Composite Tools and Optimization in Racecars to Reduce Mass and Design Time

Graduation date: 2016Access restricted to the OSU Community, at author's request, from June 22, 2016 - June 22, 2018Designing a carbon fiber chassis for the Global Formula Race car has historically proven to be both time intensive and difficult. The goal of this thesis is to improve the design process for testing Global Formula Racing team's composite chassis sandwich panels. Consideration was taken regarding Formula SAE rules, and GFR's current design methods. New software was tested, and new tools were created for designing composite sandwich panels which greatly reduced both the chassis design time and the chassis mass