Formula SAE Competition 2004

About the competition

The Formula SAE competition started in Texas in 1982 by the SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers). In the competition, entrants design and build a racing car over the period of one year. The team then races the car over a period of three days at the competition itself. The competition has run five years now in Australia. This year, 22 teams entered, of which 18 were Australian.

Many rules exist to maintain safety and define the scope of the competition. These rules include a requirement of four wheels with an open cockpit, a 4-stroke petrol engine with less than 610cc capacity. The engine must draw all its air through a 20mm diameter restrictor at atmospheric pressure. Most teams use motorcycle engines, develop between 50 and 70 kW at the wheels and weigh between 200 and 250 kg.

The events include static events such as design, presentation, cost analysis and of course scrutineering. The second day sees the first of the dynamic events; the acceleration (measured from a standing start over a 75m run), the skid pad (tests cornering ability) and the autocross (single lap over a twisty track). The world record for the acceleration event is 4.01 seconds, with a terminal speed of 110kph.

Because the entrants are all students, the competition is an excellent learning opportunity for them, requiring not only engineering ability to design the vehicle, but also marketing, fund raising (the teams are almost entirely funded by sponsors), teamwork and project management. In addition, the teams that have had the extra time to test the car and weed out problems will be rewarded with fewer (or no) problems on the day, and the benefit of increased driver familiarity with the car.

The Events

Static events; Design, Costing and Presentation

As well as design, build and race the car, the students need to "sell" their product to the judges. Each team submits a design and a cost report which is examined by the judges. Each team also gives a presentation to the judges from a marketing perspective, to sell the business case based on surveys of the target market (the weekend autocrosser), competitive products and so on.

Scrutineering

To pass the scrutineering, each vehicle must first pass a visual inspection by the judges. This is to check for rule conformance and anything that may be unsafe or breaching the intent of the rules.

Once this is passed, the cars must pass the "tilt table test". In this test, the vehicle is tilted to 45° (to simulate a cornering load of 1g) and checked for coolant, oil and fuel leaks. Then the vehicle is tilted further to 57° (to simulate cornering of 1.5g), and under this condition the vehicle must stay on the table. The ropes in the picture are merely in case the car does tip over; you may be able to see that the ropes are loose. The official here is making sure the top wheel is in contact with the table.

The next test is an exhaust noise test, where the exhaust noise at a given RPM does not exceed 110 dBA. The RPM is calculated as a function of the piston velocity, but usually equates to around 11000 RPM.

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After this, the vehicle is required to perform a braking test to verify that the driver can lock up all wheels.

Acceleration

This is the first of the dynamic events. A car's ability to navigate a tight track is basically determined by its ability to accelerate, and its ability to take corners at speed. Because braking performance is required to even compete, this is not part of the equation.

The acceleration event is measured over a 75m length from a standing start. The world record is about 4.01 seconds, with a terminal speed of about 110 kph.

Skid Pad

The skid pad tests the other criterion of racing performance, which is the cornering speed. In the skid pad event, the cars are required to turn in full circles clockwise and anticlockwise, and the time taken to complete each circle of a given radius is measured. This gives a good indication of a car's cornering ability without relying so much on driver ability.

Autocross

The Autocross event is a single lap of a tight twisty track marked out by traffic cones. Each team gets four attempts; two from one driver and two from another. These are time trials only; when each car competes it is the only one on the track.

The final places in the Autocross event determine the starting order of the endurance event.

Endurance

The endurance event is 16 laps of the autocross track, followed by a driver change and quick scrutineer for oil leaks or damage, followed by another 16 laps. As well as the time over the entire course, the fuel economy is measured and scored separately. Because of the duration of the event, there are usually several cars on the track at once. In 2004 there were up to four cars on the track at one time. Cars may only overtake in designated passing zones under instruction of an official. It is in this competition that the durability of the cars is assessed. Many cars traditionally do not complete the endurance event.

