Title: Racing car driveline design: carbon composite bonded half-shaft

Authors: Jeremy Evans; Alireza Bab-Hadiashar; Simon Watkins

Addresses: School of Aerospace, Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, RMIT University Melbourne, VIC 3000, Australia ' School of Aerospace, Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, RMIT University Melbourne, VIC 3000, Australia ' School of Aerospace, Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, RMIT University Melbourne, VIC 3000, Australia

Abstract: In this paper the feasibility of incorporating a carbon fibre composite half-shaft into the final drive of an electric racing vehicle is studied. Carbon fibre composite tubing is bonded with aluminium inserts to achieve a low mass and high stiffness alternative to conventional half-shaft design. The drive line system was validated using a number of techniques including; finite element analysis (FEA) and torsional tensile testing. Testing revealed that the carbon fibre composite and aluminium half-shaft design presented in this study was 60% lighter and 2.5 times stiffer than conventional alloy steel half-shaft designs.

Keywords: carbon fibre composites; bonding strength; aluminium inserts; composite half-shafts; drive-shafts; bond length; electric racing cars; driveline design; electric vehicles; composite tubing; mass; stiffness; half-shaft design; finite element analysis; FEA; torsional tensile testing.

DOI: 10.1504/IJVD.2016.079213

International Journal of Vehicle Design, 2016 Vol.72 No.1, pp.68 - 87

Accepted: 08 Jul 2016
Published online: 22 Sep 2016 *

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