Client Name
University Of Wolverhampton Race Team
Manufacturer
CreatBot
Industry
Motorsport
“Throughout the manufacturing of the sidepod construction for WOLF VII. The team at EVO3D has been invaluable. Their sponsorship has allowed the teams designs to integrate the latest manufacturing methods and create competitive motorsport level prototype components. Not only has EVO3D’s advice on optimising designs for manufacturing been invaluable. But the use of more specialised filament types such as CF Nylon, has enabled high strength, geometrically complicated components to be manufactured, to meet the teams design specifications.”
- Harry Needle
Second year BEng Mechanical engineering Student and UWR Formula Student Deputy Team Lead.
Company Highlight
The University of Wolverhampton provides an education in all disciplines of Engineering from Foundation degree to master’s level, with a dedicated Engineering Campus at its Telford Innovation Campus in Priorslee. The University has specific Motorsport and Automotive courses along with all other disciplines of Engineering including Aerospace, Mechanical and Manufacturing to name a few. These courses are complimented by the in-house racing team (UWR) University of Wolverhampton Racing. This outlet not only provides Industry experience in these fields at track and in the workshop but aims to deliver real world scenarios to support the theory learnt in the classroom.
The Challenge:
- WOLF VII – Competing in Imeche Formula Student UK
- Initial analysation - Compact effective cooling system for the relatively low speeds of FSUK, not allowing for significant amount of air velocity to be able to pass over the radiators.
- Research indicates a safe average velocity of 13m/s of air to pass over the radiators.
- Calculations on the radiators showed that at an average of 13m/s velocity and the max temperature generated by the engine at a specified RPM, would be able to cool the radiators sufficiently.
- Therefore, once research had been conducted, a factor of a 1.5x increase in velocity at the radiators would be desirable.
- It is also essential that this is then also packaged as closely to the car as possible, not only for dynamic performance, but also ease of cockpit entry/ exit by the driver.
- To combat this, UWR Formula Student needed a compact efficient cooling system. That created a pressure differential across the radiators and cooled the radiators to idealise the Otto cycle within the powertrain.
The Approach
- Follow brief specification
- Using the general assembly of the model, create a compact ducting system to satisfy the 1.5x FOS of air velocity passing into the radiators.
- Complete hand calculations.
- Produce a CAD design through an iterative design process.
- Assess the final prototype in dynamic testing.
- Assessing the final product after testing,
- To produce the ducting, a variety of construction/traditional methods for construction were considered, however due to the prototype nature of the competition. 3D printing the ducting appeared to be the most suitable approach to take. Access to 3D printing equipment capable of printing CF nylon accurately at a rather large scale reinforced this decision. However, 3D printing and using the Creatbot D600 Pro was chosen due to the complex nature of the design specification. For the ducting design specifics such as bolt spacing for the brackets and the radiator fans, whilst also maintaining a complex 3D geometry would prove more difficult and costly through other means of manufacturing. This is especially due to the theoretically minimal cost that comes with tooling for 3D printing, something that other manufacturing methods would have, and for the one-off manufacturing style of the Formula Student competition would be unviable.
The Solution
- Complete CAD iterative design process justified by simulations and hand calculations.
- Real world assembly with the parts specified.
- Real world static and dynamic testing of the components.
- Once proven, results from testing could indicate a possible design change, finalising the model ready for the event.
- To use a large format 3D printer to complete this project, over traditional manufacturing.
The solution to the problem was to produce a quality high end component, which would pass a technical scrutineering checklist to be deemed “track safe.” Also, the components needed to be functional as a cooling duct while being in proximity of the exhaust and cooling system on the WOLF VII, whilst also retaining strength and being easy to change or maintain if it should ever be called for. The material would also need to have all the properties mentioned above but maintain them across a rigorous testing schedule and furthermore the dynamic endurance, skidpan, and acceleration events at the Formula Student event in July 2023.
The Results:
- The internal ducting components survived rigorous testing across a two-day plan at Curborough Sprint Course without any visual degradation to the parts.
- The ducting also proved the design and material choice by the seamless integration of the fans and surrounding components.
- The testing proved the resilience of the CF Nylon PA12 in a high stress environment with high temperature levels reaching up to 120 degrees centigrade.
- Also, efficient cooling was enabled by the ducting. Proof was when the car came in from multiple runs, the temperature dropped rapidly with the fans on and allowed for very little heat soak to occur in the components.
- Saved over two months in traditional test and manufacturing time.
Conclusion:
Therefore, the design purpose and functionality have been proven demonstrating that the use of CF Nylon PA12 can be used with great effectiveness in a motorsport application for components around a radiator system. With time, the components in their current design could show wear, however at this time, this seems to be unlikely. Also, the design philosophies as mentioned above have now been proven for a formula student application and the team is confident under heavy loading that the material can handle constant coolant temperatures up to 120 degrees without critical failure. Using the Creatbot D600 Pro for this project. Has saved time, money and materials. 3D printing is an important tool to help, in lots of varied automotive projects.
Costs
PA12-CF15 £44.30 per Roll (500g)
Prototype 2.5kg
Final Product 2.6kg
Printing Time – 56 hours both parts Ave Power Consumption @ 1.5 kWh (36 kW)
Total Cost £326.53
About CreatBot
Henan Creatbot Technology Limited is the first batch enterprises who specializing in the developing and manufacturing of desktop 3D printer in China. We are leader of professional large scale 3D printer with products D600 Pro, D1000 model and leader of professional ultra high temperature 3D printer with products F430 and PEEK-300.
The brand "CreatBot" established in 2011, has now become one of the largest professional 3D printer manufacturers in central China. The annual sales volume exceeds over 3,000 sets of large size professional 3D printer. Our products has achieved over 30 patents,certified by CE, FCC, RoHs Organization, and sold to over 60 countries.
CreatBot also has achieved cooperation or partnership with famous universities or companies like Tsinghua University, Harvard university, Foxconn, GE, ABB, TE Electric, Volkswagen, NASA, Canadian Department of Defense，etc. Our customers in application of Product development, Manufacturing, End-use parts, Automotive, Aerospace, Art design, casting, tooling, Medical and Dental, Chemical,Education and reserch, etc.
CreatBot provides reliable, efficient and professional 3D printing solutions to business markets, where safety, quality and tangible results justify investments. From trusted, high-performance machines with dedicated software to a vast range of printing materials, our products are both innovative and accessible. CreatBot is a solid partner who supplies your business with the latest 3D printing technologies to enhance your projects, minimize product development timelines and push you forward ahead of the competition