This Year's Entrants

3 - University of Newcastle

The University of Newcastle used a Honda CBR600F4I engine, in the standard rear mounted, chain driven topology. The conventional double wishbone suspension was used. This is a tried and true formula, used by many teams over the years. Newcastle finished all the events over the weekend, a testament to their preparation.

4 - Deakin University

Deakin University had a very innovative car. They used a single cylinder motorcycle engine rather than a four cylinder, to reduce vehicle mass. The engine was mounted beside the driver rather than behind, which is only possible using a small engine. This in turn allows the wheelbase to be reduced, which would make the car very nimble through chicanes. Carbon fibre wheels further help reduce the mass to 170kg. Unfortunately the vehicle was not to run in the event; it seems as though the team had some problems with getting the car finished and debugged for the competition.

5 - Swinburne University

Swinburne University had without a doubt a very pretty car. It was shiny, had large side pods and was proportioned just like a racing car, giving it a very serious look. They ran the tried and true 4 cylinder in transverse, rear-mount, chain driven configuration, with double wishbones all around.

7 - University of Birmingham (England)

The Birmingham team had come across about a week before the competition, and their car arrived a few days before the event. It was great to see another team from the UK over in Formula SAE in Australia; in previous years we have been visited by teams from Hertfordshire and Leeds. The track in Australia was run anticlockwise, whereas the convention in England is to run the track clockwise. The Birmingham team had fitted the fuel pickup on the left hand side of the tank; which on an anticlockwise tank eventually leads to surging problems (as the fuel sloshes to the right hand side of the tank when cornering to the left). To their credit however they finished all events, which was great to see.

8 - University of Adelaide

Adelaide University chose to use aerodynamic effects on their car. The intention of the large wing at the rear and a smaller wing at the front is to increase downforce, increasing grip and hence cornering ability. Rather than use a chain drive, they developed their own gear drive to drive a differential from the output shaft of the gearbox. Unfortunately they were not to complete the endurance event, firstly due to an electrical problem and secondly due to an oil leak.

11 - University of Melbourne

Melbourne University built their own 2 cylinder turbo engine rather than using one from a motorcycle. They also finished all events.

12 - University of Technology, Sydney

UTS were running a Yamaha 600cc 4-cylinder, in the standard rear mount chain drive configuration. Due to some last minute problems they did not compete in the acceleration, skid pad or autocross events. However they did complete the endurance event.

13 - University of Southern Queensland

Uni of Southern Queensland ran a Suzuki engine with the standard carburettor and ignition system, and a twin exhaust system. This was the first year that this team had entered. The car completed the first of the dynamic events however did not complete the endurance due to suspension yield.

15 - UNSW @ ADFA

The ADFA team entered a very distinctive car, and really made their institution obvious with Aus-cam pants as well as the traditional team polo shirts. They also staked out their territory with shovels, sandbags and camouflage nets. As is normally the case with first year cars, their vehicle was conservatively built (not quite like a tank). Their car finished all the events and we look forward to seeing them again next year.

17 - University of Ballarat

This was another 4 cylinder, rear mount, chain driven, naturally aspirated, fuel injected, double wishboned vehicle. Unfortunately, presumably due to last minute problems or lack of testing time, the car did not compete in any dynamic events.

22 - University of Sydney

Another standard vehicle as previously described. They used custom wheels and an Adaptronic ECU. In the tuning, they chose to place the peaks due to intake resonance, exhaust resonance and cam timing all at the top end of the rev range, which delivered an enormous amount of power (72kW at the wheels). This was only over a narrow range however. The car performed well, coming fourth in the Autocross event, largely due to its raw straight line power. The vehicle finished all events.

24 - University of Wollongong

This team has consistently been taking out the competition in Australia since they first entered in 2001. They have also won in the US competition, beating the 140 teams that entered. This year they used the tried and true 4-cylinder topology as described earlier, except that they also used a small turbocharger and intercooler. The intercooler was also used as a plenum; the intake runners coming directly from the end tank. This car was the fastest in the Autocross event.

