Texas A&M Formula SAE - Squarespace · Formula SAE 2017 VOL. 1, ... quieting the exhaust, ... and...

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Texas A&M University Formula SAE 2017

VOL. 1, ISSUE 3

Texas A&M Formula SAE

Email: [email protected]

Website: www.texasaggieracing.com

3123 TAMU

College Station, TX 77843


Howdy! The Texas A&M Formula SAE team has had an exceptionally busy spring semester bringing the 2017 car to life. We began our build on December 13th, and 66 days later (February 18th), the car embarked on its maiden voyage without any major issues. After paint, the car was hauled to Austin, TX on March 13th for the highly anticipated South by Southwest (SXSW) unveiling event as part of the Texas A&M House at Hotel Van Zandt. The event was an unbelievable success, with guests such as General Motors’ CIO and Texas A&M’s President Young in attendance. The day after the event, the car was testing on track as we began the initial shakedown of all systems. We are now testing as much as possible and are determined to have the most reliable and well-tested car at the Lincoln competition in June 2017. Finally, we would like to thank our supporters and sponsors that have made this project possible!

Ryan Monheim Project Manager

April 10th, 2017

Spring Newsletter Texas A&M University

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SXSW Rollout March 13th, 2017 in Austin, TX

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This year, our team was given the incredible opportunity to unveil the 2017 car at South by Southwest (SXSW) in Austin, TX. Not only we were able to represent the Texas A&M FSAE Program and all the years of hard work that have gone into it, but also the Department of Mechanical Engineering, the College of Engineering and Texas A&M University itself, in the first ever Texas A&M at SXSW event. Months of planning and a demanding manufacturing schedule allowed us to unveil a completed and working car for hundreds to see. This was an amazing opportunity for our team to see all of our hard work be publicly appreciated. The program gained a lot of attention from within the Texas A&M community and beyond, and was even featured in several articles and news clips. We look forward to gaining more support and recognition for all the hard work that goes into these cars year after year. The team partnered with Texas A&M’s Marketing and Communications Department to put on this wonderful event, and we look forward to working with them in the future to highlight our program. The 2017 team would not be where it is today without the amazing network of Aggie FSAE alumni, sponsors, friends, and family. Thank you! Rebecca Novak

Business Manager

Car on stage at Hotel Van Zandt

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VOL. 1, ISSUE 3


Aerodynamics Team Members: Elliott Molnar (Team Lead), Brian Brubaker, Calvin George, Chase Jones

Wind tunnel picture

Chassis Team Members: Thomas Revak (Team Lead), Hannah Mosk, Emma Partridge,

Rebecca Novak (Business Manager), Alberto Reyes-Marquez

The chassis team was hard at work during the early months of 2017 welding all tabs and mounts to the space frame. Soon after completion, the team began preparing the frame for paint and applying durable Dacron fabric to cover the sides. Once the chassis was painted and looking beautiful, work began on the rules required Impact Attenuator testing followed by a successful submission of the results. More recently, the team has been validating the accuracy of simulations performed during the design phase. A physical full car torsional stiffness test yielded a stiffness of 1475 ft-lb/degree, a value that falls within our desired design specifications. Completed chassis

The aerodynamics team completed manufacturing in early February and the individual wings were taken to the Oran B. Nicks Low Speed Wind Tunnel for testing on March 23rd and 24th. Downforce and drag measurements were recorded and used primarily for geometry optimization of the airfoils. Results showed that the optimization method for the rear wing cascade came within 1° of what the CFD simulation predicted. The full car will be brought to the wind tunnel on April 19th through the 21st to improve the estimations for downforce and drag with body and driver effects included. In further work, shock potentiometers will be used in a coast down test to determine the effect of a moving ground plane on the front wing.

Wind tunnel testing

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Powertrain Team Members: Coleton Teplicek (Team Lead), Ryan Monheim (Project Manager),

Tim Paulsen, Mattias Turner, Connor Zalesak



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Texas A&M Formula SAE Electrical Team Member: Andrew Ruddy

The powertrain team has finished building the intake, exhaust, fuel, cooling, and drivetrain systems. These

systems have all been successfully installed along with the KTM 690 engine. During track testing, the focus has been on fine tuning the engine as well as all

of the engine support systems. They are constantly making both hardware and software changes in order to make the car as fast and drivable as possible.

