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Thread: dual front suspension failure...

  1. #1
    Does anybody have any information on the school(from Quebec I believe) that lost both front wheels during the acceleration competition? I saw it from across the lot, but would like to know how it happened. when trying to get back to our pit, i saw the wheel from ten feet as one of the judges was inspecting it, i did notice that the hiems were red. is it possible that they were using anodized aluminum hiems?

    Also what is the condition of the woman who was involved with one of the bouncing tires. Seeing that accident really bothered me, that woman should have never been hurt. Why was the acceleration course directed at the bleachers, i saw many cars get out of shape trying to slow for the corner. This was really an acceleration/braking test due to the fact you had to stay within the cones. That was a huge lot, a few minor changes and the drivers could have had a much longer run-out area. Also, with the number of rod ends that fail during competition why aren't wheel tethers required, does anybody use them on their own?

    Thanks,
    Aaron

  2. #2
    Does anybody have any information on the school(from Quebec I believe) that lost both front wheels during the acceleration competition? I saw it from across the lot, but would like to know how it happened. when trying to get back to our pit, i saw the wheel from ten feet as one of the judges was inspecting it, i did notice that the hiems were red. is it possible that they were using anodized aluminum hiems?

    Also what is the condition of the woman who was involved with one of the bouncing tires. Seeing that accident really bothered me, that woman should have never been hurt. Why was the acceleration course directed at the bleachers, i saw many cars get out of shape trying to slow for the corner. This was really an acceleration/braking test due to the fact you had to stay within the cones. That was a huge lot, a few minor changes and the drivers could have had a much longer run-out area. Also, with the number of rod ends that fail during competition why aren't wheel tethers required, does anybody use them on their own?

    Thanks,
    Aaron

  3. #3
    I heard it was the welds around the spherical rod ends bushings on the a-arms that failed at the same time. I thik the car was completed right before the competition, so it's possible it was the first time it braked from such a high speed.

    I also thought it was a really weird idea to put the acceleration course this way. The haybales were really close to the spectators, considering the fact the cars get their fastest speed at the acceleration event.

    As for the wheel tethers, it would certainly not be a bad thing, but I think we could do otherwise. I've not seen many wheels flying this week-end, and as the events' top speeds are generally pretty low, a good positioning of the straights versus the spectators would be enough in my opinion.

    For example, we did lose a wheel in endurance (not for a rod-end failure, it was the half-shaft that broke at the threads), but the low speeds involved made it completely harmless.
    Didier Beaudoin
    École Polytechnique de Montréal 2005-2008
    École nationale d'aérotechnique 2004

  4. #4
    I had pictures of the car that lost the wheels on the accelleration, but Royce asked everyone standing there to delete them, didn't want the accident to bring negative attention to the event.

    It appeared that it was indeed the arms that failed, not the ends. It looked like the threaded portion of the arms pulled/ripped loose and came off with the wheel/hub/rod end.

    The only reason I could think of for why the accleration event was pointed at the spectators was that it looked like they tried to line it up on the flattest portion of the lot. Not defending the idea, just guessing as to the original intention.
    __________________________________________________
    UMich-Dearborn '04-'06
    Carnegie Mellon '99-'03
    [url=http://eVileNgineering.com][b]eVil eNgineerin

  5. #5
    The rodends sure looked liked they snapped to me!
    Carleton FSAE Alumni
    Petty Enterprises Race Engineer

  6. #6
    I looked closely as well. The rod ends were extremely small and in bending on the upper a arms. It was them that failed, right at the end of the threads.
    The lower a arms had sphericals, which were twisted off the ends when the upper members failed. The brake lines were also completely frayed.
    This suspension was clearly very poorly designed, and the accident should serve as a lesson to us all. At the end of design finals, the judges went over some of the rules they are considering for next year. They mentioned something about a rod end in bendingrule, but they didn't know exactly what it might be yet.
    I don't think there is an official report on the matter, but i was standing right there, and i took a couple very close pictures. I'd like to hear if someone saw anything else.
    Justin Foote
    WWU FSAE
    2001 - 2005

  7. #7
    i didn't see much, but i know that the rods did break, they did not pull out. i am still curious as to why they were red, could they have been aluminum?

  8. #8
    They looked like anodized aluminum to me. I don't see any other reason why they would be red. If they bought steel ones they would have had to paint them red, which would have been pointless as well as not giving the same surface finish as an anodized part.
    Leon Cheung
    Western Washington University - Vehicle Research Institute
    Formula SAE -Suspension Team 2005-2006

  9. #9
    <BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by LCheung:
    They looked like anodized aluminum to me. I don't see any other reason why they would be red. If they bought steel ones they would have had to paint them red, which would have been pointless as well as not giving the same surface finish as an anodized part. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

    In the pictures I got they most defintly look like they are anodized aluminum...

    My pictures also defintly show that the rod ends failed and sheared, the welds on the control arms were not the failure.

  10. #10
    if they were in fact aluminum rod ends in bending, i'm amazed that the tech inspectors let it pass to begin with...
    Jeff Cortes

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