DESIGN AND OPTIMIZATION OF A CHASSIS FOR A FORMULA SAE RACE CAR

Abstract

In this paper, the design process of a new chassis for a Formula SAE car is presented. The chassis is undoubtedly one of the most important parts of the car, both for the influence that it has on the vehicle dynamic behaviour, and because it is the main component that assures the driver safety. The new designed chassis is composed of many structural tubular bars and has been equipped with systems for the joining of all the auxiliary members. After the definition of the masses distribution and the choice of the main dimensions, preliminary CAD and FEM models have been carried out for the evaluation of the structural behaviour of this kind of vehicle. Successively, in order maximizing the torsional stiffness and reducing the mass, different optimization processes of the chassis have been developed. To find the best solution many loops have been carried out, also by modifying the definition of the design variable. At the end, a very good result has been achieved: the optimized chassis has a lower mass and a higher torsional stiffness value in comparison with the preliminary model.