June 16, 2014
Bloodhound SSC is the world's first 1000 mph (1,609 km/h) car and it will begin its land speed record campaign in South Africa in the summer of 2015.
The current World Land Speed Record of 763 mph is held by Thrust SSC, which was driven by Andy Green in 1997 and developed by Bloodhound's Project Director Richard Noble and his team. Green was the first person to break the sound barrier on land and will drive the Bloodhound at its top speed in 2015.
Andy Green
The car is supersonic as it is designed to go faster than the speed of sound and with its slender body of approximately 14 m in length, and weighing in at over 7.5 tonnes. The car is expected to be able to accelerate from 0 to 1,000 mph within 55 seconds, and from 500 to 1,000 mph within 17 seconds.
The design is a mix of motorsport and aircraft technology with the front half being a crabon fiber monocoque like a racing car and the back half being a metallic framework and panels like an aircraft.
On Friday, June 13, 2014, the cockpit of Bloodhound SSC was unveiled in Bristol, UK. The cockpit is specially designed for Green, with a custom-made carbon fibre seat and pedals and buttons all fit to him exactly.
Hand crafted by URT Group using five different types of carbon fibre weave and two different resins, the monocoque is described as "the strongest safety cell in the history of motorsport." The monocoque has taken more than 10,000 hours to design and manufacture. Sandwiched between the layers of carbon fibre are three different thicknesses of aluminium honeycomb core (8, 12 and 20 mm), which provide additional strength.
The structure weighs 200 kg and bolts directly to the metallic rear chassis carrying the jet, rocket and racing car engine. The carbon front section will have to endure peak aerodynamic loads of up to three tonnes per square metre at 1,000mph (1,609kph) as well the considerable forces generated by the front wheels and suspension. It will also carry ballistic armour to protect the driver should a stone be thrown up by the front wheels at very high speeds.
The steering wheel was 3D printed in titanium, shaped to his hands and finger reach to give the absolute best ergonomic grip for Green. The wheel has buttons on the front control the EMCOM radio, airbrakes and parachutes, with triggers on the rear of the handgrips prime and fire the rockets.
The Bloodhound team has partnered with Graphite Additive Manufacturing in UK to provide 3D printed, carbon fibre reinforced laser sintered (SLS) parts such as ducts, covers and brackets as final components on the car. The sintered parts will have a temperature resistance of 170°C and be up to 400 mm in length in one piece.
Graphite AM says that the carbon fibre filled SLS material it provides offers the highest stiffness-to-weight ratio and strength-to-weight ratio of any 3D-printed plastic available on the market. This makes these products ideal for the Bloodhound project, the most demanding applications in motorsport.
Watch the video below Bloodhound driver Andy Green shows you round the outside of the cockpit:
Green explains the intenal layout in this video:
"The BLOODHOUND Project is primarily about bringing science and technology to life for a new generation. We are actually trying to create an engineering adventure to push back the boundaries of physics, to push back the limits of technology and share it with a global audience." - Andy Green
Posted in 3D Printing Applications
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