Carbon skinned aluminium foam nose cones for high performance circuit vehicles

High performance circuit vehicles such as Formula I and Indy cars, require to have a structure in front of the survival cell that efficiently absorbs impact energy in the event of a frontal collision. This structure needs to fit the strictly prescribed dimensions to be legal and need to absorb kinetic energy in the range of 45 kJ and above, with an average acceleration of 25 g. The overall permanent deformation of the structure after collision must be maintained within the prescribed dimensions and ahead of the driver's feet. To meet these conditions, designers in high performance circuit cars construct nose cone energy absorbing systems that are fitted to the survival cell occupied by the driver in the global longitudinal axis of the vehicle. These nose cones are generally made of carbon skin filled with honeycomb material of either normex, carbon, Kevlar, glass, aluminium foil or their combination including many other substances that provide maximum protection to the driver. This paper presents results of the pioneering work on an alternative material for Formula I and Indy car nose cones. This is a carbon reinforced fibre/epoxy composite skinned aluminium foam that is a lightweight cellular material and provides improved specific energy absorption by 24%–50% in a shortening distance of up to 60 mm or 60% strain. It also performs equally efficient in all orientations and loading directions.