Does anybody do this anymore? (Scale Model Chassis Testing)

[Mongo]

Everything seems to be on the computer these days.  I want to create a composite car chassis.  Does anybody make scale models to use for load tests when they are designing a chassis?  I want to put some chipboard (or other cheap material) in a laser cutter (or water jet) and build a scale model for testing its rigidity.  Would there be any advantage to testing a physical scale model over a virtual model in the computer?  Race teams still use a wind tunnel for scale models.  Do they use the models for any other load tests?

 

[lo_0l]

2 hours ago, Mongo said:

Everything seems to be on the computer these days.  I want to create a composite car chassis.  Does anybody make scale models to use for load tests when they are designing a chassis?  I want to put some chipboard (or other cheap material) in a laser cutter (or water jet) and build a scale model for testing its rigidity.  Would there be any advantage to testing a physical scale model over a virtual model in the computer?  Race teams still use a wind tunnel for scale models.  Do they use the models for any other load tests?

 

Hey @Mongo!

I don't think so. From what I've seen modeling have gotten so darn good they rarely use full scale models. Though they do eventually test full-scale models to verify things.

I'm not sure that I'd use chipboard, but there are most definitely some materials you could take advantage of. I think the problem with composites for mainstream vehicles is cost/consistency right now. You're starting to see it more and more as they work out the kinks though!

Were you thinking of doing a full composite chassis or just partial?

[Mongo]

  

4 hours ago, lo_0l said:

Hey @Mongo!

I don't think so. From what I've seen modeling have gotten so darn good they rarely use full scale models. Though they do eventually test full-scale models to verify things.

I'm not sure that I'd use chipboard, but there are most definitely some materials you could take advantage of. I think the problem with composites for mainstream vehicles is cost/consistency right now. You're starting to see it more and more as they work out the kinks though!

Were you thinking of doing a full composite chassis or just partial?

My plan is for the chassis to be composite and the suspension/control arms to be alloy.  I was thinking of making a 1:10 scale model in a cheap material.

 

[John Kimball]

Testing a scale version of the part out of an arbitrary material won't necessarily give you a data point that you can use as you aren't using that same material or construction that you would use on your 1:1 version. And as composites are hard to scale for testing purposes, I don't see any advantage to building a scale version for strength testing. However, you can build a section of the actual planned structure and test that for stiffness, bending, etc. you will need to extrapolate from there to see if get what you need. This is how aerospace designers quantify the materials they plan to use. you will need to find a test house and determine what tests will quantify your needs. You can also rig up your own static load tests if you know what you are looking for.