Formula SAE is a student design competition organized by SAE International (previously known as the Society of Automotive Engineers, SAE). The competition was started in 1980 by the SAE student branch at the University of Texas at Austin after a prior asphalt racing competition proved to be unsustainable.
Concept
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 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 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:Bob Woods, 1996 Formula SAE Rules, (Warrendale, PA) : Educational Relations SAE International, in addition, winners were Chihuahua Institute of Technology´s students, from Mexico p. 4.
Static Events Design Event 150 Cost & Manufacturing Analysis Event 100 Presentation Event 75Dynamic Events Acceleration Event 100 Skidpad Event 75 Autocross Event 125 Fuel Economy Event 100 Endurance Event 275Total Points Possible1,000
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 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 a functioning prototype vehicle.Dean Case, Student Talent, Racecar Engineering, Vol. 5 No. 3 (England): p. 35
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 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 the New Hampshire International Speedway.
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.
Summary of rules
Student competition
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 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, 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.
Engine (IC Competition) 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 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. In 2019, 120 student teams registered for competition, and 109 of them were found to be onsite. There was also 2567 students that participated from these teams that showed up.
Electric Powertrain (EV Competition)
The accumulator must not have 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 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.
Suspension 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 is legal.
Aerodynamics Complex aerodynamic packages, while not required to compete, are common among the fastest teams. With the low speeds of the FSAE competition rarely exceeding , 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.
Weight There is no weight restriction. The weight of the average competitive Formula SAE car is usually less than 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 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 or more, and also provide much better fuel economy. If 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. Example: At the 2009 Formula SAE West endurance event, third-place finishers Rochester Institute of Technology completed the endurance course in 22 minutes, 45 seconds with their four-cylinder car, while fourth-place finishers Oregon State University finished in 22 minutes, 47 seconds with their single-cylinder car; this gave RIT 290.6 of 300 points for the race portion of the event and OSU 289.2 points. However, OSU used the least fuel of any car (, or over the entire endurance race) and received the full 100 points for fuel economy, while RIT used () and was thus only awarded 23.9 of the available points. RIT went on to win the overall competition by only 8.9 points over OSU, having scored slightly better in all of the other dynamic events.
Safety 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 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 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.
History
In 1979 the only SAE Mini-Indy was held at the University of Houston. Conceived by Dr. Kurt M. Marshek, 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 & 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 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.