Suggestions with monocoque chassis

[akshay]

Hi,

I actually want to design a monocoque chassis for a college car project. Earlier we used CF body with frame but it lacked strength, rigidity (as per our requirement) and many times there were unnecessary alignment problems.. So now I want to it to be a monocoque chassis. We really want to reduce weight as low as possible( nearly 45 kgs), still not compromising with strength. A decision to use glass(to reduce cost) as well as carbon fiber with metal inserts is being considered. I need suggessions regarding how how to place metal inserts so that the structure as a whole remains rigid and how to incorporate both Glass fiber and CF strategically in such a way so that the design retains good strength..... The car has to run with a max. speed of 45 kmph. Also suggestions regarding the binding materials.......

 

[maniacal_engineer]

the trick is stiffness matching. Stiffness attracts load and carbon structures are usually stiffer than steel. Metal is good for taking concentrated loads (suspension attachments etc) because the metal can locally yield to spread the load. transitioning the load from metal to composite can be a little tricky, and is best done gradually.