27 - University of Missouri, Columbia

This team came out from the US to compete in the Australian competition. While information on the car was difficult to obtain, it would appear to be the standard NA 4-cylinder formula described above.

39 - RMIT

This car was a real mould breaker. It ran a single cylinder engine with a distinctive sound. The single cylinder allowed a narrow track (width), and while power was modest (41kW), the agility of the car really allowed it to shine on the twisty race course. This car came second in the Autocross event (39.657 seconds compared to Wollongong's 39.346).

41 - University of Queensland

This team ran the tried and true formula as most other teams. They achieved first place in the acceleration event, and one of the faster cars in the Autocross (fifth, with a time of 43.272 seconds). They completed all events and came fourth overall.

 46 - Queensland University of Technology

 This car also followed the formula, and like Sydney ran a beta version ECU (the Dragon Fire). While the car appeared sound in concept, they had some trouble in the early part of Saturday with a broken universal joint. This meant that only one wheel was driven during the Autocross and the endurance events. I believe the car finished the endurance event, which is definitely an achievement for a first year car.

47 - University of Aukland

This was another first year team, with an excellent car. One novelty of the car was a flat bottom, presumably to increase downforce or reduce drag, compared to an open bottom. Again the earlier 4-cylinder topology was used, and the vehicle completed all events.

61 - Australian National University

ANU ran the typical topology, and were doing quite well with an Autocross time of 44.614 seconds. However during the first endurance event, they had an "incident" with another vehicle mid track, leading to suspension, braking, driveline and exhaust damage. To their immense credit, they were able to straighten the wishbones, replace the driveshaft, whip up a new brake disc on the spot, straighten out the muffler and get the car going again for the afternoon's endurance event.

63 - University of New South Wales

UNSW also ran with the four cylinder, naturally aspirated chain drive, however appeared to have problems with the car on the morning of the first day of dynamic events. They did not compete in the acceleration or skid pan, however had the car running for the Autocross where they achieved a best time of 43.743 seconds.

66 - Monash University

Monash are famous for their aerodynamics. With even larger wings than Adelaide, and impressive wind tunnel testing figures, we were eager to see the vehicle race. The wings were made from carbon fibre, and instead of the traditional metal space-frame with a fibreglass body, the body and frame was a single carbon fibre monocoque. Due to the cornering loads, however, the body delaminated internally, losing most of its structural rigidity. Hence the car was deemed unsafe, and unable to compete.

70 - University of Western Australia

This team has done exceptionally well, rivalling the University of Wollongong. This year saw a few innovations; most notable a variable length intake (optimising the torque curve across the rev range) and a modal, reactive suspension system. Most suspension systems run a spring and shock on each wheel; and therefore you can only make individual wheels stiffer or more compliant. With some clever hydraulic coupling, one can tune different linear combinations in the same eigenspace. The effect is that the car can be very stiff in roll and pitch, but soft in warp (excursion of a single wheel, for example hitting a bump). This means that the car can turn corners very sharply and is very nimble. Deservedly, this car won the skid pad event, and came third in the Autocross with a best time of 42.120 seconds.

97 - Rochester Institute of Technology

This was another team out from the US. They also ran the standard 4-cylinder configuration, aided by traction control. One problem with these cars is that they develop so much power for their weight and generally run at very low speeds and sharp corners during the event. Traction can be a problem, when accelerating out of a corner or in some cases just accelerating in a straight line from a standing start. With traction control, the ECU deliberately causes a controlled misfire to reduce engine power, in an effort to regain traction. This car had an incident with the ANU vehicle and had to be repaired before it could run in the second endurance event in the afternoon.

Final Results

These results were taken directly from the Formula SAE website:

http://www.sae-a.com.au/fsae

I also added some notes that I took at the competition.