material for bodywork of a fsae car & material cost

[PANTH]

hi
i am new here
i am in search of a good material for the bodywork of a fsae car and it's cost
it should be of good surface finish,easy to shape and cost efficient

[PANTH]

hi
i am new here
i am in search of a good material for the bodywork of a fsae car and it's cost
it should be of good surface finish,easy to shape and cost efficient

[J.R.]

Cloth, attached around the frame rails with Velcro.

Benefits:
Lightest possible panels, short of using cellophane
Cheap

Drawbacks:
"It doesn't look like a race car"

[Yellow Ranger]

saran wrap

[Bazanaius]

What are your ideas already? I'm sure people would be happy to offer comments on materials you were looking at using based on their prior experience.

Why not grab a small sample of whatever you think might work and test it? Most companies will send out small bits if you say you're interested in using it, or you can find stuff that's lying about the workshop.

What do the rules require of the bodywork? What are the reasons for having it, and therefore what specification must it fulfil? From this you can select materials.

Don't forget to think about manufacturing methods as well - what facitlities are required/available for the material you are investigating? Is time more of an issue, or cost, or the aesthetic finish? Can you come to a compromise between the three? There's probably other considerations I havn't thought of...

There are certainly conventional materials but you should use whatever is best for you.

[Wesley]

Aluminum foil.

[Adambomb]

Foil? Saran Wrap? Cloth? C'mon, get with the times. Composites are where it's at! By using a layer of foil, followed by a layer of cloth, followed by a layer of Saran Wrap, you get the strength of metal, the toughness of plastic, and the look of cloth! As for resin, I hear Elmer's White Glue works nice, although rubber cement may improve flexibility to prevent damage when hitting cones. Rubber cement would also improve water resistance and prevent mildew of the cloth.

Add in some sandwich panels of "natural fiber composite" (AKA plywood), and you can get that Classic Woodgrain Finish that is oh so important to getting the right look to the car (just waiting for someone to bring a "Woody" to competition...that would be TOO AWESOME!).

[Superfast Matt McCoy]

I'm seriously considering wrapping the land speed bike in Duct Tape. I'll let you know how that works out at 300mph.

[Adambomb]

That reminds me of a 40+ minute presentation given by a local university's baja team that I was held captive to endure. Their body molds consisted of wrapping masking tape around their chassis, the rest of it I blocked out of my mind as a traumatic event. They also said that "aero was very important at 15 mph." I still get the chills sometimes when I think about it.

Of course that is still better than our old baja team's "chicken wire, bondo and duct tape matrix." Oh yeah. If I remember right the side panels weighed over 35 lbs.

[J.R.]

Laugh if you want, my team did too, until our body panels went from 15 lb to 1.5 lb. I'd be surprised if anyone has composite panels that light, and last I checked weight was important in our competition. But, the panels don't 'Look like a race car,' which is what seems to be a design goal for some teams....

[JR @ CFS]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Adambomb:
Add in some sandwich panels of "natural fiber composite" (AKA plywood)[/QUOTE
Lads, I know you are having a laugh and everything, but there is actually a Danish team (I think it is Aalborg) who have a plywood body. It is their way of being green http://fsae.com/groupee_common/emoticons/icon_smile.gif

[kapps]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Superfast Matt McCoy:
I'm seriously considering wrapping the land speed bike in Duct Tape. I'll let you know how that works out at 300mph. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Try some 3M 6969, better known at my workplace as 'missile tape.' It can hold pretty much anything to pretty much anything else with a fury.

[t21jj]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Adambomb:
That reminds me of a 40+ minute presentation given by a local university's baja team that I was held captive to endure. Their body molds consisted of wrapping masking tape around their chassis, the rest of it I blocked out of my mind as a traumatic event. They also said that "aero was very important at 15 mph." I still get the chills sometimes when I think about it.
</div></BLOCKQUOTE>

God don't remind me, I still can't believe I made it through that. He just kept on babbling on about it. The never ending lubricant presentation right after did not help any.

[ibanezplayer]

In all seriousness though our bodies tend to have alot of colour-matched duct tape and zip ties.

U of Waterloo's car used aircraft fabric that had been painted. Only picture I could find on their site: http://fsae.uwaterloo.ca/images/banner/uw_banner_1.jpg

You can find info on pricing from any aircraft supply store, heck, http://www.aircraftspruce.com/menus/cs/fabric.html

[Adambomb]

In more seriousness...

I have been interested in using aircraft fabric (which I consider different from ordinary CLOTH). There are a lot of good teams that use it, it is simple, light, and as far as "looking like a race car," I bet with a hot chassis it could be done.

P.S...our '07 car had carbon fiber body panels that were well under a pound (tripled in weight after we painted them). They looked great, until you hit a cone, then they tended to explode. These days we just drive it with no body.

[HoggyN]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">(just waiting for someone to bring a "Woody" to competition...that would be TOO AWESOME!). </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Obviously you've not been to Formula Student UK for the last couple of years...

http://sduvikings.dk/gallery/resized/2009_05_26%20Test%20Viking%20I/56.jpg

SDU Vikings Racing Team (http://sduvikings.dk/default.asp)

[Benn]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by HoggyN:
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">(just waiting for someone to bring a "Woody" to competition...that would be TOO AWESOME!). </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Obviously you've not been to Formula Student UK for the last couple of years...

http://sduvikings.dk/gallery/resized/2009_05_26%20Test%20Viking%20I/56.jpg

SDU Vikings Racing Team (http://sduvikings.dk/default.asp) </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

how does that rollhoop pass tech?

[rjwoods77]

I always thought a copper plated frame with wood grain laminate body panels would look cool. Rolling espresso machine.

[Wesley]

Someone should do a steampunk FSAE car.

If you don't know what steampunk is, look it up!

[rjwoods77]

Iron strap clad oak uprights for the win.

[HoggyN]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Benn:
how does that rollhoop pass tech? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
I think that is their test driver.



He's 7'6" tall.

[TorqueWrench]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by rjwoods77:
Iron strap clad oak uprights for the win. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

We actually do have wood uprights for the car made. Its amazing how fast you can punch out a set of those in on a CNC.

[cjanota]

University of Illinois (UIUC) has used kite fabric for the last 3 years. I think the 2007 and 2009 car look pretty good. divert your eyes if you look at the 2008 car though.