hello again from monash motorsport!
TRANSCRIPT
Hello again from Monash Motorsport!
Since the release of our last newsletter our team has been working tirelessly to build the
latest in our legacy of world-class SAE race cars.
Currently we are mere days away from driving - an outstanding achievement that could
not have happened without the dedication and hard work our team members give.
This newsletter incorporates a design summary, revealing some of our many exciting
new changes and evolutions to our M13 car. In addition it features some of the team’s
activities away from the workshop, namely our involvement with the wider community.
We will also provide an insight into some of our sponsors – companies whose generosity
we cannot be thankful enough for, and without which we would surely not have a car.
We are rolling!
Our senior management set out our production timeline at the start of the year, and we
were able to roll on July 17th, within a week of our initial goal.
A massive thank you goes out to all the team members that made this possible. Our
driving date is on track to be achieved in early August and the aerodynamics package is
weeks away from being mounted on the car. Being able to complete our car this early in
the year will provide us with a comfortable platform to test out and refine our cars setup
on track, ensuring that we will be adequately prepared by the time competition rolls
around in December.
M13 is the first car in our two year evolutionary strategy, meaning that unlike M12, which
builds on upgrading and enhancing our M11 car, the M13 car has evolved from a ground
up redesign. Some of our notable changes include the addition of a turbo to our single
cylinder KTM engine, a move to direct acting suspension, downsizing to 10” wheels and
our most aggressive aerodynamics package yet.
This year’s aerodynamics package is the result of many long months using CFD to refine
and optimize our wings and undertray. The final package will not be released until our
launch night in November. We are confident that this package will stand to demonstrate
once again why Monash is regarded by F-SAE teams as the world leaders in
aerodynamics.
Compared with M12, M13 is
predicted to have an overall
weight reduction of approximately
10%. Our aerodynamics package
whilst still being manufactured, is
estimated to be 4kg lighter than
the 19kg package on M12, while
still managing to have an
outstanding 35% increase in
downforce. We are also in the
process of manufacturing our
drag-reduction system (DRS)
after a highly successful trial in
February when we took M12 to FSAE-West in Perth. Our aerodynamics package will
begin wind tunnel testing following its completion in order to correlate the real
performance we see on track with our CFD results. Thanks to our highly detailed model
we have found good agreement between CFD and the track to within 5% in the past.
The suspension team has successfully managed to make the package 15% lighter
compared to M12. This was assisted by the move to direct acting suspension,
implemented to decrease compliance throughout the system along with being easier to
manufacture and having fewer parts.
The chassis team’s use of TeXtreme® carbon fabric for our panels has contributed to the chassis
being nearly half a kilogram lighter than the design target. The torsional stiffness is currently
being validated through physical testing, which will be used to correlate with initial predictions.
The powertrain team has been busy developing our Garrett turbocharger on our engine
dynamometer. They are currently validating its performance benefits and feasibility for
use at competition. Additionally we made the move this year to E85 and would like to
thank Sucrogen for their generous support in supplying us with fuel.
Monash Motorsport was lucky enough to be hosted by LEAP during National
Manufacturing Week held at the Melbourne Exhibition Centre. It was a great chance to
see some of our sponsors’ products up close as well as to promote Formula SAE and
those who support us to the public. Monash Motorsport would like to express our
gratitude to LEAP for allowing us to share their stall throughout the week.
The Computer Game Boot Camp (https://cgbc.infotech.monash.edu/) is an annual event
held at Monash University. It is a hands-on, interactive, industry engagement event, which
features presentations, workshops, industry showcases and course information. The team
had the opportunity to present to a group of young high school students on some of the
possible benefits and prospects that Formula SAE has to offer.
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The team also ran a number of computer aided design (CAD) classes as part of the Monash Holi-
day program. A few members of Monash Motorsport gave up some of their time to run a program
for groups of high school students. The students were taught the basics of sketching, assembling
and rendering. It also gave us a chance to scout out some possible future team members!
At the start of April, Monash Motorsport, working alongside LEAP, presented a design
symposium to a group consisting mostly of fellow SAE teams. The symposium focused on
design optimisation, looking specifically at finite element analysis (FEA) and computational fluid
dynamics (CFD). The teams were able to learn a lot from comparing their different design
methods, as well as different processes and managerial techniques. The symposium had
subscribers from not just around Australia, but also had several from around the world tuning in.
Laser 3D have been sponsoring us for a number of years and their support has been
pivotal in assisting us to manufacture our car. They provide us with laser cutting and
material which we have made use of on a large number of parts on our car, including our
chassis tubes.
Marand provide us with machining services and assisted us in the manufacture of our
uprights, hubs and wheel centres. The complex geometry of the uprights meant that in the
past we were forced to bend and weld sheet metal, however thanks to Marand’s support
we were able to get them machined from one piece of aluminium. We are extremely
grateful to have them as a sponsor.
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Platinum Sponsors
Gold Sponsors
Silver Sponsors
Bronze Sponsors
Find out more.
www.facebook.com/monashmotorsport
www.youtube.com/user/monashmotorsport
www.twitter.com/MonashFSAE
www.vimeo.com/monashmotorsport
Contact details for Monash Motorsport.
Hamish McCredie
Team Leader
Ph: 0425 118 538
Simeon Berson
PR Manager
Ph: 0423 134 192