware of the importance of being at the head of this queue, and charged through the quiz in under 1min30sec, a time which puts us in the top five or six teams at least. Official rankings will be released on the first day of the competition, and we’ll be ready!

James Weir Fire

As you are no doubt already aware, engineering activities at Strathclyde were dealt a bit of a blow when the James Weir building caught fire on February 7th. Nobody was hurt, and the members of the team working in the building at the time were all evacuated safely, but the resulting combination of fire and water damage and a lack of access blew a six-week hole in the team’s build schedule.

We are extremely grateful to the Civil Engineering department for taking us in and offering us lab space for the remainder of the 2012 season, and for the support of all the Civil technical staff as we got the team back on its feet. Our thanks are also due to Alan at Premier Welding Services, who provided a welder on loan while the team’s was impounded for ‘decontamination’, and to Lasered Components, who turned around a new 2.5x1.5m jigging table in a matter of days.

Although this has scuppered our plans for an early launch and months of testing, we are still

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University of Strathclyde Motorsport Formula Student

USM 2011/12 Newsletter Issue 2

www.formulastudent.strath.ac.uk

[email protected]

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firmly on track for a completion date several weeks before the Silverstone competition, and are fully determined to make the most of this year.

Business Competition

Rather than sit around while we waited for access to our half-finished car and equipment in James Weir, the team turned its attention to some of the other tasks on the to-do list.

Our Business Plan Competition, supported by team sponsors Accenture, provided an opportunity for team members and non-members alike to put their business planning and presentation skills to the test. The competition was won by Ross MacSporran and Alan Turnbull, who are now playing a key role in the development of USM’s Business Plan for the 2012 competitions.

Impact Test

As with any form of motorsport, safety is given top priority at Formula Student, and one of the safety measures stipulated by the FSAE rules is a frontal impact attenuator, a structure mounted at the very front of the chassis which is capable of absorbing the impact of a head-on collision at 7 ms-1.

To comply with FSG regulations, this structure must be tested dynamically under controlled

conditions with a drop, sled or pendulum test, facilities which are currently unavailable north of the border. Instead, three members of the team took a road trip down to Transport Research Laboratories (TRL) in Wokingham, who kindly slotted us into their busy schedule.

Three alternative designs went along for the ride, but the test was passed on the first attempt, with the new design saving around 1.1kg from the nose of the car due to a significant reduction in the thickness of the bulkhead anti-intrusion plate.

A slow-motion video of the attenuator in action is available through the USM YouTube channel, and is posted on our website and Facebook page.

Strathclyde People

The team are also delighted to have featured in the Strathclyde People magazine, a publication which goes out in both print and electronic form to a combined audience of around 150,000 Strathclyde alumni.

Spring 2012’s Big Picture feature shows USM11 in action at the Knockhill Track Day, with images shot by university photographer Graeme Fleming and a video showing on-board footage courtesy of team movie man Dave Wilkinson.

The full article can be viewed online via our website.

Static Event Preparation

325 of the 1000 points available at each Formula Student competition are awarded in the three Static events, the engineering design equivelant of showing your working. In order to maximise our overall performance, the team are determined to score highly in these events, and preparations are well underway for all three.

Boosted by the ideas generated at the Business Plan Competition, USM’s business boffins have been hard at work preparing a business case for the mass production of USM12. One of the key ingredients is accurate market data, and a survey has been distributed to members of the Scottish motorsport clubs with whom USM already have links, such as EACC and WSKC. The responses received have been extremely useful, providing the team with hard data to support our plans.

The bulk of the Statics points are available for the Design event, during which team members must demonstrate their understanding of the vehicle design process and justify each and every decision made.

In preparation for this, every designer has been compiling a Design Charter, a detailed record of the design process involved in their particular system or component. A great deal of effort has also gone into the four page

Design Report submitted prior to the competitions, which outlines the design justification for every system on the car, complete with figures and validated data.

The combination of these two, along with a clear set of design goals focused on low cost, reliability and maintainability will ensure that the team is as well prepared as possible going in to the Design event.

The third Static event is Cost, Maufacturing and Sustainability, in which the team must present justification for design decisions in terms of cost and environmental impact, as well as demonstrating in-depth understanding of the manufacturing processes used in the low and high volume production of a Formula Student racing car.

A key part of this event is the submission of a Cost Report, a complete Bill of Materials listing the materials, processes, fasteners and tooling used to produce every single component of the car, right down the the last nut and bolt.

Following a strong 9th place at the FSG Cost event, the team are determined to do even better this time round, and have just submitted the finished Cost Report, weighing in at a total of 585 pages and a unit cost 17.5% lower than USM11, matching up perfectly with our low cost ambitions. www.formulastudent.strath.ac.uk

[email protected]

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USM12 Build

Over in our new home in the Colville building, as guests of the Civil Engineering department, the build of USM12 is nearing completion, with the chassis fully welded and the final mounting tabs for suspension and drivetrain components being added.

A steady stream of parts has been arriving from our various sponsors and suppliers, including aluminium uprights and differential mounts from CNC machining partners Global Datum, and these steel halfshafts courtesy of sponsors Tannlin.

Several batches of laser cut steel tabs and sheet metal parts have been gratefully received from Lasered Components way down in Essex, along with a full set of wheel hubs turned by Artemis Intelligent Power, based in Edinburgh. Brake rotors have been cut by Waterjet Scotland, new injectors hav arrived from Mr Injector UK, and as usual the team are keeping our friends in the Mechanical, Electrical and DMEM workshops busy with a constant stream of jobs.

USM team members have been just as busy, working flat out to make sure USM12 is delivered on time. End of term means 24/7 build effort, and the car is coming together slowly but surely.

We’re extremely grateful to all our sponsors and suppliers for their help, as without them there would be no car and no team.

Pussy’s World Tour

One member of the team who hasn’t been pulling his weight is Pussy, the lucky cat from Singapore. While the team were working flat out to submit project dissertations and prepare for exams, Pussy decided to up sticks and take a holiday, visiting Formula Student teams across the globe.

His tour so far has included two car launches in Germany and a trip to FSAE Michigan, courtesy of our friends at Rennteam Stuttgart, with some sightseeing along the way! Pussy has been providing regular updates via Facebook - Niagara Falls seemed to be a particular highlight.

USM12 Launch

Lastly but definitely not leastly, USM are proud to annouce the launch of our 2012 car at 7pm on Thursday 28th June in the McCance Building on Richmond St. If you haven’t already received an invitation, you’re more than welcome to come along - just let us know as soon as possible so we can arrange catering.

That’s it for now, then - roll on the launch of USM12! We look forward to seeing you there!