ASTON MARTIN - AMR-ONE
which the company is able to tailor to individual applications. The direct injection system developed for the V12 engine also provided the designers with many valuable lessons in terms of port design and combustion chamber shape, but the addition of a turbocharger was new territory. Due to the high boost pressures and 9000rpm potential of the engine, the injection system available at the time was right on the limit of its capabilities, a problem that would have been compounded if a four cylinder with even higher cylinder pressures had been selected. As it stands, the injectors run at approximately 200bar of fuel pressure, which is required to provide the correct spray pattern needed for a homogenous charge at high rpm. Future developments are on the cards to utilise new injectors that will soon be available, and with manufacturers looking to develop components for the next generation of F1 engines,
pressures of over 400bar may be possible. Another problem facing the engine team were constraints caused by the aerodynamic packaging of the car, especially in relation to turbo location. Initially, an inboard location was selected, but this caused problems with heat management and, more importantly, severely limited the power potential of the motor. The system run at Le Mans used a new outboard location, but again this was a compromise and the team are currently working on a new iteration of the system to improve the situation. There have been suggestions of moving to a twin-turbo arrangement, partly because packaging two small turbos is easier than housing one large unit, but the engine is still very much in the early stages of its development, and the issues encountered at Le Mans were proof of this. It should be noted, however, that none of the problems were in areas you would expect for a forced
induction motor. In fact, the engine has proved very resilient to high boost pressures and there have been no problems in the area of cylinder or head sealing. After the first failures, the team identified that the aluminium alternator pulleys had cracked, so a decision was taken to have some steel items produced overnight to cure the problem. Unfortunately, while this stopped the pulleys cracking, it simply moved the problem further down the line, leading to the failure of the drive gear
to the pulley and the early retirement of both cars. There is no doubting the AMR engine is an innovative approach to the demands of downsized LMP racing, and the team claim it is the lightest Prototype engine available, hinting that this will stand them in good stead for any future developments involving energy recovery systems. Only time will tell if they will be vindicated, but a further year’s testing and development should allow the engine to show its true colours.
EXTRA DIMENSION
To help deal with the very short development time of
the AMR-One, Aston Martin Racing turned to Stratasys for help with 3D printing. The company’s Dimension 3D printer was used to mock up the chassis, driver controls and engine of the racecar.
AMR selected the Dimension
machine for its rapid prototyping capabilities after seeing the speed and quality of the parts produced for the Prodrive-run rally team in a previous project. Having the machine on site helped the race team to design, test and build a complete car to meet the tight deadline for the 2011 season. Aston Martin Racing is also
exploring the idea of using the 3D printer to make finished
parts to bolt onto the car, and one item currently under consideration is the front splitter. ‘When we received final sign off to build the car for this year’s ILMC, using rapid prototyping was a no-brainer for us, as we had a tight deadline to meet. Most of the engine was prototyped on the Dimension machine, which also proved very useful for the early stages of determining the driver fit for the car,’ explains Aston Martin Racing Team Principal, George Howard-Chappell. ‘Without the 3D printer, we would not have been able to test on schedule. Following the success with the AMR-One, we hope to utilise the capabilities of another Stratasys machine to help build and deliver end-use parts for future cars.’
The Stratasys Dimension 3D printer was used to develop chassis, driver controls and engine components. AMR is currently looking into the potential for using the machine to produce finished, race-ready parts
www.racecar-engineering.com • Le Mans
Most of the straight-six engine was rapid prototyped using the Dimension machine, which saved a vast amount of time in the development process
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