arrow_back_ios

Main Menu

See All Acoustic End-of-Line Test Systems See All DAQ and instruments See All Electroacoustics See All Software See All Transducers See All Vibration Testing Equipment See All Academy See All Resource Center See All Applications See All Industries See All Insights See All Services See All Support See All Our Business See All Our History See All Our Sustainability Commitment See All Global Presence
arrow_back_ios

Main Menu

See All Actuators See All Combustion Engines See All Durability See All eDrive See All Production Testing Sensors See All Transmission & Gearboxes See All Turbo Charger See All DAQ Systems See All High Precision and Calibration Systems See All Industrial electronics See All Power Analyser See All S&V Hand-held devices See All S&V Signal conditioner See All Test Solutions See All DAQ Software See All Drivers & API See All nCode - Durability and Fatigue Analysis See All ReliaSoft - Reliability Analysis and Management See All Test Data Management See All Utility See All Vibration Control See All Acoustic See All Current / voltage See All Displacement See All Load Cells See All Pressure See All Strain Gauges See All Torque See All Vibration See All Accessories for Vibration Testing Equipment See All Power Amplifiers See All LDS Shaker Systems See All Vibration Controllers See All Training Courses See All Acoustics See All Asset & Process Monitoring See All Custom Sensors See All Data Acquisition & Analysis See All Durability & Fatigue See All Electric Power Testing See All NVH See All Reliability See All Smart Sensors See All Vibration See All Weighing See All Automotive & Ground Transportation See All Calibration See All Installation, Maintenance & Repair See All Support Brüel & Kjær See All Release Notes See All Compliance See All Our People
arrow_back_ios

Main Menu

See All CANHEAD See All GenHS See All LAN-XI See All MGCplus See All Optical Interrogators See All QuantumX See All SomatXR See All BK Connect / Pulse See All API See All Microphone Sets See All Microphone Cartridges See All Acoustic Calibrators See All Special Microphones See All Microphone Pre-amplifiers See All Sound Sources See All Accessories for acoustic transducers See All Experimental testing See All Transducer Manufacturing (OEM) See All Non-rotating (calibration) See All Rotating See All CCLD (IEPE) accelerometers See All Charge Accelerometers See All Electroacoustics See All Noise Source Identification See All Environmental Noise See All Sound Power and Sound Pressure See All Noise Certification See All Industrial Process Control See All Structural Health Monitoring See All Electrical Devices Testing See All Electrical Systems Testing See All Grid Testing See All High-Voltage Testing See All Vibration Testing with Electrodynamic Shakers See All Structural Dynamics See All Machine Analysis and Diagnostics See All Dynamic Weighing See All Calibration Services for Transducers See All Calibration Services for Handheld Instruments See All Calibration Services for Instruments & DAQ See All On-Site Calibration See All Resources See All Software License Management

Formula SAE/Student: University of Bologna team uses HBK strain gauges

University of Bologna, Italy

Introduction

The "UniBo Motorsport" team of the University of Bologna started a project with the support of HBK as part of Formula SAE/Student. The aim of the project was to use strain gauges (SGs) in the vehicle to determine which forces act on which components in the suspension.

UniBo Motorsport was the first European team to participate in one of the oldest and best known competitions, Formula SAE Brasil. After three days of competition at the ECPA racetrack in Piracicaba, the team emerged as the winners.

chevron_left
chevron_right

Suspension arms made of carbon fiber pipes

The special features of the UniBo Motorsport prototype include suspension arms produced from carbon fiber pipes using advanced manufacturing processes, which require extremely careful and precise planning. Thanks to cooperation with HBK, UniBo Motorsport is one of the first Formula Student teams to have implemented force measurements in the suspension arms using type LY46 strain gauges.

These strain gauges are especially suitable for measurements on carbon fibers. Deformations in the material can be monitored to determine forces under different driving conditions and also in limit cases. That gives the team important data for dimensioning components and making adjustments to elastic systems such as springs, buffers or transverse struts.

Determining load values not only makes it possible to plan for the use of lighter parts; the position of the vehicle can also be improved – two essential components for success in motor sports.

Data acquisition for the optimum aerodynamic design

Before the SGs were used during the test phase on the track test, they were tested in the lab using the espressoDAQ measuring amplifier.

The data acquisition system itself was developed internally by the team at the University of Bologna. 

Measurement data recorded in the control unit of the vehicle is also made available in real time by the telemetry unit.

Results have so far been evaluated only on the qualitative level with the goal of evaluating hypotheses developed during the planning phase. 

Quantitative use of results is planned for 2015. Vehicle UBM2014, which has since been retired, will be used exclusively for data acquisition this year. 

Introducing the aerodynamic package in the new vehicle (UBM2015) will require further development of the data acquisition system. The experience gained in the last season should be highly beneficial in that regard. The goal is to compare the results of the CFD simulations with the actual values measured directly in the vehicle and create an optimal setup of the vehicle.

The first vehicle with full instrumentation

UniBo Motorsport was the guest of HBK Italia at the trade show for innovation "Affidabilità e Tecnologie" in Turin. The first vehicle with full instrumentation was presented there. Thanks to the catman user interface, values read by the SGs could be displayed in real time.

On a course to success

In the summer of 2014 the team reached 13th place at Formula Student in the Czech Republic and 7th place at Formula Student in Spain.

In October UniBo Motorsport was the first European team to participate in one of the oldest and best known competitions, Formula SAE Brasil.

After three days of competition at the ECPA racetrack in Piracicaba, the team emerged as the winners. This is the first time an Italian team has won a Formula Student competition in the "combustion engine" category.

The team also presented the data acquisition system combined with SGs from HBK in Brazil for the 2015 aerodynamic package. With that entry UniBo took second place in design testing, which evaluates the metrological solution of the project. The team will also be competing again next season with the support of HBK plus lots of enthusiasm and ambition.

Technology used

Other case studies