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76-594: Formula SAE Australasia ( FSAE-A ) is the Australian event of the US-based Formula SAE and has been running since 2000 by SAE Australasia. The 2023 event will be held at Calder Park Raceway, in Calder Park, Victoria, Australia from 14-17 December. The competition was originally scheduled at Winton Motor Raceway, in the rural town of Benalla, Victoria, Australia from 7-10 December. However, this

152-553: A Shutdown Circuit , which is the physical electrical path the current takes that closes the main contactors of the vehicle. All safety buttons, switches, and circuits are part of the Shutdown Circuit such that removing any should make it physically impossible for high voltage to be present outside the accumulator. In 1979 the only SAE Mini-Indy was held at the University of Houston . Conceived by Dr. Kurt M. Marshek ,

228-447: A flathead engine a push rod is not necessary. The overhead cam design typically allows higher engine speeds because it provides the most direct path between cam and valve. Valve clearance refers to the small gap between a valve lifter and a valve stem that ensures that the valve completely closes. On engines with mechanical valve adjustment, excessive clearance causes noise from the valve train. A too-small valve clearance can result in

304-489: A 1-inch maximum diameter for the intake, creativity flourished. Also in 1983, the temporary B&S class was eliminated, the University of Texas at Austin entered the first composite Formula SAE vehicle and Marquette University entered the first turbocharged engine. The rules allowed a Formula SAE car to compete for two years in recognition of the effort required to build and test a quality car. This also allowed students

380-743: A diameter no greater than 20mm for gasoline engines, forced induction or naturally aspirated, or 19mm for ethanol-fueled engines. The restrictor keeps power levels below 100 hp in the vast majority of FSAE cars. Most commonly, production four-cylinder 600cc sport bike engines are used due to their availability and displacement. However, there are many teams that use smaller V-twin and single-cylinder engines, mainly due to their weight-saving and packaging benefits. Very rarely do teams build an engine from scratch, few examples include Western Washington University 's 554cc V8 entry in 2001, University of Melbourne 's "WATTARD" engine in 2003–2004, and University of Auckland 's V twin. The accumulator must not have

456-421: A functioning prototype vehicle. The volunteers for the design judging include some of the racing industry's most prominent engineers and consultants including the late Carroll Smith , Bill Mitchell, Doug Milliken, Claude Rouelle, Jack Auld , John LePlante , Ron Tauranac , and Bryan Kubala . Today, the competition has expanded and includes more than 12 events all over the world. For example, Formula Student

532-433: A lightweight single-cylinder car can keep a reasonable pace in the endurance race, it can often make up the points lost in overall time to the heavier, high-powered cars by an exceptional fuel economy score. The majority of the regulations pertain to safety. Cars must have two steel roll hoops of designated thickness and alloy, regardless of the composition of the rest of the chassis. There must be an impact attenuator in

608-469: A paid, skilled staff. This restriction means that the rest of the regulations can be much less restrictive than most professional series. Students are allowed to receive advice and criticism from professional engineers or faculty, but all of the car design must be done by the students themselves. Students are also solely responsible for fundraising, though most successful teams are based on curricular programs and have university-sponsored budgets. Additionally,

684-469: A race car along the lines of the SCCA Formula 440 entry-level racing series that was popular at the time. Prof. Matthews came up with the “Formula SAE” name following the format of Formula A and Formula Vee but emphasizing that this new race car was an engineering competition rather than a driver's competition. Schools would meet after the end of the academic year to compete and determine who had built

760-493: A replica of the Lenoir engine in 1861, Otto became aware of the effects of compression on the fuel charge. In 1862, Otto attempted to produce an engine to improve on the poor efficiency and reliability of the Lenoir engine. He tried to create an engine that would compress the fuel mixture prior to ignition, but failed as that engine would run no more than a few minutes prior to its destruction. Many other engineers were trying to solve

836-543: A sudden Texas rain storm sent everyone scrambling for cover just before the endurance event that day, the weather failed to dampen the spirits of the students, judges, or spectators and Formula SAE was born. The University of Texas continued to host the event from 1982 to 1984 as the popularity and number of participants grew. In these subsequent years, UT moved the Formula SAE competition to other parking areas that included elevation changes and driveway aprons that forced