Fortunately, there have been no major issues so far with any part of the system, and the drivers really appreciate the strong, smooth torque of the large

single cylinder. Future plans include testing the car on the chassis dyno, tuning the throttle for increased drivability, quieting the exhaust, and working with

the suspension team to tune the differential.

The electrical team began the year by constructing the car’s wiring harness from scratch. This was a long and detailed process, and care was taken to ensure that the harness would be waterproof and exceptionally durable. The harness was bench tested following completion, and then installed onto the car along with the fuse box, relay, and ECU mounts. A dashboard panel was 3D printed to house all necessary buttons and switches, as well as the MoTeC driver display. This display has proved invaluable during testing, with shift lights for the driver as well as live data readouts such as lap times and engine vitals. The team has also been successfully experimenting with wireless telemetry. An inexpensive wireless router was purchased and connected to the ECU and display via Ethernet. The result is a Wi-Fi connection to the car from the pits and the ability to monitor every data channel remotely. This allows the driver to focus solely on driving while crew members monitor vital data.

2017 Powertrain

MoTeC driver display

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Suspension Team Members: Hunter Poole (Team Lead), Tyler Fink, Tanner Frisby, Blake Leiker,

Daniel Maldonado, Jon Weaver-Rosen

During recent months, the suspension team has manufactured all suspension components for the car. During this phase, destructive testing was performed on appropriate components to confirm the strength of the designs. Since the start of track testing, non-destructive testing has been performed, and will be regularly performed in the future, in order to monitor the fatigue life of the aluminum components. The team also designed new and improved wheel hubs that are stronger and lighter than the previous design. These new hubs were initially turned on a lathe by Todd Williams at the Engineering Innovation Center and finished by the team in house. In the coming weeks, the manufacturing of the front and rear anti-roll bars will be completed, and track testing of the suspension will continue.



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Car and Driver Development Drivers: Chris Fleming, Michael Ilavia, Gill Lipton,

Nick Sims, Hunter Poole (Crew Chief)

On February 18th, the car took to the track for the first time and a preliminary shakedown was performed with no major complications. After SXSW, a more comprehensive shakedown was performed and an initial suspension set up was completed. On March 25th - 26th, the car competed in the 2017 SCCA College Station Championship Tour. This allowed the team to gain some valuable competition experience and to observe how the car performed in an autocross setting. Moving forward, the car will be continually tested and improved as the Lincoln competition approaches.

Wheel centers and hubs

Track testing

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Texas A&M Baja SAE

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In January 2017, Texas A&M Racing formed a Baja SAE team in order to offer a comprehensive, hands-on engineering design experience to underclassmen who are not yet eligible for the Formula SAE senior design class. After finding a faculty advisor, the Mechanical Engineering department graciously offered some financial assistance in order to get the program off the ground. Following some initial recruitment, the team grew to 20 students that split up into three subteams: Powertrain, Suspension, and Chassis. The team is currently amidst the design process, gaining invaluable experience that will benefit them not just in Formula SAE as seniors, but also after graduation. They recently presented alongside the FSAE team at SAE student competition night hosted by the Texas section of SAE, Peterbilt, and University of Texas at Arlington. Universities from across Texas presented their programs at the event, and the Baja team was able to gather useful information from other Texas based Baja SAE teams. They are currently searching for sponsors, and will be going to their first competition in the Spring of 2018. The Formula SAE team wishes them the best of luck, and are incredibly excited to see another student design project go from the computer to real life.

If you would like to sponsor the team or have any questions, please contact Will Swain

[email protected]

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We would like to extend our gratitude to the current 2017 sponsors for making this project a reality!

VOL. 1, ISSUE 3


Prepared by Rebecca Novak

Platinum Sponsors:

Gold Sponsors:

Silver Sponsors:

Bronze Sponsors:

Our team our capable

We are always accepting donations! If you are interested in suppor ting our program, please see the sponsorship document on the next page, visit our website, or contact us through email.

Jessica Gallegos Richard and Gen Jordan

Ernest and Patrice Molnar The Novak Family

Cheryl Thomas Witchdoctor Composites

InCyberVision

Andy Kostrzewa

Jimmy Rosen and Vicki Weaver-Rosen

Cole Easterling Paul Costas

Todd Williams Bobby Eberle

E Pluribus Corp Colter Smith

Texas A&M Formula SAE - Squarespace · Formula SAE 2017 VOL. 1, ... quieting the exhaust, ... and...

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