mis semester A-Arms report

1. A-Arms report
Nathan Cook
Leroy Wolter
Leonard Healy

2. Picture from www.f1fanatic.co.uk

3. Front and Rear A-Arms

4. Relevance and effectiveness
Had to design A-Arms for formula SAE 2016 electric race car.
They attach the wheels to the chassis via the uprights.
Had to comply with the suspension geometry and parts given to us already.
Must be backwards compatible with ts_15.
Ideal weight <600g per corner
The A-arms are designed to withstand the transverse and longitudinal loads
that are placed upon the car when the car is accelerating.

5. Relevance and effectiveness
The A-Arms are made out of chrome moly 4130 which is both cheap light and
strong
The model that has been created had held up initial FEA (Finite Element
Analysis) and can provide suitable support for the car without breaking
Can be adjusted via easy to access rod ends to change the camber and caster to
optimise the efficiency of the wheels

6. Novelty
Last years car had a problem with the clearance of the rear wheels
The A-Arms can be improved with different materials and manufacturing
procedures but not without dramatically driving up the price and time taken
to manufacture.
Each A-Arm corner weighed 660g which is 60g above the target

7. Materials
Material Cost Strength Weight Ease Total
4130 5 4 4 4 17
Steel 2 5 1 5 13
Carbon
Fiber
1 3 5 3 12

8. Elegance
4130 chrome molly was chosen due to it having far more positives than the
others
4130 is an SAE steel grade making and ideal use for the f1 car
Why is it called 4130? (Chromium Molybdenum)

9. Calculations
Longitudinal Load Transfer
Acceleration (g) = (Mass (kg) * CG Height(m)) / Wheelbase(m)
Lateral Load Transfer
Acceleration (g) = (Mass (kg) * CG Height(m)) / Trackwidth(m)

10. Genesis
The design of these A-Arms can be taken and be improved in further years by
replacing the chrome moly tubes with tubes of a different material eg
carbon fibre whilst still maintaining the basic design we have created.
The A-Arms design helps solve the problem that last years car has of the wheels
spinning and losing traction when accelerating. It does this by providing the
proper stability needed.

11. Any Questions?

12. Thankyou.
Nathan Cook
Leroy Wolter
Leonard Healy