THE EFFECT OF ADVANCED TECHNOLOGIES ON LIGHTWEIGHT DESIGN AND MANUFACTURING OF A SAE STEERING WHEEL

Abstract

The steering wheel of the formula student car (SAE) represents an important component that the driver interacts with car, through a fully mechanical steering system. This paper proposes a lightweight steering wheel manufactured in two versions based on the advanced technologies such as water jet cutting, autoclave vacuum bagging, and 3D printing. Lightweight design procedure used in this paper involves an optimal shape of the steering wheel based on size constrains and lightweight materials. The steering wheel was manufactured in two versions, one from 6082-T6 aluminum alloy and the other from carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP). Both product versions have side grip components 3D printed using fused deposition modeling (FDM) technology. A new design of SAE steering wheel was proposed, and validated by static structural analysis using finite element method (FEM).  The results have showed a significant mass reduction of 40.8% for CFRP steering wheel version, it having also superior performance in mechanical characteristics.