Mission Impossible: Design & Manufacture of A Solar Car That Appeals To The General Public A Project submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Masters of Design Matthew Millar Bachelor of Industrial Design (Honours) Honours 1st Class, RMIT School of Design College of Design and Social Context RMIT University October 2020 Declaration I certify that except where due acknowledgement has been made, this research is that of the author alone; the content of this research submission is the result of work which has been carried out since the official commencement date of the approved research program; any editorial work, paid or unpaid, carried out by a third party is acknowledged; and, ethics procedures and guidelines have been followed. In addition, I certify that this submission contains no material previously submitted for award of any qualification at any other university or institution, unless approved for a joint-award with another institution, and acknowledge that no part of this work will, in the future, be used in a submission in my name, for any other qualification in any university or other tertiary institution without the prior approval of the University, and where applicable, any partner institution responsible for the joint- award of this degree. I acknowledge that copyright of any published works contained within this thesis resides with the copyright holder(s) of those works. I give permission for the digital version of my research submission to be made available on the web, via the University’s digital research repository, unless permission has been granted by the University to restrict access for a period of time.
I acknowledge the support I have received for my research through the provision of an Australian Government Research Training Program Scholarship Matthew Millar 12th October 2020 Matthew Millar Mission Impossible P a g e | ii Mission Impossible: Design & Manufacture of A Solar Car That Appeals To The General Public Figure 1: Priscilla qualifying lap Matthew Millar Mission Impossible P a g e | iii Acknowledgements This has been a challenging journey, I’d like to acknowledge that I have had a great team of people supporting me through the degree and this project. Firstly, I would like to express my gratitude to my supervisor’s beginning with Simon Curlis for his continuous support over the entire solar car campaign. From my Industrial Design Honours year, through the strenuous World Solar Challenge design, manufacturing and event, and to the end of this two-year study and research period. His patience, motivation, enthusiasm, and immense knowledge has allowed me to achieve what I have so far and has given me confidence in my future career.
I also appreciate the time, effort and philosophy of Dr. Liam Fennessy on the theoretic side of my research. The improvement and clarity of my writing have been greatly enhanced by his input and patience. I have also benefited vastly from Liam’s guidance throughout each milestone and the entirety of this degree.
Simon Watkins has also been tremendous support behind the scenes as well as academically. I’m extremely grateful for the scholarship Simon offered and organised for me to commence my studies for this amazing experience, and the advice from both an academic and engineering perspective is greatly appreciated. I would like to express my gratitude to Andris Samson, for not only passing on his knowledge of solar cars but also being a pleasure to collaborate with during design, manufacture, driver training and throughout the event. Without his input and fair compromise to better the team, the car would not have been ready for the challenge.
I would like to thank the ATN & ATN Solar Car Team, for allowing me to be a part of their exciting project, and offering their knowledge and assistance I may require moving forward. The opportunity to design, build and drive a car across Australia was an amazing experience and is one I never thought I would be able to participate in. I thank my fellow students/team members/faculty I have received generous support and made great memories throughout the course and on our World Solar Challenge journey. To the RMIT staff, David Carletti, Paul Muskat, and all other technical staff.
Thank you for all their support and efforts to provide us with everything we needed and made it possible for us to build a car in such a short time frame. I gratefully acknowledge the assistance of Michael Bodon, for helping me grow into a management role, and learn from his experience in composites and other manufacturing methods. Michael was also a great asset to the team from a management perspective, hands-on in the workshop, and providing external services to assist us with completing the car at a high level of quality. Thanks to my fellow team members, in particular, Richie Hongladaromp and Philip Ngan for providing brilliant photography through the build process and event.
