Motorsport

TWI is actively involved in the area of motorsport and a significant amount of confidential work has been done for member companies in this field.

The key driving forces for motorsport companies include weight saving (and therefore improved strength to weight ratio) damage tolerance and overall increased performance. Therefore, much of the work at TWI has involved looking at different materials, joining techniques and surface engineering developments, to help race teams gain competitive advantage.

The optimisation of joining and production processes are areas where TWI expertise has helped race teams gain competitive advantage. TWI has recently worked on projects related to the following activities:

Development of friction stir welded engine components and electron beam welded suspension parts for Grand Prix cars to be used in Formula 1 racing
Safety improvements to rollover cages of rally cars, in particular for Wales Rally GB (WRGB) and FIA World Rally Championship (WRC)
Manufacture and assessment of prototype silencers for motorcycle and superbike racing
Assembly of electronic circuits and packaging of electronics for IndyCar Series and Indy Racing League (IRL)
Development of friction stir welding procedures for high performance aftermarket alloy wheels for car tuning specialists
Finite element modelling of go-cart frames and high-performance engine components
Development of joining and coating processes for magnesium frames of bicycles, mountain bikes and motor bikes
Consultancy on fuel tank encapsulation and space frame manufacture of GT and Le Mans cars
Training and examination of manual TIG welding for producing manifolds and titanium exhausts for F1 cars
Testing of composite floor panels for British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) and German Touring Masters (DTM)
Friction welding to shorten suspension struts, con rods and drive shafts for sports cars and motorcycles or to assemble them from dissimilar materials
Failure analysis of recent NASCAR accidents (US National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing)
Development of sealing high-pressure fuel injection components for racing and aftermarket applications
Consultancy on refurbishment of classic and historic race cars

In the field of adhesives, TWI provides member companies with facilities such as Finite Element Analysis (FEA), mechanical and environmental testing, joint degradation and durability assessment, characterisation of adhesives, non-destructive testing and failure analysis. The services also extend to training and certification in all aspects of adhesive technology. TWI Technology Centre (Wales) Ltd with its NDT validation centre can provide leading edge support for inspection requirements.

TWI provides technical support in welding, joining and associated technologies such as brazing, soldering, surfacing, cutting and non-destructive testing (NDT). Its services include contract R&D, technical information, advice and consultancy, training and qualification.

With the use of ceramics, plastics and composite materials in motorsport components, TWI is well placed to provide assistance in all aspects from material selection, through design and testing to integrity assessment and repair. Significant development has taken place at TWI in the field of composite to metal joining through the innovative application of the TWI process called Comeld ^TM .

This graph shows the load versus displacement traces for conventionally joined parts and parts joined using the Comeld ^TM process. Further development is taking place within the TWI Core Research Programme (CRP) and via a Group Sponsored Project. One potential application for Comeld ^TM is in the manufacture of high performance drive shafts and torque tubes where considerable increases in loading transfer could be achieved.

To help increase the performance in the field of composites, TWI has recently undertaken the management of the National Composites Network (NCN) in the UK, through which it is also engaging with the motorsports sector providing technical support and networking opportunities.

Other developments of particular interest to the motorsport industry include joining of magnesium, design of composites for damage tolerance, plastics joining, flame or plasma spraying, sol-gel hardcoats, friction stir welding and laser welding of fabric.

TWI is a Membership driven organisation, internationally renowned for bringing together multidisciplinary teams to implement established or advanced joining technology, or to solve problems arising at any stage - from initial design, materials selection, production and quality assurance, through to service performance and repair.

With all this experience TWI is able to offer motorsport companies a comprehensive range of services and facilities and provide significant benefits by collaborating with the Industry's key players. To discuss your requirements, please contact the Automotive Team at automotive@twi.co.uk