cover story Miles ahead
cover story Miles ahead of the competition with the electric race car Additively manufactured solutions inspire the Formula Student team from Stuttgart A race atmosphere without petrol in the air and full speed ahead with electric power? For the Formula Student GreenTeam at the University of Stuttgart, this is now a reality with its fully electric race car with help from CERATIZIT and additive manufacturing. The additively manufactured wheel carrier is part of the reason behind the student racing team coming top in the rankings: ensuring that the challenging finishing process was a success, CERATIZIT’s Project Engineering Team also developed a machining solution to give the project a significant boost. What first comes to your mind when thinking about being a student? Overcrowded lecture theaters, low-stress lectures and leisure time in abundance? And then take out a year from studying? What sounds like taking it easy and delaying graduating takes on a far different meaning for the GreenTeam at the university of Stuttgart: a total of 70 students dedicated themselves exclusively for an entire year to creating a fully electric car – from the development and construction through to participation in the Formula Student season. Their success has proven that the time and personal investment was worth it: since 2009, the team has been among the top 10 in Maximilian Ziegler (left) was responsible for the overall management of the car mechanics and the development of the new wheel carriers; together with CERATIZIT project manager Tim Haudeck from the Global Project Engineering Team, he is delighted with the excellent collaboration. 6 no. 2, May 2022
cover story Fresh out of the 3D printer, the new wheel carriers for the fully electric racing car of the University of Stuttgart’s GreenTeam still required some rework. The solution was an additively manufactured special tool from CERATIZIT which could be used to meet even narrow tolerances, and in a single setup the world and has already broken the world record for accelerating from 0 to 100 km/h twice. Hypercars like the Porsche 918 Spyder? The electric car racers from Stuttgart know them well from the rear-view mirror! Fully electric racing onto the winner’s podium Strictly speaking, since 2016 the team has been working on two cars year after year: a conventional model with a driver and a driverless version, which, thanks to sensors and artificial intelligence, competes in races without direct human intervention. For the 2021 season, the team intended once again to beat the competition. “We are one of the best teams, which is why winning is everything to us,” explains Maximilian Ziegler, who is responsible for the overall management of car mechanics and the development of the new wheel carriers. The new additively manufactured wheel carriers play here a key role according to Ziegler: “Our E0711- 11 EVO model has enormous potential thanks to this, as the relocation of the electric motors in the wheels significantly improves the aerodynamics.” Analysis is about experimenting After intensive research, Max Ziegler finally contacted CERATIZIT where the Global Project Engineering Team deals with complex machining solutions for automotive customers with exacting requirements on a daily basis. CERATIZIT project manager Tim Haudeck accepted the challenge. “We are constantly confronted with the limits of what is possible and are always looking for ways to overcome these limits. We were able to put our knowledge of e-mobility to the test with the GreenTeam project,” says Haudeck. Together with the GreenTeam and Renishaw, Tim Haudeck and his team analysed the components, the 3D printing Tricky and complex: production of the wheel carriers The production of the new wheel carriers was as complex as the parts are advanced. “We therefore relied on the knowledge and experience from the industry for their production,” admits Ziegler. “And so, together with the experts for additive manufacturing from Renishaw, we first set to work on optimising the components for 3D printing.” However, the next challenge wasn’t far away, as Ziegler explains: “After the 3D printing we needed a solution for machining several surfaces.” The search wasn’t easy, and many companies shied away from this request. The combination of a complex component with diameters above 120 mm, minimal wall thicknesses of below 1 mm and narrow IT6 tolerances on the internal and external surfaces to be machined was too tricky. The combination of a complex component with diameters above 120 mm, low wall thicknesses of below 1 mm and narrow IT6 tolerances on the internal and external surfaces to be machined was too tricky for most companies no. 2, May 2022 7