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912-583: A turbine system that converted waste heat into kinetic energy that it fed back into the engine's transmission. In 2005, BMW announced the development of the turbosteamer , a two-stage heat-recovery system similar to the Mack system that recovers 80% of the energy in the exhaust gas and raises the efficiency of an Otto engine by 15%. By contrast, a six-stroke engine may reduce fuel consumption by as much as 40%. Modern engines are often intentionally built to be slightly less efficient than they could otherwise be. This

988-623: A voltage greater than 600V, but does not have a capacity limit. An energy meter is installed at competition ensuring no more than 80kW are drawn. Most teams elect to use lithium-ion cells, but both lead acid cells as well as other energy storage devices such as capacitors are also permitted — this accounts for the commonly referred battery pack being referred to as an accumulator in this competition. Cell voltages and temperatures must be monitored and individual cell connected via fusible links. These challenges lead many (especially young) teams to use preconfigured cell modules that are connected together in

1064-413: Is a contact surface on which the cam slides to open the valve. Many engines use one or more camshafts "above" a row (or each row) of cylinders, as in the illustration, in which each cam directly actuates a valve through a flat tappet. In other engine designs the camshaft is in the crankcase , in which case each cam usually contacts a push rod , which contacts a rocker arm that opens a valve, or in case of

1140-741: Is a similar SAE-sanctioned event in the UK, as well as Formula SAE Australasia (Formula SAE-A) taking place in Australia . The Verein Deutscher Ingenieure (VDI) holds the Formula Student Germany competition at the Hockenheimring . In 2007, an offshoot called Formula Hybrid was inaugurated. It is similar to Formula SAE, except all cars must have gasoline-electric hybrid power plants. The competition takes place at

1216-480: Is an internal combustion (IC) engine in which the piston completes four separate strokes while turning the crankshaft. A stroke refers to the full travel of the piston along the cylinder, in either direction. The four separate strokes are termed: Four-stroke engines are the most common internal combustion engine design for motorized land transport, being used in automobiles , trucks , diesel trains , light aircraft and motorcycles . The major alternative design

1292-467: Is closer to the top. Diesel engines by their nature do not have concerns with pre-ignition. They have a concern with whether or not combustion can be started. The description of how likely Diesel fuel is to ignite is called the Cetane rating. Because Diesel fuels are of low volatility, they can be very hard to start when cold. Various techniques are used to start a cold Diesel engine, the most common being

1368-424: Is designed to provide efficiency at the expense of power density , and is used in some modern hybrid electric applications. The original Atkinson-cycle piston engine allowed the intake, compression, power, and exhaust strokes of the four-stroke cycle to occur in a single turn of the crankshaft and was designed to avoid infringing certain patents covering Otto-cycle engines. Due to the unique crankshaft design of

1444-536: Is legal. Complex aerodynamic packages, while not required to compete at competition are common among the fastest teams at competition. With the low speeds of the FSAE competition rarely exceeding 60 mph (97 km/h), designs must be thoroughly justified in the design judging event through wind tunnel testing, computational fluid dynamics , and on track testing. Aerodynamic devices are regulated through maximum size and powered aerodynamic devices are outlawed. There

1520-536: Is limited by the chemical composition of the fuel. There are several grades of fuel to accommodate differing performance levels of engines. The fuel is altered to change its self ignition temperature. There are several ways to do this. As engines are designed with higher compression ratios the result is that pre-ignition is much more likely to occur since the fuel mixture is compressed to a higher temperature prior to deliberate ignition. The higher temperature more effectively evaporates fuels such as gasoline, which increases

1596-609: Is necessary for emission controls such as exhaust gas recirculation and catalytic converters that reduce smog and other atmospheric pollutants. Reductions in efficiency may be counteracted with an engine control unit using lean burn techniques . In the United States, the Corporate Average Fuel Economy mandates that vehicles must achieve an average of 34.9 mpg ‑US (6.7 L/100 km; 41.9 mpg ‑imp ) compared to

