IA Testing Setup

Hi guys, I'm Douglas Cowie from the University of Glasgow and part of the chassis and suspension team. This year I am doing my teams testing of the Impact Attentuator by using quasi static testing.

My query is regarding rule T3.22.11 which appears to have been updated from the 2014 rules:
"... The anti-intrusion plate must be
attached to a structurally representative section of the intended chassis that extends a minimum of
50.8mm (2 inches) away from the Front Bulkhead."

Does structurally representative mean we have to use our chassis members of which there are 8, 2 coming from each node of the bulkhead? Or would we be able to test using just 4, 1 from each node for example? Is that considered structurally representative? I am assuming the rule has been changed to stop teams fully supporting their bulkhead all around for testing.

Thanks in advance.
Douglas

Hey Douglas,

when I tested our Impact Attenuator back in 2012 (rules are the same), we made a "dummy bulkhead" out of steel, so it was a 50mm thick steel plate that had the same dimensions as our real bulkhead (same other shape and same "hole" in the middle) which represented a rigid bulkhead for the test.
We then bolted anti-intrusion plate and Impact attenuator onto the bulkhead like on the real car and tested this configuration. (Pictures here: http://fs1.directupload.net/images/150219/newvdarm.png)

You assumption "this is in order to prevent teams from supporting their plate for testing" is correct. If you just use a "closed" bulkhead, you AI plate will have no bending, if that is not the case in the car, that's unrealistic.

Cheers