And last but not least I am deeply grateful for the support of my family, who have been greatly tolerant and patient with me through my time at RMIT and continue to offer much-needed support all year round. Matthew Millar Mission Impossible P a g e | iv Figure 2: Solar cells Matthew Millar Mission Impossible Page |v Table of Contents Declaration. ii Mission Impossible:. iv List of Figures.
xi List of Tables. 1 Chapter 1: Solar Car Design & Aesthetics. 5 Solar Electric vehicles. 5 Competition - Design/Engineering.
8 World Solar Challenge. 11 Car design aesthetics. 14 Car Design Characteristics and Strategies. 26 Solar Car Analysis - Aesthetics concerned by proportionate elements.
27 WSC Cruiser Class Judging Criteria. 37 Chapter 2: Design Process. 38 Exterior Design, Capturing eyeballs. 38 Collaboration with Engineers to meet performance criteria.
39 Integration & FEA Engineering. 45 Matthew Millar Mission Impossible P a g e | vi Exterior Aesthetic. 54 Interior Validation and Re-designing from the Inside-Out. 60 Dash and Console.
60 Steering and pedals. 61 Dynamic Test Rig. 63 Chapter 3: Design in the process of fabricating a Solar Car. 65 Engagement with Industry production and fabricators.
65 Vehicle Manufacturing – Chassis & Exterior. 67 Bulkheads & Wheel Wells. 69 Upper Chassis & Doors. 71 Vehicle Manufacturing – Interior.
72 Dash, Centre Console, Door trims. 73 Vehicle Assembly & Integration stage 1 – Body & Structure. 73 Trimming & Dry Fitting. 73 Upper & lower chassis bonding.
74 Carbon heat treating. 75 Door Trimming and bonding. 76 Matthew Millar Mission Impossible P a g e | vii Exterior finishing Stage 1. 77 Vehicle Assembly & Integration Stage 2 – Mechanical.
78 Suspension, steering, brakes & wheels. 78 Seats & Safety Harnesses. 80 Door Hinging & Latching. 80 Vehicle Assembly & Integration Stage 3 – Interior & Finishing.
81 Dashboard, Centre console, door trims & Seats. 81 Vehicle Assembly & Integration stage 4 – Lighting & Windows. 83 Windscreen & side windows. 83 Vehicle Assembly & Integration stage 5 – Electrical.
84 Vehicle Assembly & Integration Stage 6 – Finalising on the road & at the track. 85 Exterior Finishing Stage 2. 90 Chapter 4: Validation of the Design. 91 Vehicle Validation – Performance.
91 First test drive. 92 Gun Point Road testing. 94 The Event – Darwin to Adelaide. 95 Practicality Judging in Adelaide.
100 Showing the project publicly. 101 Chapter 5: Reflections on What I Have Learned. 116 Appendix 1: Coupe concept sketch renders. 116 Appendix 2: Concept 3: Bird of Prey Concept.
118 Appendix 3: Bird of Prey Renders. 119 Appendix 4: Bird of Prey Iterations. 120 Matthew Millar Mission Impossible P a g e | viii Appendix 5: Concept 4 - Glider. 123 Appendix 6: Concept 5 Iterations.
123 Appendix 7: Solar car colour/liveries. 128 Appendix 8: List of instruction for interior CAD redesign. 130 Appendix 9: Detailed Test Rig Fabrication & Validation. 132 Interior Validation phase 2.
135 Finalising for Driving. 136 Appendix 10: Introduction to Carbon Fibre Resin Infusion. 139 Appendix 11: Build Team & Industry Experts. 143 Appendix 12: Chassis Tool Making – Detailed build log.
144 Lower Chassis Mould. 146 Solar Array and Bulkheads. 147 Appendix 13: Interior Tool Making – Detailed build log. 147 Dash, Centre Console & Door Trims.
148 Appendix 14: Chassis Fabrication – Detailed build log. 149 Rear Bulkhead - The official first part. 149 Wheel Wells – Mould Preparation, Lay-up & Infusion. 149 Front Bulkhead – Mould Preparation, Lay-up & Infusion.