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1672-406: Is no weight restriction. The weight of the average competitive Formula SAE car is usually less than 440 lb (200 kg) in race trim. However, the lack of weight regulation combined with the somewhat fixed power ceiling encourages teams to adopt innovative weight-saving strategies, such as the use of composite materials, elaborate and expensive machining projects, and rapid prototyping . In 2009

1748-431: Is not immediately available due to the need to sharply increase engine RPM, to build up pressure and to spin up the turbo, before the turbo starts to do any useful air compression. The increased intake volume causes increased exhaust and spins the turbo faster, and so forth until steady high power operation is reached. Another difficulty is that the higher exhaust pressure causes the exhaust gas to transfer more of its heat to

1824-414: Is regarded as the first car. In 1884, Otto's company, then known as Gasmotorenfabrik Deutz (GFD), developed electric ignition and the carburetor. In 1890, Daimler and Maybach formed a company known as Daimler Motoren Gesellschaft . Today, that company is Daimler-Benz . The Atkinson-cycle engine is a type of single stroke internal combustion engine invented by James Atkinson in 1882. The Atkinson cycle

1900-400: Is that the temperature rise of the compressed charge can cause pre-ignition. If this occurs at the wrong time and is too energetic, it can damage the engine. Different fractions of petroleum have widely varying flash points (the temperatures at which the fuel may self-ignite). This must be taken into account in engine and fuel design. The tendency for the compressed fuel mixture to ignite early

1976-581: Is the two-stroke cycle . Nikolaus August Otto was a traveling salesman for a grocery concern. In his travels, he encountered the internal combustion engine built in Paris by Belgian expatriate Jean Joseph Etienne Lenoir . In 1860, Lenoir successfully created a double-acting engine that ran on illuminating gas at 4% efficiency. The 18 litre Lenoir Engine produced only 2 horsepower. The Lenoir engine ran on illuminating gas made from coal, which had been developed in Paris by Philip Lebon . In testing

2052-418: Is to be evaluated for its potential as a production item. The target marketing group for the race car is the non-professional weekend autocross racer. Each student team designs, builds and tests a prototype based on a series of rules, whose purpose is both ensuring on-track safety (the cars are driven by the students themselves) and promoting clever problem solving. There are combustion and electric divisions of

2128-412: Is ultimately limited by material strength and lubrication . Valves, pistons and connecting rods suffer severe acceleration forces. At high engine speed, physical breakage and piston ring flutter can occur, resulting in power loss or even engine destruction. Piston ring flutter occurs when the rings oscillate vertically within the piston grooves they reside in. Ring flutter compromises the seal between

2204-796: The New Hampshire International Speedway . [1] In 2010, the Formula Student Electric was inaugurated, which requires the students to build a fully electrically powered racing vehicle. In 2017, the Formula Student Driverless was inaugurated. Formula SAE has relatively few performance restrictions. The team must be made up entirely of active college students (including drivers) which places obvious restrictions on available work hours, skill sets, experience, and presents unique challenges that professional race teams do not face with

2280-590: The fuel economy improvements the Atkinson cycle can provide. The diesel engine is a technical refinement of the 1876 Otto-cycle engine. Where Otto had realized in 1861 that the efficiency of the engine could be increased by first compressing the fuel mixture prior to its ignition, Rudolf Diesel wanted to develop a more efficient type of engine that could run on much heavier fuel. The Lenoir , Otto Atmospheric, and Otto Compression engines (both 1861 and 1876) were designed to run on Illuminating Gas (coal gas) . With

2356-433: The Atkinson, its expansion ratio can differ from its compression ratio and, with a power stroke longer than its compression stroke, the engine can achieve greater thermal efficiency than a traditional piston engine. While Atkinson's original design is no more than a historical curiosity, many modern engines use unconventional valve timing to produce the effect of a shorter compression stroke/longer power stroke, thus realizing

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2432-457: The Mini-Indy competition but was instead an entirely new intercollegiate student engineering design competition. Unlike all previous SAE-sanctioned student racing/design competitions including Mini-Indy, the Formula SAE rules left the selection of the engine to the design team, as long as a 4 stroke engine with a one-inch diameter intake restrictor was used. (The current Formula SAE rules allow

