Knowledge Bank

In order to improve The Ohio States FSAE student project vehicle performance and improve fuel efficiency, the mass of the vehicle must be reduced. An effective way to do this is to construct the wheels out of a woven carbon fiber composite. In doing so, not only is the overall weight of the vehicle reduced, but rotation inertia and unsprung mass are reduced as well. To do this, physical testing was used to create and validate an FEA model that was then in turn used to develop and analyze a laminated carbon fiber composite rim design. Several designs were evaluated and one was selected for refinement. The final refined design reduced the weight of the wheel by nearly 50%. The wheel was then fabricated and future plans were made to validate and test the wheel so that it may be used on The Ohio States FSAE vehicle during collegiate competitions in 2014 competition year.