Frame, Floor, & Firewall Development
2022 - Present
Frame
Frame work began in 2022 when we started designing our new car.
Explored existing frame designs and advantages of a tube-and-node design over our current monocoque.
Estimated a tubular design could reduce weight by 30 kg.
Started designing tubular concepts, selecting materials, calculating and running FEA.
Helped explore and design node system, floor mounts
Early Frame Concept
Early Frame FEA
Assembled Frame
Floor
Ditching the monocoque concept, a floor pan would be needed to sit the driver on and mount all our sub-components.
Started exploring material options for a composite sandwich.
Hand calculated and ran FEA on sandwich designs.
Ended with a carbon fiber and structural foam design, while also considering balsa wood.
Was redesigned to for better to the shape of the frame
Prepped mould for CNC, partook in carbon fiber layup
Early Floor FEA
Carbon Fiber Layup Prep
Carbon Fiber Layup
Firewall
Similarly to the floor, after ditching the monocoque design, a firewall was needed to be designed in order to protect the driver in event of a rollover or battery fire.
Followed similar design path to floor, ending up as a structural sandwich of carbon fiber + structural foam + aluminum + carbon fiber
Firewall Model
Firewall Foam Mould
