ASC 2024 Regulations Summary – Chassis

Relevant To

Section

Regulation Description

Comments

Documentation

5.1.A.2

Preliminary Vehicle Design Report (PVDR) must include information on rollover and impact protection of driver

See Appendix D/E/F for report contents

Documentation

5.2.B

Mechanical Technical Report (MTR), to be submitted as a section of the Vehicle Design Report (VDR) should address “Design issues involved in impact, roll over and suspension scenarios”

See Appendix D/E/F for report contents

Roof Tilt

8.1.G.1

All portions of the solar collector, physical attachment to the car, and electrical connections must be carried by the solar car. This includes but is not limited to stands, supports, cables. Does not include hand tools

Roof Tilt

8.1.G.2

Roof tilt stand must be self supporting, no people.

Battery-Chassis

8.4.B

Battery enclosure must be secured to the chassis. Nylon luggage type buckles are not acceptable.

Aero / General

9.1

Solar Car L x W x H: 5.0 x 1.6 x 2.2 m, not including wheels/fairings when turning

General

9.2

Solar car body cannot be reoriented or tilted when driving

General

9.3

100mm ground clearance for fully laden car, not including tires, wheels, hubs

General

9.5.A

Driver’s eyes must be at least 700 mm off the ground (normal driving position, fully laden car)

Rollcage / General

9.5.B

Driver must be able to see out the windshield at *sufficient* angles. Note some roll cage members may obstruct the driver’s view, within reason

See Regs for exact scrutineering requirements

Roof Tilt

9.5.C.1

Windshield must be securely mounted to the car

Roof Tilt

9.6.A.1

Primary, secondary egress must be 90° apart, cannot be on the same side of the solar car

Roof Tilt

9.6.A.2

9.6.B.1

10 sec egress for primary direction, 15 sec secondary. Driver must egress unassisted

Roof Tilt

9.6.B.2

Egress openings must be able to be secured and released from both inside and outside. No tape seal at any time

Roof Tilt

9.6.B.3

Egress openings must be positively latched closed. No Velcro, magnets, cabinet catches, etc.

Positively latched: latch engages automatically upon closure

Roof Tilt

9.6.B.6

External canopy release must be located within 300mm of the edge of the egress opening

Ballast

9.7.B

Ballast box must be securely fastened to a structural member of the car and/or be demonstrated to hold the ballast fixed in the event of an impact.

Ballast

9.7.B.2

Ballast box must be located within 300mm horizontal distance of the occupant’s hip

Ballast

9.7.C.1

Common ballast box may be used. If used, it may be located anywhere in the vehicle as long as it is securely fastened as per 9.7.B.

Ballast

9.7.D

Ballast container and its markings must be visually accessible by the Observer during driver changes

Don’t hide the box somewhere obscure?

Aero-Chassis

10.1

All body panels and solar array must be securely fastened

Aero-Chassis

10.1.A

Driver must be shielded from contact with moving parts

General

10.1.B

Wheels cannot contact the solar car body/structure at full steering/suspension lock.

Aero-Chassis / Roof Tilt

10.1.C

Must have 2 independent and different means of attaching the solar collector (top shell) to the chassis. Zip ties and tape are not allowed. Note tape may be used for aero sealing

How does this impact egress requirements? Must disengage both? Or split top panel?

Aero-Chassis / Roof Tilt

10.1.C

If lanyards are used:

- Lanyards and hardpoints (solar collector and chassis) must withstand 900 N load.

- The maximum upward travel is 600 mm.

- The forward hardpoint (collector + chassis) must be within 300 mm of the forwardmost point of the seam that splits the collector portion from the chassis

- The second hardpoint (collector + chassis) must be behind the driver and on the opposite L/R side of the vehicle as the forward hardpoint

General

10.2.A

3 or 4 wheels may be used. Track must be at least 50% of the maximum solar car width

Occupant Cell

10.3

Cockpit must not subject the driver to excessive strain and must be designed to protect from injury in the case of an accident. Driver must have adequate space for safe operation of the vehicle. Design should minimize the risk that shafts or other sharp objects could penetrate the cockpit in the event of a crash.

Rollcage

10.3.A.1

The rollcage is defined as the structural cage around the driver from the shoulders up

Occupant Cell

10.3.A.2

The structural chassis is defined as the tubular frame that encompasses the driver and connects to the suspension

Rollcage

10.3.A.3

The roll cage must be fixed and integrally connected to the structural chassis

Rollcage

10.3.A.4

No composite roll cages

Occupant Cell

10.3.A.5

The occupant cell is defined as the combination of the rollcage and structural chassis

Documentation

10.3.A.6

Must provide documentation specifying which parts of the car constitute the occupant cell

Occupant Cell

10.3.A.7

Occupant cell must encompass the driver in all directions.

AKA Rubber skin test

Rollcage / Documentation

10.3.A.8

Must present calculations, certifies by Team Reviewer, to show that the rollcage will not yield under the load cases in Appendix F.3.3. Note: Use g as the total mass of vehicle, occupants, and ballast as in PVDR.

