AM titanium uprights give 50% weight saving for TOP UK Motorsport Team

ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING OF MOTORSPORT UPRIGHT BRACKETS

The MTC, in partnership with Oxford Brookes formula one students, has used Additive Manufacturing (AM) to produce titanium uprights giving a 50% weight saving. The motorsport car was awarded: TOP UK Team Overall and 2nd Overall.

The Challenge

MTC engineers and Oxford Brookes had to design, manufacture titanium complex uprights within four weeks for the motorsport race car. Key challenges for this project included:

• Producing fully functioning parts by AM that could be validated for racing. This included design, manufacture, inspection and machining.

• Achieving the optimum weight savings whilst maintaining safety margins for extreme loads experienced on track.

The Solution

In partnership with Oxford Brookes students, the MTC supported and reviewed the complex design for AM manufacture of the upright brackets.

All components were manufactured in titanium using the Electron Beam Melting (EBM) process at MTC, home to the National Centre for Additive Manufacturing (NCAM).

Non Destructive Testing (NDT) and metrology techniques were utilised to ensure that all parts achieved the required quality standard for use on the car.

The Outcome

Demonstration of AM for use in a safety critical motorsport application.

Component weight saving of 50% using AM compared to conventional machining

The Oxford Brookes Racing (OBR) car fitted with the AM uprights achieved the following awards:

• 2nd Overall Team
• 2nd Engineering design
• Top UK car
• 2nd Skid pad
• 3rd Endurance
• 4th Cost and Manufacturing
• 5th Efficiency

The Benefits

• Assessed the maturity of AM for use in future motorsport applications.
• Demonstration of full method of manufacturing, including validation.
• Functional, dynamic test feedback from AM components.
• Development of best practise in datuming features for post-build machining operations.