EC-03, powerful development
A new way of thinking
As the saying goes: “Life is not a long quiet river”, EC-03 is no exception to the rule. Despite a journey strewn with challenges to overcome, the know-how and perseverance of the EFT students have made it possible to achieve what is today the most ambitious project of the association and which will become a standard for future generations. By viewing this page, you will discover our car from all angles, from its construction pole by pole to the competition, without forgetting the testing and driving phases
Design
To design their new single-seater, the EFT students started from scratch to create a high-performance car with many innovations compared to its older sister, EC-02. Indeed, the operation of our two previous single-seaters was rich in lessons. This phase of the EC-03’s life allowed our students to discuss with many engineers working in different companies. In addition, we were lucky enough to be regularly advised by various manufacturers and professionals on technical design choices.
Among these innovations is a hybrid chassis, with a carbon fiber monocoque at the front, and a tubular structure at the rear. This makes the skeleton of the car lighter and more rigid. This required a long study of composite materials and their behavior, in order to create a body that meets our specifications.
Engine
The engine has also evolved. The old single-cylinder engine of EC-02 was replaced by a 3-cylinder engine from our partner Triumph. Then, we slightly modified it in order to reach a power of 83 horsepower despite our 2 cm restriction. Thus, our members had the opportunity to carry out engine tests at our partner EMC in order to establish a personalized mapping. Finally, this engine is equipped with a pneumatic shifter allowing almost instantaneous gear changes.
Aerodynamic
Finally, EFT also developed and manufactured an aerodynamic pack that meets the specifications set for EC-03. It is complete, simple but demanding: produce 100kg of support at a speed of 100 km/h. To meet these criteria, our kit therefore consists of front and rear wings, a flat bottom and sidepods. All in carbon fiber for lightness and resistance.
EC-03 represents the hardwork of enthusiasts over several generations, ready today to take on the challenges of tomorrow's world.
In addition to these important innovations, EFT has tried to improve every system of our vehicle during its design. For example, our hub carriers have an original and optimized shape. We had the opportunity to produce them in carbon fiber. Similarly, an electrical harness designed by us and with the help of a partner allows us to have more control over the vehicle and more feedback using numerous sensors.
Vehicle modeling
The team also carries out numerous modelings of the vehicle using SolidWorks and Matlab/Simulink software. The goal is to study the behavior of certain parts of the car to optimize them during design and anticipate certain technical problems that may arise during driving. In the photo, for example, we can model the evolution of the temperature of each brake of the car on a FS circuit made in previous years.
Etienne, 2020 EFT’s president, tells us a little more about the theoretical work:
Thanks to simulations in MATLAB, our team can design and study the operation of new systems, with the aim of saving time during the car design stage.
Test Track
Planning
The main interest of pre-competition driving is to be able to test the capabilities of the car. Indeed, most of the time, these are the first laps of the car, and the entire team of the association is eager to see the project of several months of hard work come to fruition. However, this phase, contrary to what one might believe, is not simply an opportunity to meet up with enthusiasts. Indeed, these moments are the only time when we can drive our single-seater before the competitions.
Doing test track is therefore a crucial phase to achieve our requirements on the car. Indeed, this phase begins before even going to the circuit. We make what are called pre-rolling checklists. Lists in which we list all the screws with their tightening torques and the parts subject to deformation. We then make a post-rolling checklist which allows us to compare these values after rolling. We are therefore able to know if parts tend to loosen or deform. In these latter cases, the parts will have to be resized or replaced.
Analyze
The driving sessions are also the way for the association to do what is called data acquisition.
Indeed, if we want to gain in performance, we must be able to adjust as finely as possible the hardness of the suspensions, the gear changes, the parallelism or the engine mapping. The driving phases allow us to obtain this kind of information so that we can then optimize our settings.
Finally, the driving sessions are also an opportunity for members to present the fruits of their work to everyone. Indeed, very often, a certain number of journalists are present and allow students from all the teams to make known to everyone the specificities of their monohulls.
The competition
Each year, the qualifiers earn their precious place by participating in QCM series that give them the sesame: an entry ticket for the most prestigious Formula Student competitions. In 2021, EFT demonstrated the abilities and determination of its members by qualifying for the prestigious FS East competition.
The competition took place from August 3 to 8, 2021 on the Hungaroring circuit. The team therefore entered EC-03 with the aim, in addition to passing the technical inspection, of acquiring as much knowledge and experience as possible on the running of a FS competition. The risk being that after more than 5 years without competition, the very essence of the project ends up being lost.
This competition in Hungary therefore allowed us to gain knowledge in several forms; first by passing the technical inspection then by observation and discussions with the other teams and the judges.
We were also able to confirm that unlike Formula 1 where there is a great rivalry between the teams, in Formula Student we observe the opposite phenomenon. Indeed, all the teams we met were very happy to be able to help us, whether from a technical point of view or simply by giving us advice. Given the length of the project (the design actually started in 2016) it was sometimes complicated to find the original technical reason. However, the judges understood the case of EC-03 and understood the difficulties we encountered. They then gave us their advice so as not to find ourselves in an identical situation with Genesis.
