what kind of consideration should be condsiderd in choosing material for a bodywork?

[This message was edited by FSAE.com on October 16, 2002 at 02:07 PM.]

A very big consideration is the ability to form the material into the shape you require. The nosecone requires double curvature, so almost everybody forms it from a material that can be moulded e.g fibreglass or carbonfire. that said, a few years ago at the formula student event, a team had a car with all aluminium panels, as one of the members of the team was a very skilled at metal forming.

The other main consideration is probably cost

A composite i.e. fiberglass (which we use) or carbon fiber produces the best looking resuts in our experience. Carbon Fiber would be ideal but in our opinion it isn't worth the cost or effort for this application.

Lehigh Formula SAE

www.lehigh.edu/~insae/formula