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When a two-element airfoil for the wing of a racecar has to be inside a rectangle space dictated by regulations or dictated by the available space, the ratio of the flap chord length to the main element chord length, the overlap and gap sizes between the main element and the flap are design parameters, besides the element shapes. To find the configuration for the high downforce-to-drag ratio, CFD simulations were performed in 2D using the FX63-137 airfoil for both the main element and the flap. Some important findings are that the flap chord length should be 50 to 70% of the main element chord length to achieve the high lift-to-drag ratio. This finding will help design better two-element wings.

Motorsport Engineering is developing a foothold, around the World, as a field of academic preparation at the post-graduate level. To gain the appropriate practical skills to augment classroom education, and thus, for the graduates to successfully compete for employment in the Motorsport Industry, it is critical that the degree program has a strong experiential component. This paper describes the need to take an engineering approach to motorsport education by combining a discovery-based education with the traditional lecture format to realize synergistic results. The idea is that to effectively “engineer” the graduate, the student must have a strong skill set or a strong grasp of the fundamentals. The growth of the current educational program at Colorado State University and the effectiveness of merging the “inside-out” process, typical of the research mission, with the instructional practices of the University and with the needs of the Motorsport Industry are discussed.

A measurement system based on photogrammetry has been developed and used to measure the “as-assembled” geometry of a variety of racecar suspensions. A standard methodology for photographing a suspension, and special targets have been developed to use with commercially available photogrammetry software. Several types of targets are discussed; these included targets to identify the center of rotation of the linkages and the orientation of the wheel mounting surface. The system is used with a 5.1 mega-pixel camera to measure the 3D geometry of a suspension in space. Physical camber and toe variation in bump is then measured and correlated with the numerical computation of camber and toe variation using a suspension kinematics package and the geometry generated using the technique.

It is not uncommon in motorsport for a team to chase a chassis setup throughout a race weekend, changing many different suspension settings, yet not getting consistent response from the chassis. In at least some of these cases it has been later determined that these inconsistencies stemmed from either chassis damage or fastener loosening, leading to a decrease in chassis stiffness. The current research investigates a method for quickly and accurately measuring the torsional stiffness, or static compliance, of a racecar chassis and suspension at various stations along the length, which can be utilized in the paddock area. When compared to baseline measurements of a newly assembled racecar, the post-race static compliance of the vehicle can be used to reveal the length-wise region of new damage or softening of components.

Achieving maximum downforce during cornering is critical in the aerodynamic design of a race car. During cornering, all race cars will be at some angle of yaw relative to the vehicle velocity vector, and in certain forms of racing the yaw angle can be large. For this reason it is important to take into consideration the effect of yaw on the aerodynamic characteristics of the vehicle. Most aerodynamic elements on vehicles have been examined in some detail in straight ahead motion. However, an element such as a wing/end plate combination optimized for straight forward motion may not perform well under yaw conditions. This effect may substantially diminish the aerodynamic advantage for race cars in high yaw, such as those raced at the Pike's Peak Hill Climb. As a part of a comprehensive research program relating to optimized aerodynamics at high yaw angles, the effect of end plate design on lift and drag of a rear wing in free stream is being considered.

In racing, understanding how the setup and setup changes affect the racecar's ability to produce optimum longitudinal and lateral acceleration is vital to producing a winning team. To better understand and characterize how setup and setup changes affect the racecar, the use of state transition diagrams to model the vehicle's transient roll and pitch while negotiating the track is being investigated. State transition diagrams are made up of statistically significant patterns or events, and show the interconnection or transition from one state to another.1 The basic application of a state transition diagram to the phenomena of a racecar's roll and pitch is to identify the locations on the race course of the major events that make up the vehicle braking into, maneuvering through, and accelerating out of a corner. Major events that are examined include the maximum roll and pitch displacements, velocities, and accelerations.

Fiber reinforced, shape memory, polymer matrix, composites have recently been demonstrated in a variety of applications. Once cured, these composites, based on thermoset shape memory resins, have the ability to be semi-permanently deformed from the cured shape at elevated temperatures and then subsequently returned to the original shape. However, the vast majority of the applications demonstrated have made use of very thin composite laminates. The current research considers composite sandwich panel structures formed from shape memory composite facesheets and a rigid foam core created from shape memory resin. The goal is to investigate the potential deformability in these much more rigid geometries to assess the potential for use in conformable, structural applications.

A current general need within Six Sigma methodologies is to utilize statistical methods including experimental design in the confirmation of new processes and their parameters. This is typically done in the improve step of the DMAIC process. This need is even more evident in microjoining (small scale resistance welding) due to the number and complexity of the process variables. This paper outlines the improve step of a Six Sigma project in which statistical methods are applied to a microjoining process. These statistical methods include linear experimental design, regression analysis with linear transformation and mathematical modeling. The paper documents the methodology used to establish process parameters in microjoining of an electrical lead frame design.

Autonomous vehicle development has benefited from sanctioned competitions dating back to the original 2004 DARPA Grand Challenge. Since these competitions, fully autonomous vehicles have become much closer to significant real-world use with the majority of research focused on reliability, safety and cost reduction. Our research details the recent challenges experienced at the 2017 Self Racing Cars event where a team of international Udacity students worked together over a 6 week period, from team selection to race day. The team’s goal was to provide real-time vehicle control of steering, braking, and throttle through an end-to-end deep neural network. Multiple architectures were tested and used including convolutional neural networks (CNN) and recurrent neural networks (RNN). We began our work by modifying a Udacity driving simulator to collect data and develop training models which we implemented and trained on a laptop GPU.

Recent developments in materials science related to nano-technology have led to the creation and investigation of a new group of potential coolants known as nanofluids. These suspensions have been shown to have improved heat transfer capabilities over fluids without nanoparticles. The application of such fluids in motor racing shows potential for improvements in engine thermal management and aerodynamics. This study investigates the effect of additions of nanoparticles on the heat capacity of water using Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC). Fluids incorporating a variety of nanoparticles, of varying size and volume fraction, are investigated. It is shown that the volumetric heat capacity of water is only slightly affected by the addition of nanoparticles. The similarity in volumetric heat capacities, coupled with proven increased thermal conductivity of nanofluids, yields fluids with high thermal diffusivities that respond more quickly to changes in thermal environment.