151 Lower Body/Chassis Fabrication. 152 Lay-up strategy. 165 Appendix 15: Interior Manufacturing – Detailed build log. 166 Dash, Centre Console, Door trims.
168 Appendix 16: Vehicle Assembly & Integration stage 1 – Body & Structure – Detailed build log. 169 Matthew Millar Mission Impossible P a g e | ix Front bulkhead & Wheel wells. 171 Upper chassis dry fit. 172 Appendix 17: Vehicle Assembly & Integration stage 2 – Mechanical.
173 Appendix 18: Vehicle Assembly & Integration stage 3 – Interior & finishing. 175 Matthew Millar Mission Impossible Page |x List of Figures Figure 1: Priscilla qualifying lap. iii Figure 2: Solar cells. v Figure 3: Eindhoven Stella Vie.
2 Figure 4: 1912 Baker solar-electric concept. 5 Figure 5: Sketch proportions. 7 Figure 6: Teardrop - Most aerodynamic/streamline shape. 7 Figure 7: Action Research Cycle.
9 Figure 8: Quiet Achiever - First solar car to cross Australia, West to East. 10 Figure 9: Eindhoven Universities 2017 Cruiser class winning vehicle, Stella Vie. 11 Figure 10: World Solar Challenge Event Map. 11 Figure 11: ATN Stakeholder Map.
13 Figure 12: Jaguar F-Type. 15 Figure 13: EA Ford Fairmont Ghia with beltline trim. 17 Figure 15: 2006 BMW 740i “Friendly face” (Left), 2019 Aston Martin DBS “Aggressive face” (Right) 18 Figure 16: 1995 Ferrari F50. 19 Figure 17: 2012 FG Ford falcon XR6 “shoulder line”.
19 Figure 18: 2014 Lamborghini Huracan. 20 Figure 19: BMW wheel with Bridgestone Ecopia tyre (left) BWSC Bridgestone tyre (right). 21 Figure 20: Toyota Corolla - Blue & Orange. 21 Figure 21: 2020 Ford Mustang Black Pack.
22 Figure 22: 2018 Hyundai Veloster with black roof. 22 Figure 23: 2019 Kia Picanto GT - with red accents. 23 Figure 24: 1971 XY 351 Ford Falcon GT (with standard super Roo decals & Bonnet stripes). 23 Figure 25: Ford Ranger Projector lamp/LED Headlight.
24 Figure 26: Mercedes S class silhouette comparison. 26 Figure 28: 2019 Aston Martin DBS (Carbon fibre diffuser & panel). 26 Figure 29: IVE Engineering’s Sophie (2019 car, same car as 2017) Photo credit- Paul Muscat. 27 Figure 30: Clenergy Team Arrow’s Arrow STF (Photo credit (left)– Simon Curlis).
28 Figure 31: UNSW Sunswift’s Violet (Photo credit – Simon Curlis). 29 Figure 32: Bochum Thyssenkrupp Blue cruiser. 30 Figure 33: University of Minnesota’s EOS II. 31 Figure 34: FAST’s Investigator MK III (Photo credit – Simon Curlis).
31 Figure 35: Prisum Solar car team’s Penumbra. 32 Figure 36: National Kaohsiung university’s Apollo VIII (Photo credit – Simon Curlis). 33 Figure 38: Lodz Solar Team’s Eagle Two. 33 Figure 39: Eindhoven Stella Vie.
34 Figure 40: Bird of prey concept sketch. 37 Figure 41: Solar sports Ute (2017 Honours project). 38 Figure 42: Concept 3 “Bird of Prey”. 40 Matthew Millar Mission Impossible P a g e | xi Figure 44: Concept 5 Tech drawing.
43 Figure 50: ATN & Team Arrow Solar car ⅕ Scale Models in the wind tunnel. 43 Figure 51: Original rear corner. 44 Figure 52: Modified rear corner. 44 Figure 53: Low/High beam projector lamp .