Rear upright design and manufacture
To facilitate the design of the rear suspension geometry, the rear uprights were completely redesigned with reliability and serviceability in mind. Started with wireframes to ensure the fitment and the fundamental geometry of the upright, I collaborated with the team software sponsor Altair and used typology optimization to design a biomimicry structure for the appropriate factor of safety and weight reduction.
I designed the components to require minimal hardware, so that pit stops or services during the endurance race could be easily performed. From the inspiration of the typology optimization designs, I redesigned the upright in Solidworks with manufacturability in mind.
The upright was then machined on a Haas VF3 with an 4th axis add-on in 2 fixtures.
Results:
•Factor of safety of 2.0
•Weight reduction of 25 percent
•Only needs half amount of hardware as the previous design
•Reduced the width offsets on wheel hubs and spindle yokes to narrow the track width.
•The components tucked into the rims so it can’t be easily damaged.