Introduction
This is the first time that a material testing project has been introduced to Midnight Sun. Previous vehicle designs of Midnight Sun did not include structural components made of composites and therefore did not require further testing beyond just FEA simulations. E.g. the chassis was made fully from 4130 chromoly steel chassis tubes therefore it was sufficient to validate the design using FEA and a safety factor of 2 in respect to the yield strength.
The material testing project for MS14 will encompass testing for:
Structural and general composites that are manufactured
Adhesive bonding joints
Fastener joints onto (carbon fibre) composites
Factors that encourage testing to be done:
Is it a structural component?
Will it be attached to composites? How will the hardware impact the load transfer? How will the hardware damage the (carbon fibre) composites during any stage of installation and operation?
Material compatibility, e.g. adhesive compatibility when bonding with different or new substrates (materials).
How Will this be Solved?
Project Breakdown Timeline
W2021 Co-op Meeting Minutes: