Info regarding the body panel

[Joey]

would just like to gather more info regarding the material (fiberglass) used for the fabrication of the body.

How much does the material cost per square meter? What are the material composties of it?

How can i get info regarding this?

thanks

[Joey]

would just like to gather more info regarding the material (fiberglass) used for the fabrication of the body.

How much does the material cost per square meter? What are the material composties of it?

How can i get info regarding this?

thanks

[Lyn Labahn UW-Madison]

The cost of the material depends on where you buy it, and what grade of material it is. You will also have to buy resin, disposable supplies, sandpaper, mold making stuff, vacuum bagging supplies, pump...the list goes on. There is a lot of information on the internet regarding this, try out google. You can also choose to use carbon if you are trying to save ounces. But it sounds like you are a new team, so your car will most likely be around 600 pounds and I wouldn't worry over the small amount of weight that carbon would save you. Let me know if you have any more questions.

2002/2003 Team Leader
Best overall average finish of the new millenium http://fsae.com/groupee_common/emoticons/icon_smile.gif

[Michael Jones]

General and more technical information is available at http://composite.about.com, which I like to view using Safari to easily block out pop-up windows. About.com is patently idiotic about them.

Otherwise, I'd check out various retailers(e.g., carb.com, cstsales.com) or manufacturers (e.g., westsystem.com) for information. Aim for those businesses that sell to the general public (e.g., boaters, hobby builders, etc.) for general information, or you'll be lost in tech specs that mean nothing to you very quickly.

Also some very good how-to guide out there in the boating community, and some for DIY autobody repair, etc.

---
Michael Jones
Coordinator, Student Project Teams, College of Engineering

Cornell Racing
http://fsae.mae.cornell.edu

[Joey]

Thanks for your feedback regarding the body panel. I have done some reading up on the body fabrication. There is however one aspect where i am a little confused. most of the fiberglass materials i've looked up have a density of roughly 2495kg/m^3 (SG 2.5) while the resins have a density of 1147.7 kg/m^3 (SG 1.15). The total volume of the body is roughly 0.0185 m^3. This means that the total weight of the body alone would be around 60 kg. I find that to be a little outrageous. Can you help me out and point out as to where i've gone worng.

Thanks a heap

[ethanL007]

the mass of .0185m^3 of just resins would be roughly 2.2kg, and .0185m^3 of just the fiber glass would be about 4.7kg. im not sure of resin to fiber glass ratio but total mass would be somewhere between 2.2 and 4.7 kg. i think it was just a missed calculator button to get 60.

hope that is what you are lookin for

ethan lessard
project manager UNH FSAE

[Joey]

from the techincal charts i obtained from manufacturers, the SG of the materials are quite high...... is there anything wrong with that?

[ethanL007]

i dont know about the specific gravity, i used the density you posted to get the mass.

ethan lessard
project manager UNH FSAE

[Joey]

sorry, i made a blunder punching in the numbers on my calculator. It's very late over here. I need my sleep.
Thanks again. The numbers are now correct

Cheers

[ethanL007]

check, and check.

ethan lessard
project manager UNH FSAE