2508-544: The accumulator enclosure. The competition organizers attempt to prepare teams for competition EV technical inspection by having teams complete an Electrical Safety Form (ESF) prior to competition — this form outlines many of the parts used in the high voltage system as well as design decisions the team is making. The suspension is unrestricted save for safety regulations and the requirement to have 50mm total of wheel travel. Most teams opt for four-wheel independent suspension , almost universally double-wishbone . Active suspension

2584-525: The actual four-stroke and two-stroke cycles is not a simple task. However, the analysis can be simplified significantly if air standard assumptions are utilized. The resulting cycle, which closely resembles the actual operating conditions, is the Otto cycle. During normal operation of the engine, as the air/fuel mixture is being compressed, an electric spark is created to ignite the mixture. At low rpm this occurs close to TDC (Top Dead Centre). As engine rpm rises,

2660-415: The addition of a temporary “B&S” class of vehicles that were originally designed for Mini-Baja, had to retain the 8 hp Briggs & Stratton engine, and did not need to comply with the 4-wheel independent suspension rule. Formula SAE continued to be an international competition when the team from Universidad La Salle returned. With the only engine restrictions being a displacement limit of 600 cc and

2736-426: The air has been compressed twice and then gains more potential volume in the combustion but it is only expanded in one stage. A turbocharger is a supercharger that is driven by the engine's exhaust gases, by means of a turbine . A turbocharger is incorporated into the exhaust system of a vehicle to make use of the expelled exhaust. It consists of a two piece, high-speed turbine assembly with one side that compresses

2812-635: The awards available. At the beginning of the competition, the vehicle is checked for rule compliance during the Technical Inspection. Its braking ability, rollover stability and noise levels are checked before the vehicle is allowed to compete in the dynamic events (Skidpad, Autocross, Acceleration, and Endurance). Large companies, such as General Motors , Ford , and Chrysler , can have staff interact with more than 1000 student engineers. Working in teams of anywhere between two and 30, these students have proven themselves to be capable of producing

2888-559: The best car. Edwards, Tellkamp, and fellow UT SAE students Joe Green, Dick Morton, Mike Best, and Carl Morris drafted a set of safety and competition rules and presented them to the SAE student branch membership and to UT SAE Faculty Advisor Prof. Ron Matthews. Prof. Matthews then contacted Bob Sechler of the SAE Educational Relations Department at SAE headquarters and asked for his permission both to establish

2964-452: The bore diameter is larger than its stroke length is an oversquare engine, conversely, an engine with a bore diameter that is smaller than its stroke length is an undersquare engine. The valves are typically operated by a camshaft rotating at half the speed of the crankshaft . It has a series of cams along its length, each designed to open a valve during the appropriate part of an intake or exhaust stroke. A tappet between valve and cam

3040-408: The competition in 1991, Ford Motor Co. in 1992, and Chrysler Corp. in 1993. After the 1992 competition, the three formed a consortium to run Formula SAE. At the end of the 2008 competition, the consortium ceased to exist. The event is now funded by SAE through company sponsorships and donations along with the teams' enrollment fees. Four-stroke A four-stroke (also four-cycle ) engine

3116-495: The competition through 1984. In 1985, the competition was hosted by The University of Texas at Arlington . There, Dr. Robert Woods, with guidance from the SAE student activities committee, changed the concept of the competition from one where students built a pure racing car, to one that mirrored the SAE Mini-Baja competitions, where they were to design and build a vehicle for limited series production. General Motors hosted

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3192-611: The competition was inspired by a how-to article that appeared in Popular Mechanics magazine, for a small, " Indy-style " vehicle made out of wood, and powered by a five-horsepower Briggs and Stratton engine. Using the Mini Baja competitions as a guide, engineering students had to design and build small, "Indy-style" vehicles using the same stock engine used in the Popular Mechanics article. Thirteen schools entered and eleven competed. The University of Texas at El Paso won

