Steering Column Support

Chippewa Racing Formula SAE Steering Column Support Designer: Austin Brittain Advisor: Pablo Parraga-Ramirez School: Central Michigan University 3D Printing Method: Polyjet on Objet Connex3 Material: Rigid Opaque For this year’s Extreme Redesign Challenge, I decided to rethink the steering column support for the Chippewa Racing Formula SAE race car. The previous design was manufactured from welded steel tubes and was difficult to reliably manufacture to the necessary precision. It also lacked rigidity which had a negative effect on performance as well as the fit and finish of the completed vehicle. I had wanted to try out the generative design ever since I saw a picture of a generatively designed bracket used by General Electric. It strikes me as a technology with massive disruptive potential. My school recently acquired a Renishaw AM 250 metal powder bed laser fusion machine and I was looking for a part that could take advantage of its incredible capabilities. Fusion 360 began offering a generative design feature in 2018. Opportunity was knocking. I started by importing the front roll hoop from the chassis model into fusion. I added cylinders to represent the steering column and bearings, then I designed the attachment points where the part would interface with the frame. Finally I drew a body where I wanted the steering support to be constructed. The chassis, bearings,and shaft were designated as Obstacle geometry, the mating surfaces for the bearings and bracket were designated Preserve geometry, and the bounding body was set as a staring shape. I selected my load cases based on data from http://www.fsaeonline.com/content/Cockpit%20Control%20Forces%20SI%20SAE.pdf. The material was set to 316L stainless. Its low yield strength is not ideal for high performance racing parts, but it is what our machine is currently configured for. Ideally a marraging steel would be used if the part was to be welded to the frame. The part could be significantly lighter if made from a