Blog contributed by Formula 1 Team
The world of Formula One is one of
dedication, passion and high-octane excitement: the action on the track is the
stuff of legends. But Formula One is also considered, and rightly so, the
pinnacle of technology: it’s a world in which the most minute changes and
innovations can mean the difference between victory and defeat. Whether you are
chasing an opponent or the clock, every ounce of performance is vital.
Nowadays, the lion’s share of a car’s
performance is given by aerodynamics: balancing the car to ensure the air flows
in the intended way. This is the central part of the work of every designer as
he or she strives for the ultimate solution that will bring the reward of
hundredths, or even tenths, of a second.
3D printing plays a huge role in this aerodynamic
push to the extreme, and the partnership that Sahara Force India established
with 3D Systems allows us to enter this field alongside the leaders in the
sector.
The iPro 9000 and SLA 5000 machines are
kept running day and night at our wind tunnel facilities, where the most
innovative updates are tested and refined before being produced for the car.
This process is particularly intensive in the pre-season: in the frantic weeks
between the completion of the base designs and the first test, thousands of
variations of different parts are created – a procedure that would never be
possible without the aid of 3D Systems.
3D printing is cost effective and, most
importantly for Formula One teams, time effective: when you only have a handful
of days between the end of a race and the departure for the next round, it is
crucial to have an immediate response – something producing pieces with 3D
System machines allows.
Before these technologies were created,
teams used to rely on carbon modelling – the same process used to create pieces
for the full sized car, but applied to the scaled wind tunnel model: to give an
idea of the incredible requirements of this, one single carbon fibre brake duct
– one of the thousands of different parts that make up a Formula One car –
would take up to a week to create. 3D printing allows us to create 50 pairs in
three days: this difference means we can create whole ranges of variations of
any part and test them on the wind tunnel model almost immediately.
In the run up to the Australian Grand Prix,
the first race of the season, countless parts were created and tested this way.
This helped the designers perfect their ideas before even a hand was laid on
the 2013 car; it allowed us to plan vital corrections once the pre-season tests
gave us the first real, on-track feedback; and, eventually, enabled the team to
keep pushing on the upgrades that are constantly devised for our racer, the
VJM06.
In the next few months, we will explore the
way 3D Systems and its machines help us prepare for specific races and how
their contribution is crucial to keeping us at the sharp end of the Formula One
grid. As we prepare for the European leg of the Championship after these first
four races – a moment when most teams bring in their first upgrades of the season
– the rewards of this partnership are ready to be taken.