3268-496: The competition, primarily only differing in their rules for powertrain. The prototype race car is judged in a number of different events. The points schedule for most Formula SAE events is: In addition to these events, various sponsors of the competition provide awards for superior design accomplishments. For example, best use of E-85 ethanol fuel, innovative use of electronics, recyclability, crash worthiness, analytical approach to design, and overall dynamic performance are some of

3344-420: The concept for a new intercollegiate student engineering design competition that would allow students to apply what they were learning in the classroom to a complex, real-world engineering design problem: design and development of a race car. UT SAE student branch members Robert Edwards and John Tellkamp led a discussion among UT SAE members and envisioned a competition that would involve designing and constructing

3420-436: The current standard of 25 mpg ‑US (9.4 L/100 km; 30.0 mpg ‑imp ). As automakers look to meet these standards by 2016, new ways of engineering the traditional internal combustion engine (ICE) have to be considered. Some potential solutions to increase fuel efficiency to meet new mandates include firing after the piston is farthest from the crankshaft, known as top dead centre , and applying

3496-399: The early 1980s – including some experienced auto mechanics, embraced and adopted the concept with little idea of what they were getting themselves into. SAE student branch officers Mike Best, Carl Morris, and Sylvia Obregon, along with Dr. Matthews began planning and organizing the event to be held the following year. Here, it is important to note that Formula SAE was NOT a simple renaming of

3572-474: The efficiency of the compression engine. Higher compression ratios also mean that the distance that the piston can push to produce power is greater (which is called the expansion ratio ). The octane rating of a given fuel is a measure of the fuel's resistance to self-ignition. A fuel with a higher numerical octane rating allows for a higher compression ratio, which extracts more energy from the fuel and more effectively converts that energy into useful work while at

3648-502: The energy generated by combustion is converted into useful rotational energy at the output shaft of the engine, while the remainder being lost due to waste heat, friction and engine accessories. There are a number of ways to recover some of the energy lost to waste heat. The use of a turbocharger in diesel engines is very effective by boosting incoming air pressure and in effect, provides the same increase in performance as having more displacement. The Mack Truck company, decades ago, developed

3724-412: The engine's performance and/or fuel efficiency could be improved by improving the overall efficiency of the cycle. It has been found that even if 6% of the entirely wasted heat is recovered it can increase the engine efficiency greatly. Many methods have been devised in order to extract waste heat out of an engine exhaust and use it further to extract some useful work, decreasing the exhaust pollutants at

3800-560: The engines burst, nearly killing Diesel. He persisted, and finally created a successful engine in 1893. The high-compression engine, which ignites its fuel by the heat of compression, is now called the diesel engine, whether a four-stroke or two-stroke design. The four-stroke diesel engine has been used in the majority of heavy-duty applications for many decades. It uses a heavy fuel containing more energy and requiring less refinement to produce. The most efficient Otto-cycle engines run near 30% thermal efficiency. The thermodynamic analysis of

3876-417: The experience of re-engineering and improving on design elements that did not work. The rules for 1984 specifically allowed turbochargers, superchargers, and use of nitrous oxide but the engine had to breathe through a 25.4 mm exit bore of the carburetor casting (1984 was well before electronic fuel injection). Engine intake restrictors were later tightened as cars became faster year over year as knowledge

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3952-420: The first high-speed Otto engine in 1883. In 1885, they produced the first automobile to be equipped with an Otto engine. The Daimler Reitwagen used a hot-tube ignition system and the fuel known as Ligroin to become the world's first vehicle powered by an internal combustion engine. It used a four-stroke engine based on Otto's design. The following year, Karl Benz produced a four-stroke engined automobile that

4028-491: The fuel economy portion of the endurance event was assigned 100 of the 400 endurance points, up from 50. This rules change has marked a trend in engine downsizing in an attempt to save weight and increase fuel economy. Several top-running teams have switched from high-powered four-cylinder cars to smaller, one- or two-cylinder engines which, though they usually make much less power, allow weight savings of 75 lb (34 kg) or more, and also provide much better fuel economy. If

