Date of Award

6-2011

Document Type

Open Access

Degree Name

Bachelor of Science

Department

Mechanical Engineering

First Advisor

Abraham Tchako

Language

English

Keywords

suspension, car, transmission, drivetrain

Abstract

My senior project is to design and fabricate the rear suspension and drivetrain for Union College’s SAE Baja car. This project started with the determination of the optimum style of suspension and drivetrain for use on the vehicle. I worked with a company to obtain a custom-built transmission, and I successfully designed the drivetrain to use this transmission. I also designed the frame of the Baja car required to mount these elements. Finally, I designed the rear suspension of the car. The drivetrain design incorporates a 5-speed sequential transmission with a reverse. This transmission is driven by a centrifugal clutch which prevents the engine from stalling. The drivetrain is capable of a top speed of 27mph in fifth gear and puts out a maximum of 440 ft-lbs in first gear. The suspension is a semi-trailing arm design that is fully independent and allows twelve inches of travel for each wheel. At this point the framing and drivetrain are fabricated. Next term I will continue to work with the machine shop to fabricate the suspension components needed to complete the project.

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