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Impact Attenuator Nose ConeDesigning for Formula Student RacecarZsombor Sápi, TU Budapest, [email protected]

IntroductionThe topic of my project was designing a carbon-fiber-reinforced

polymer impact attenuator nose cone for a Formula Student racecar.

I used HyperMesh for my work as pre-processor, including cleaning up

the geometry, meshing the surface and checking the quality of the

mesh. HyperCrash was also used as pre-processor for setting up the

simulation, while RADIOSS was the solver. I post-processed the results

in HyperView.

Development ProcessFirst I started with research to examine the possible solutions for

Formula Student impact attenuators, then the next step was the

requirement analysis in order to set the goals for the design process

from the aspect of the team and the car, while the Formula Student

rules had to be met.

Through my work I had to design the geometry, considering factors

such as aerodynamics, manufacturability and the connection between

the car and the nose cone. I used PTC Creo CAD system for this task.

Figure 1. Surface modeling

Figure 3. Crash simulation

Figure 2. Meshing

Figure 4. Resultant deceleration as function of time

SummaryThrough deceleration the peak didn’t reach 40 g and the average value

stayed below 20 g while the required amount of energy was absorbed

which means the safety of the driver is ensured.

The main goal of the project was the weight reduction of the

component. Using HyperWorks, the detailed and accurate modeling of

fiber-reinforced composites became available and it helped to design a

lightweight composite structure.

The most difficult part was the crash simulation. In HyperCrash first I

had to make the failure model working, then apply the material models

which was based on measurements by the Formula Student team.

Setting and optimizing these parameters in order to achieve a

simulation model which represents the real life behavior of composites

took an enormous effort.

In the pre-processing phase I used HyperMesh. Given the fact of crash

simulation, excellent quality mesh was needed. With the help of mesh

quality check and modifying tools I could satisfy the required element

criteria I set.