Dear Supporters and Alumni of Formula Kentucky,

 

Over the last four months, the team has been working hard to revise the design and start fabrication for FK06! We’re looking forward to seeing the car come together in a few short months and starting to begin testing and data collection for competition in May! The team has transitioned from ordering materials and components to starting the manufacturing process. We are excited to continue hands-on work on FK06 and want to thank you for your support throughout this process, and cannot wait to keep you updated.

 

Aerodynamics 

Aero has been hard at work over the last couple months! At the end of fall semester and the beginning of spring, Aero used the ShopBot to cut foam mold sections for their carbon fiber layups. The aero team used Inventor to create toolpaths for the ShopBot based on the contours of each individual part profile. These sections were put together with screws and body filler, or bondo, to hold the layers of foam in one cohesive shape. The seams are being sanded to ensure a smooth finish; smooth finishes are important as they can affect the final part’s surface finish as well as aerodynamic performance. They have also gotten some advice on Aircraft fabric from sponsor Bob Jones (Ragwingst) hat we’re using for our body panels. This fabric will help aero save 6-7 pounds total, as well as contribute to a smoother overall surface finish that will help with drag.

Aero has consistently been putting in 100+ hour weeks to get all of their parts prepped and ready for their first lay ups. They will have the part covered in a “release film” that will allow for the carbon layups to remove easier from the foam molds seen below. The carbon will be layered over the foam molds then painted with resin that will harden and turn it into the carbon parts for the car!

Pictured: Floor and nose cone molds

 

Business

Business has been hard at work on improving the team’s media and outreach. The website has been updated and newly redone to reflect the new vehicles and updated team information. The team instagram has been revived and posts are being drafted for sponsors and major updates with the car (follow us @FormulaKentucky if you dont already!). New business cards have been designed and are ready to be printed and distributed for upcoming new recruitments coming in the Fall of 2024. This year’s team shirt, Nike polo and Carhartt hoodies have been designed, and a clothing order has been sent out to keep the team looking professional and ready for competition (polo pictured polo).

 Business has also teamed up with Aero to design a new livery for the car and the trailer. We are excited to announce that in addition to the generous Donations of Stan and Karen Pgiman, world renown motorsports sponsor and oil company Valvoline has become one of our newest title sponsors! “We appreciate the opportunities that all sponsors give to us as a student organization and we hope to impress them all with our best car yet, FK06!” -Jude Ward, Team Captain

Pictured: Engineering, Ashley Vanover and Team Captain, Jude Ward 

 

Chassis 

Chassis has begun their first of many manufacturing phases on the new car. The jig, which holds the tubes in place for welding, has been successfully water jetted and properly aligned with a laser alignment tool. Post jig assembly, the tubes of the chassis were put into the jig with custom 3D printed inserts to properly secure and align the chassis tubing into the jig. Welding of the chassis then took place by team member John Psyck who helped tremendously in the assembly process. Upon completion of the tabs being placed by all subsystems, the chassis will be sanded and painted a blue base coat with silver metallic flake as a second top coat. We hope that with the new additions of the custom livery and chassis paintwork that FK06 will be not only the best performing car, but also the most appealing too!

Chassis has also been hard at work with their other pictures like the completely carbon fiber steering wheel, seen below, as well as the newly redesigned two-pedal pedal box, driver firewall and headrest, and steering components. With more parts coming from future waterjet operations, chassis is on the way to having a full line-up of projects ready for the car!

 

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Pictured in both: FK06 Chassis 

 

Electronics 

Our new intake restrictor, throttle body and velocity stack have all arrived and been assembled! This is the culmination of our summer testing, and was made possible by Toyota’s TiLT lab! One new development is our rifled restrictor section- something we hope to test with a flow bench to compare to a standard restrictor. We’re excited to finally take the plunge into more electrical controls on FK06, and the throttle and electric shifter are shaping up to be a killer combo.

With the chassis complete, we have begun placing our electrical components and respective tabs onto the car! Pictured is our data acquisition unit, courtesy of AutoSportLabs, as well as our BSPD and driver kill switches- both critical safety devices for our car. Now that we have a chassis, we are hoping to place all of our components quickly and begin finishing the rear section of our primary wiring harness!

“Thank you to everyone from electronics for your hard work over the last couple months.” -John Psyck, Electronics Lead

Pictured: Electronics hardware mount 

 

Powertrain 

Powertrain has been hard at work using the data they collected over the fall to start manufacturing. After extensive research and testing on the cooling system of the car, Powertrain came to the decision to utilize a smaller side mounted radiator. They also decided on a better sized external oil cooler. Both the radiator and the external oil cooler are mounted within the side pods to help direct air flow. This new design update will help with air flow through the radiator, which was previously mounted in the rear of the car.

Powertrain also developed a block off plate which will remove the need for the OEM oil heat exchanger. The OEM oil heat exchanger sat too close to the headers behind the firewall. The design of the intake is also being updated by moving the intake arm to the side to place the heavy electronic throttle body lower on the car. Lexmark, a long time sponsor and supporter of the team, is printing the plenum and arm. Cone Engineering, another supporter, is supplying some of the header components for the exhaust. The muffler from FKO5 is going to be recycled for the new car with some adaptations such as a different silencer and new baffles. The drivetrain is going through extensive updating with a larger rear sprocket, a hand-operated clutch, electronic shifting, and a newly integrated electronic throttle body. 

The engine went through inspection and passed with flying colors. There were no areas of concern found with FK05’s engine and is set to be placed in FK06 on the next build cycle. With hard work and collaboration with the other subsystems, Powertrain is on its way to making FK06 unstoppable. 

 

 

Suspension

Suspension has been working hard over the past couple months to meet their deadlines and have the car ready to run by April. Currently they are waiting on a machined components order to come in. Once they get their components they will be able to start the brunt of manufacturing work. In the interim, they have spent a lot of time preparing for the orders to come in, including creating jigs that help place and weld on mounts and Control Arms. They also removed old tires and placed them on our new tires.

 We are hopeful they will have almost all of the machined components in by the end of the month, which should have them on track to meet the April 1st deadline. “Shout out to our sponsors for being so willing and generous with their time and money to do the machining on our uprights, spindles, and other smaller suspension components.” - Peter Szalay, Suspension Lead.

Pictured: Suspension upright