August 23, 2021

At the end of July, Team Highspeed Karlsruhe was already able to demonstrate its skills at the international design competition in Austria with a fourth place in the overall standings. Now the HKA students made it onto the winners' podium at the competition in Germany last week. With the 3rd place in the overall ranking in the category 'combustion engine' they were rewarded for their work and efforts in the past months. Outstanding successes in the individual disciplines were achieved by the team with 2nd place in the Endurance, the endurance race over 22 km, as well as 1st place in the Skidpad, which tests lateral acceleration. After a successful 2nd place in the Skidpad in Austria, the team used the interim period for further improvements, such as optimizing tire pressure, the chassis and the springs. "The skidpad is one of our favorite disciplines, and we have always been among the front runners in it over the past few years. But we've never achieved 1st place before," said student Team Captain Jassin Neuscheler of the Automotive Engineering program, pleased with the success. "Above all, we are happy for our skidpad driver Sven Helms, who is no longer allowed to compete in Formula Student after five years in this discipline and who is now rewarded with a crowning achievement."

After Formula Student had to be cancelled last year due to a pandemic, the international student design competition will take place again this year under strict Corona regulations. Out of a total of around 40 team members from HKA, only eight people were able to take part in the dynamic competitions at the Hockenheimring and take care of the car on site. The static events, on the other hand, took place online.

"It was a real challenge for all participants to prepare the technical checks and fix any problems that arose with so few people," says Jassin Neuscheler. "But Corona also brought us closer together because everyone helped each other even more than usual due to the small number of people, even though you are actually competitors. But that's what Formula Student is all about, we really enjoyed it."

Formula Student Germany

A total of 23 teams from Germany, Spain, Italy, Poland, Austria, and France, among others, took part in the competition from August 16 to 21, 2021, in the 'combustion engine' category. This year's overall victory went to Esslingen University of Applied Sciences. The international student design competition Formula Student is not just about building a fast racing car. Speed is only one aspect that is evaluated. Just as important are acceleration and braking performance as well as design, weight and calculated production costs.

Special features of the F-115 design

For this season, the team competed with a new car that had been modified in a number of respects compared with the previous year: The carbon fiber (CFRP) body, which was developed from scratch, was joined by a further improved chassis with modified spring/damper elements and shock absorber mounts on the body. In order to optimize the flow conditions on the vehicle, many time-consuming computer-aided simulations were carried out, which - compared with the previous year's vehicle - resulted in a more elaborate aero package. To increase engine performance, the race car runs on E85 instead of premium gasoline. At the same time, this lowers the combustion chamber temperature and thus facilitates engine cooling. The use of the fuel was made possible by a test bench developed specifically for this engine at the university. This allows all engine operating states to be tested, thus optimizing the powertrain so that it can be driven with the lowest possible fuel consumption. As in any modern development and production process, the complete vehicle was created as a model in the computer using CAD systems. This not only produced the necessary manufacturing data, but also enabled the simulation and calculation of the various components and functions. Subsequently, the components were individually manufactured and tested.