Developing our Impact Attenuator

IA’nt Gonna Hide No More

The Impact Attenuator (IA), usually a part of the car that is easily overlooked and some may not know of its existence. The IA is a crucial component of the car and one that every car must have as part of the Formula Student rules. Its job in the car, is to decelerate the car in the eventuality of a collision to minimise injury. In previous SHU Racing cars, this has been hidden away behind the body work, forgotten and ignored.

This year the IA takes on a major evolution stepping out of the shadows and featuring front and centre on the car. For 2021, we are designing a structural nose cone that is both beautiful to behold and hard as nails when it comes to withstanding impact.

In previous years this has been made from aluminium honeycomb and sheet metal glued to the front of the car and covered in body work. This year we continue our experiments with carbon fibre composites to bring a structural nose cone that will save us weight, simplify the design and match perfectly with the other body work.

With the recent delivery of all the carbon composite materials for the 2021 car build, the next stage for the IA will be physical testing and validation ready for the teams carbon revolution in 2021.

Meet the Team

Meet the Team is an opportunity for us to give you a chance to learn a little more about the people who make up SHU Racing. This week, we welcome our Business Manager, Joe Stewart. Joe is a first-year student at Sheffield Hallam who is managing all aspects of the business this year for the team. This ranges from arranging deals with sponsors to maintain the SHU Racing Brand