Mac Formula Electric
EV6
EV7
Pink is carbon skin only, resulting in virtually no stiffness. Results in huge stiffness loss in high stressed area!
Added reinforcement across the top for load transfer. Re-organized skin only areas so to maximize stiffness.
Modelling EV6 vs EV7 Chassis
One thing that I am deeply interested in, is mapping and modelling the torsional stiffness % change in last year to this years monocoque. EV6 was last years design, EV7 is the chassis I designed and are currently manufacturing.
From our 3 point bend and puncture shear tests, I was able to validate that we could pass structural requirements while removing 20% of our carbon layers (5 -> 4).
EV6
EV7
EV6
Chassis Lead
At Mac Formula Electric, I lead the chassis team developing the car’s carbon fiber monocoque and structural systems. I manage a group of 20 engineers, mentoring in SolidWorks, FEA, and ANSYS ACP for composite analysis and design. My work focuses on balancing performance, manufacturability, and safety, turning simulations and testing into real, race ready structures that push the limits of lightweight engineering.
How I saved 20% carbon weight and preserved torsional stiffness
Ansys ACP Modelling
Due to budget constraints, designing a new monocoque wasn’t possible for us. That’s why I looked into developing a new carbon layup that would reduce weight and maintain performance.
I came up with this layup. As most performance comes from unidirectional 0/90 deg fibers, I increased this fiber % coverage from 20.4% to 37.7% while maintaining acceptable quasi-isotropic properties.
What about torsional stiffness? How is it still as strong losing 20% carbon?
To validate that the front stiffness did get better. I used Ansys ACP to model EV6 & EV7 to compare performance.
I made sure to use the exact layups to ensure that there were the least amount of confounding variables.
I started with optimizing what I already knew were big issues with last years chassis. Changing how critical load paths channeled, and adding skin only areas where I could save weight.
EV7
Stay tuned as I will update this project as it progresses!
Results!
Based on preliminary testing we found that the total deformation decreases 11%.
There are still lots of parameters to be verified before I am confident in these results. For example, we are using ansys library composites, not our own. We are in the phase of collecting our manufactured uni-directional and twill fibers to collect the required data to accurately build a true model.