4104-434: The intake air, and the other side that is powered by the exhaust gas outflow. When idling, and at low-to-moderate speeds, the turbine produces little power from the small exhaust volume, the turbocharger has little effect and the engine operates nearly in a naturally aspirated manner. When much more power output is required, the engine speed and throttle opening are increased until the exhaust gases are sufficient to 'spool up'

4180-424: The mechanical parts of the engine. The rod-to-stroke ratio is the ratio of the length of the connecting rod to the length of the piston stroke. A longer rod reduces sidewise pressure of the piston on the cylinder wall and the stress forces, increasing engine life. It also increases the cost and engine height and weight. A "square engine" is an engine with a bore diameter equal to its stroke length. An engine where

4256-404: The new intercollegiate student engineering design competition and to host the first Formula SAE competition during the summer of 1981, and he agreed. The newly formed UT SAE branch, consisting mostly of automotive and motorcycle enthusiasts pursuing engineering degrees, including several who had left careers in fields for which the job market had virtually disappeared due to the depressed economy in

4332-476: The nose, and impact testing data on this attenuator must be submitted prior to competing. Cars must also have two hydraulic brake circuits, full five-point racing harnesses, and must meet geometric templates for driver location in the cockpit for all drivers competing. Tilt-tests ensure that no fluids will spill from the car under heavy cornering, and there must be no line-of-sight between the driver and fuel, coolant, or oil lines. Electric vehicles are also fitted with

4408-520: The overall competition under chief supervision. Although Dr. William Shapton (who had recently left the University of Cincinnati to join Michigan Technological University ) broached the idea of hosting a similar competition in 1980, no one stepped up to organize another Mini-Indy. In 1980 when the members of the new SAE student branch at the University of Texas (Austin) learned that the Mini-Indy had died, they generated

4484-415: The piston speed for industrial engines to about 10 m/s. The output power of an engine is dependent on the ability of intake (air–fuel mixture) and exhaust matter to move quickly through valve ports, typically located in the cylinder head . To increase an engine's output power, irregularities in the intake and exhaust paths, such as casting flaws, can be removed, and, with the aid of an air flow bench ,

4560-403: The points system is organized so that multiple strategies can lead to success. This leads to a great variety among cars, which is a rarity in the world of motorsports. The engine must be a four-stroke , Otto-cycle piston engine with a displacement no greater than 710cc. An air restrictor of circular cross-section must be fitted downstream of the throttle and upstream of any compressor , with

4636-421: The power output limits of an internal combustion engine relative to its displacement. Most commonly, the supercharger is always running, but there have been designs that allow it to be cut out or run at varying speeds (relative to engine speed). Mechanically driven supercharging has the disadvantage that some of the output power is used to drive the supercharger, while power is wasted in the high pressure exhaust, as

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4712-472: The problem, with no success. In 1864, Otto and Eugen Langen founded the first internal combustion engine production company, NA Otto and Cie (NA Otto and Company). Otto and Cie succeeded in creating a successful atmospheric engine that same year. The factory ran out of space and was moved to the town of Deutz , Germany in 1869, where the company was renamed to Deutz Gasmotorenfabrik AG (The Deutz Gas Engine Manufacturing Company). In 1872, Gottlieb Daimler

4788-497: The radii of valve port turns and valve seat configuration can be modified to reduce resistance. This process is called porting , and it can be done by hand or with a CNC machine. An internal combustion engine is on average capable of converting only 40-45% of supplied energy into mechanical work. A large part of the waste energy is in the form of heat that is released to the environment through coolant, fins etc. If somehow waste heat could be captured and turned to mechanical energy,

4864-399: The ring and the cylinder wall, which causes a loss of cylinder pressure and power. If an engine spins too quickly, valve springs cannot act quickly enough to close the valves. This is commonly referred to as ' valve float ', and it can result in piston to valve contact, severely damaging the engine. At high speeds the lubrication of piston cylinder wall interface tends to break down. This limits

4940-502: The same motivation as Otto, Diesel wanted to create an engine that would give small industrial companies their own power source to enable them to compete against larger companies, and like Otto, to get away from the requirement to be tied to a municipal fuel supply. Like Otto, it took more than a decade to produce the high-compression engine that could self-ignite fuel sprayed into the cylinder. Diesel used an air spray combined with fuel in his first engine. During initial development, one of

