Carbon Fiber Driveline

Location

CSU 203

Start Date

11-4-2017 2:10 PM

End Date

11-4-2017 3:20 PM

Student's Major

Automotive and Manufacturing Engineering Technology

Student's College

Science, Engineering and Technology

Mentor's Name

Gary Mead

Mentor's Department

Automotive and Manufacturing Engineering Technology

Mentor's College

Science, Engineering and Technology

Second Mentor's Name

Bruce Jones

Second Mentor's Department

Automotive and Manufacturing Engineering Technology

Second Mentor's College

Science, Engineering and Technology

Third Mentor's Name

Samuel Ertl

Third Mentor's Deparment

Automotive and Manufacturing Engineering Technology

Third Mentor's College

Science, Engineering and Technology

Description

Until recently most performance vehicles have utilized steel for their drive shafts. This is because steel can handle rotating forces very well at the cost of high weight. Alternatively, carbon fiber can be a replacement as it is very resistant to these rotating forces at a significantly reduced weight but it is at the expense of being much higher cost. The added cost is due to the strength of the carbon fiber filaments and the precision required to wind the carbon fiber; this precision allows for a higher strength to weight ratio when compared to a steel counterpart. In FSAE lowering the weight of rotating pieces means that the cars can get up to speed faster, thus lowering the weight of the driveline is a large improvement. To test whether this application will work, the glue bond between the carbon fiber drive shaft and the aluminum inserts is the focus as it is the weak point. For the test there were 15 carbon fiber tubes that were 3 inches long each. Then aluminum inserts were made at 3 different insert lengths (¼ inch, ½ inch and ¾ inch) to test the strength. The reason for using a small test sample is so that applying a huge force is not required, then the test samples can be compared to show whether the glue strength is linear or exponential. From this we can conclude the length of insert and if the weight change is worth the new cost.

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Apr 11th, 2:10 PM Apr 11th, 3:20 PM

Carbon Fiber Driveline

CSU 203

Until recently most performance vehicles have utilized steel for their drive shafts. This is because steel can handle rotating forces very well at the cost of high weight. Alternatively, carbon fiber can be a replacement as it is very resistant to these rotating forces at a significantly reduced weight but it is at the expense of being much higher cost. The added cost is due to the strength of the carbon fiber filaments and the precision required to wind the carbon fiber; this precision allows for a higher strength to weight ratio when compared to a steel counterpart. In FSAE lowering the weight of rotating pieces means that the cars can get up to speed faster, thus lowering the weight of the driveline is a large improvement. To test whether this application will work, the glue bond between the carbon fiber drive shaft and the aluminum inserts is the focus as it is the weak point. For the test there were 15 carbon fiber tubes that were 3 inches long each. Then aluminum inserts were made at 3 different insert lengths (¼ inch, ½ inch and ¾ inch) to test the strength. The reason for using a small test sample is so that applying a huge force is not required, then the test samples can be compared to show whether the glue strength is linear or exponential. From this we can conclude the length of insert and if the weight change is worth the new cost.

Recommended Citation

Torrell, Ryan. "Carbon Fiber Driveline." Undergraduate Research Symposium, Mankato, MN, April 11, 2017.
https://cornerstone.lib.mnsu.edu/urs/2017/oral-session-11/2