A FASTEN-ATING PARTNERSHIP, CHASSIS PROGRESS AND MORE!
It's November, so a nice chunk of news for all our supporters! Both an exciting and agonising time for any Formula Student team as the Christmas break seems to be nearing ever closer. However, SHU Racing are making good progress on all areas and are on their way to their intended milestones!
HAGUE FASTENERS
Hague Fastener's have returned once again to partner with SHU Racing with the provision of their bespoke non-standard fasteners. Jon Hague, of Hague Fasteners, has been an enthusiastic partner of the team since partnering with us in the 2018 season.
A notable contribution the 2018 car's design was the Titanium Wheel Studs used in tandem with the Titanium hubs. With this partnership in the 2019 season, we'll be working with Hague Fasteners to extend our level of precision engineering, furthering the use of bespoke products within the vehicle's design.
"Hague Fasteners are a family run business founded in 1971. As specialist manufacturers, all of the items Hague Fasteners supply are made to order. Hague Fasteners are a major manufacturer of all specialist Bolts & Nuts, they will be more than happy to quote against your specific enquiries, assuming of course that they are not a standard imported size that are available from a standard merchant. Hague's forte is special high integrity items in critical material grades manufactured to international standard or components produced to customer or OEM designs & drawings. Please take a look at their special item gallery which shows in an instant the massive range of precision engineered fasteners they manufacture on a daily basis at:-www.HagueFasteners.co.uk/gallery.php
CHASSIS PROGRESS
For the first instalment of technical news, we're bringing you an update on the design of SHU Racing 19's chassis. With the evolution of the previous year's car, the 2019 chassis will feature a lot of the same design elements as 2018's space frame.
Our Chassis & IA Manager, Martin, is focussing on improving multiple aspects of the entire design, fabrication and performance of the vehicle, including:
- Engine cradling: Reduced weight and improved rigidity within the engine bay.
- Improved stiffness: More accurate modelling of the suspension characteristics have allowed more efficient allocation of chassis members in order to reach the required chassis stiffness across the front and rear of the car.
- Greater dampening: Test rigs are being created as we speak in order to better isolate the engine's vibrations. Test pieces have kindly been provided by Fibet, and with their help, we can improve unwanted vibration throughout the car.
- Fabrication improvements: Greater emphasis is being put on the alignment and fabrication of the chassis as it is constructed here at Sheffield Hallam. Experienced team members are developing new talent by providing welding and jigging training with the intention to further streamline the manufacture of the space frame.
So far, Martin's calculations have pointed towards a large weight saving which will help the team break the sub 200kg mark that has been long sort after!
SHIRT SWAP WITH SIGNORE & ALUMNI EVENT
(Left) The team had the fortunate surprise of welcoming in Guido from the Italian UniNe Corsa Formula Student team. Our electrical engineer, Gareth, swapped team shirts with our Italian counterpart! We wish the team all the best in the coming season as they take on the European FS events.
(Right) Sheffield Hallam last week hosted their first Engineering and STEM Alumni event, welcoming in graduates ranging from a year to 10 years ago! It was a great opportunity for the team to see where a career in STEM subjects can lead, as well as talk to SHU Racing members who were on the team back in 2003! We're thankful for the chance to get a unique insight into the careers that our alumni have taken since their time at Sheffield Hallam.
MEET THE MANAGER
We've talked about this week's 'Meet The Manager' feature, Martin Heathcote, above, but not its time for you to get a bit more insight into the Manager themselves!
Name: Martin Heathcote
Age: 22
Course: MEng Mechanical Engineering (Level 7)
Team role: Chassis & Impact Attenuator Technical Leader and Vehicle Integration Manager.
Hobbies and interests: Football, eGaming and tinkering with my home 3D Printer/ Rapid prototyping machine.
Favourite food: Indian
Favourite band: Not a mega fan of music, but Radio 1 is always on when i'm driving.
Favourite way to unwind: Watching films, playing video games and tending to the family farm.
Reason for getting into Formula Student:
Formula Student is a great hands on project and I was very much interested in getting involved with this years team, as part of my Masters Project. Having seen the progress that the team has made during my time at Sheffield Hallam, I wanted to contribute to the group and gain further technical, teamwork and project managing skills.
Having the chance to see your designs being taken all the way through the manufacture and testing stages is a unique opportunity in the academic setting. It'll be greatly rewarding to see the team and the car together when we go to Silverstone in 2019.