5016-406: The same time preventing engine damage from pre-ignition. High Octane fuel is also more expensive. Many modern four-stroke engines employ gasoline direct injection or GDI. In a gasoline direct-injected engine, the injector nozzle protrudes into the combustion chamber. The direct fuel injector injects gasoline under a very high pressure into the cylinder during the compression stroke, when the piston

5092-498: The same time. Use of the Rankine Cycle , turbocharging and thermoelectric generation can be very useful as a waste heat recovery system. One way to increase engine power is to force more air into the cylinder so that more power can be produced from each power stroke. This can be done using some type of air compression device known as a supercharger , which can be powered by the engine crankshaft. Supercharging increases

5168-452: The speed of the flame front does not change so the spark point is advanced earlier in the cycle to allow a greater proportion of the cycle for the charge to combust before the power stroke commences. This advantage is reflected in the various Otto engine designs; the atmospheric (non-compression) engine operates at 12% efficiency whereas the compressed-charge engine has an operating efficiency around 30%. A problem with compressed charge engines

5244-544: The teams to use 4-stroke engines up to 710 cc, with a smaller restrictor.) Also, unlike all previous SAE-sanctioned student racing/design competitions including Mini-Indy, engine modifications were both allowed and encouraged. The first Formula SAE competition was held in the parking lot of the UT baseball field (Disch-Falk field) on the University of Texas campus on Memorial Day weekend, 1981. Judges included legendary race car engineer/owner/driver and Indy 500 champion Jim Hall. While

5320-407: The turbocharger's turbine to start compressing much more air than normal into the intake manifold. Thus, additional power (and speed) is expelled through the function of this turbine. Turbocharging allows for more efficient engine operation because it is driven by exhaust pressure that would otherwise be (mostly) wasted, but there is a design limitation known as turbo lag . The increased engine power

5396-423: The use of a glow plug . The maximum amount of power generated by an engine is determined by the maximum amount of air ingested. The amount of power generated by a piston engine is related to its size (cylinder volume), whether it is a two-stroke engine or four-stroke design, volumetric efficiency , losses, air-to-fuel ratio, the calorific value of the fuel, oxygen content of the air and speed ( RPM ). The speed

5472-399: The use of functioning suspensions. The event became international in 1982 with the entry of Universidad La Salle team from Mexico City. The significant rules changes for 1982 were: 1) a displacement limit of 600 cc (300 cc for Wankels), but the 1 inch diameter restrictor rule was retained, 2) a requirement for 4-wheel independent suspension (Mini-Indy did not have any suspension rules), and 3)

5548-438: The valves not closing properly. This results in a loss of performance and possibly overheating of exhaust valves. Typically, the clearance must be readjusted each 20,000 miles (32,000 km) with a feeler gauge. Most modern production engines use hydraulic lifters to automatically compensate for valve train component wear. Dirty engine oil may cause lifter failure. Otto engines are about 30% efficient; in other words, 30% of

5624-406: Was first moved to the 14-17 of December, before being replaced by Calder Park, sticking with the new date. This motorsport-related article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Formula SAE The concept behind Formula SAE is that a fictional manufacturing company has contracted a student design team to develop a small Formula-style race car . The prototype race car

5700-414: Was passed on within and between teams. Also, a 65-100 inch wheelbase rule was promulgated, as was a rule requiring all vehicles to have a “body that resembles a formula car”. The Formula SAE field had grown to eleven cars in 1984, so the University of Texas at Austin decided that the competition had matured sufficiently that it was safe to pass it on to other hosts. The University of Texas at Austin hosted

5776-406: Was technical director and Wilhelm Maybach was the head of engine design. Daimler was a gunsmith who had worked on the Lenoir engine. By 1876, Otto and Langen succeeded in creating the first internal combustion engine that compressed the fuel mixture prior to combustion for far higher efficiency than any engine created to this time. Daimler and Maybach left their employ at Otto and Cie and developed

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