Appendix is also summarized at the bottom of this table

Occupant Cell / Documentation

10.3.A.8

Same as above, occupant cell must not deform by 25 mm and must not fail (exceed ultimate strength)

Documentation

10.3.A.9

Mechanical Technical Report must document the protection provided for the driver in a collision (see 5.2.B)

Documentation

10.3.A.10

Must submit a preliminary sketch and description of the occupant cell by DATE TBA in 4.3.A.1 (see 5.1.A)

Rollcage

10.3.A.11

Rollcage should provide collision and rollover protection and should deflect body/array panels up and away from the driver in case of accident. (The front rollcage must be angled backwards). The driver’s helmet should not be able to protrude from the front of the rollcage within full free range of motion

Rollcage

10.3.A.12

Wherever the occupant cell may contact the driver’s helmet, the structure must be padded with absorbent material. The material must be bonded and secured to the structure and wrap around >50% of the tube member

Rollcage / Seats

10.3.A.13

Head restraint mounted securely behind the driver must be >20mm thick resilient material (no cable ties, fabric straps, temp attachments)

Rollcage

10.3.A.14

50 mm clearance in all directions between members of the occupant cell and the driver’s helmet.

30 mm clearance between helmet and padding.

Seats

10.3.B.1

1 seat only

Seats

10.3.B.3

Seat must be oriented <10° from forward

Occupant Cell / Seats

10.3.B.4

Seat must have back and head restraints as per 10.3.A.13. >800 mm distance from hip point (see Fig. 2) to the top of head restraint.

Occupant Cell / Seats

10.3.B.5

Driver’s heels below hip point

Occupant Cell / Seats

10.3.B.6

>90° angle between driver’s shoulders, hips, knees

Seats

10.3.B.7

Seat padding must be positively secured to the seat

Occupant Cell

10.3.C.1

Occupant space is defined as shown in Appendix B

Occupant Cell

10.3.C.2

Solar car structure must lie outside the occupant space (except steering wheel, mirrors, seat backs, head restraints, which must be designed to limit injury risk)

Occupant Cell / Seats

10.3.C.3

Head above and behind feet. Seat must be appropriately constructed with a solid base and back rest

Occupant Cell

10.3.D

Driver torso and limbs must be above the chassis bottom

Seats

10.3.E.1

Must use a 5- or 6-point safety belt

Occupant Cell / Seats

10.3.E.3

Safety belts must be attached securely to the structural chassis and should be designed to resist the same impact loads of the safety cell (see 10.3.A.8)

Seats

10.3.E.4

If the safety belt passes through the seat, it must not wrinkle/crimp/bend excessively. Sharp edges that might fray or cut the belt must be removed

Seats

10.3.E.5

Safety belts must meet specifications (see regs)

Seats

10.3.E.7 - 10.3.E.10

Safety belts attached as follows, see regs for diagram:

- Shoulder straps mounted rearwards between horizontal and perpendicular to seat (max 30° below horizontal)

- Shoulder straps should be mounted inwards at an angle approximately 1 unit inwards for 2 units backwards. They should not squeeze the neck nor fall off the shoulders.

- Lap belt mounted downwards and rearwards of the lap, at 60-80° below horizontal. Ends must be well below lap

- 5-point anti-submarine belt should be ~10° forward of shoulder belt plane

- 6-point anti-submarine belt should be ~20° rearward of shoulder belt plane

General

10.4

Must use proper fasteners. No use of friction, glue, or press fits in critical areas unless a pin is used. Pin must be ¼ of tube OD

Fasteners may be relevant for removable roll cage

General

10.4.A

Bolts in critical areas must meet specification (see regs). Bolts must extend 2+ threads beyond nuts. Bolts in tension must not have shaved or cut heads. Use properly torqued fasters. No U-bolts in critical areas

General

10.4.B

Structural fasteners (bolts + nuts) must be secured such that they will not loosen unintentionally:

1) Reusable flex-loc type nuts

2) Bolts with pre-drilled shafts and cotter pins installed

3) Safety wiring (see regs)

4) Other as approved by the Inspector

Nylock nuts, lock washers, or other thread distortion nuts are not considered reusable and are not allowed

General

10.4.C

Rod ends must be secured with jam nuts (do not need to be flex-lock type)

Not sure what this means exactly

General

10.4.D

Critical areas may not be secured by plastic luggage type buckles or single push release straps. If nylon type straps are used, they must be ratchet-type

General

10.4.E

Critical areas are defined as steering, braking, suspension, seat mounts, safety harness, drivetrain, batter box, ballast carrier, parking brake

Seats

10.6.C

Driver must be able to set/lock the parking brake while seated normally and in a single action/motion

General

10.8

The car must have a towing hardpoint where a rope or strap may be attached to tow the car. It must be attached to a non-moving structural component such that the car can be towed forwards. It may be covered when not in use. It must be accessible with the body installed, although the canopy may be removed.

General

11.5

The driver must carry at least 2 L (~70 oz) of water

FSGP

14.14

Must have tow strap in car at all times during FSGP

Documentation

A. F.3

See regs for documentation expectations

General

A. F.3.3

FEA may be used for analysis. See regs for more specific requirements. If the safety factor is <1.1, must provide additional data to validate the FEA.

Occupant Cell

A. F.3.3.1

Occupant cell impact conditions: 5g Front, rear and 3 side collision cases, assumes 100 mm H x 600 mm W bumper impact 350 mm off the ground. See 10.3.A.8. One of the side impact locations must be the “worst case bending moment on the side of the occupant cell”

Roll Cage

A. F.3.3.2

Roll cage impact conditions: Loading patch no more than 150 mm diameter. See 10.3.8.A. Loading applied to both the front and rear roll hoop for 10 cases total.

1) Combined: 5g down, 4g backward, 1.5g lateral

2) Sideways angled: 5g at 30° down from horizontal

3) Sideways angled: 5g at 60° down from horizontal

4) Sideways horizontal: 5g at top of hoop

5) Rearward horizontal: 5g at top of hoop

Question: Should the ‘rearward’ loading condition on the front hoop be changed to ‘forward’ loading when looking at rear hoop?

Are angled cases applied tangent to hoop?