I'm surprised to read that the SAE teams order their chassis. From a carbon fiber specialist, or a tube frame specialist, or what?
Can’t have a car without a chassis, right? Well, now ERAU Motorsports has that, too, at least in concept.
The Structural Equivalency Spreadsheet, better known as SES, stands as the FSAE competition’s vital technical document used to ensure that a team’s chassis and frame designs meet competition rules.
SES is a grounds-for-removal document. In other words, if not submitted, a team will incur a 10-point penalty each day after the deadline until the FSAE competition panel prepares a removal notice.
However, teams can’t just submit the SES and then immediately move on to manufacturing.
There are judges for each team who ultimately approve their designs. The faster a team receives approval, the quicker they go through the technical inspection queue during competition.
SES denied? Don’t worry, teams get notes from judges about rule discrepancies and have until January to resubmit.
After some trial and error, ERAU Motorsports received their SES approval last Tuesday and placed their chassis order on Friday. Now, with CDR complete, SES approved, and chassis ordered, the team stands ready to begin their manufacturing process for ER-09.
Want to see just what goes into SES and how you can apply it to your own projects? Find the official template here.
I'm surprised to read that the SAE teams order their chassis. From a carbon fiber specialist, or a tube frame specialist, or what?
In reply to DWNSHFT :
Some teams have started ordering laser cut tubes these days to speed up the manufacturing process with better quality than manually fishmouthing all the joints. I expect that's the case here, or in the very least - ordering raw material now that they have the approval.
At least, I hope that teams aren't buying finished a chassis. The manufacturing process was a big part of the learning curve when I was in school.
In reply to DWNSHFT :
Most teams order their tubes cut and notched but the students weld it themselves. It's the most cost and time effective way since students go on fall break right about now and then winter break a few weeks later. The company VR3 Engineering is the number 1 supplier for teams chassis. They have worked with over 200 colleges and universities and provide the teams a reduced cost.
DWNSHFT said:I'm surprised to read that the SAE teams order their chassis. From a carbon fiber specialist, or a tube frame specialist, or what?
Proper allocation of resources is one of the best lessons a young engineer can learn.
When we bent and notched the frame ourselves it added a minimum of 6 weeks to the build time.
It is designed in-house, just sent out for the work
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