Ceramics

[tempest]

Just wondering if their are any rules on using ceramics in F1. I was thinking that a ceramic engine block has the potential to be lighter, stronger, have better thermal properties and be easier to cast than an aluminium one. Only disadvantage i guess is if it cracks it will be pretty catastrophic failure. Whats the story?

[Monstrobolaxa]

From the regs:

5.5 Engine materials :
5.5.1 The basic structure of the crankshaft and camshafts must be made from steel or cast iron.
5.5.2 Pistons, cylinder heads and cylinder blocks may not be composite structures which use carbon or aramid
fibre reinforcing materials.

Though it isn't said here.....in 1995 I think I read somewhere that it was illegal....but not sure.

Conserning the car construction:

ARTICLE 15 : CAR CONSTRUCTION
15.1 Materials :
...
15.1.2 No parts of the car may be made from metallic materials which have a specific modulus of elasticity greater
than 40 GPa / (g/cm3). Tests to establish conformity will be carried out in accordance with FIA Test
Procedure 03/02, a copy of which may be found in the Appendix to these regulations.

The thing might be that since the engine is part of the car they might consider the materials used in the engine as the same as the car construction materials.....ceramics usually have a very high modulus of elasticity....over 80 GPa!

But there is also very fishy...probably the FIA only gives it to the engine suppliers but in the tech regs the list of materials you can't use in the engine and car isn't published! nowhere in the Regs I saw them mentioning the usage of Berilium as forbidden!

[walter]

If my memory doesnt fault me, I believe in 2001 FIA restricted the use of exotic metals(such as berylium) in the engine. I also believe there is a restriction on the type of metal used in the ballasts, no depleted uranium or such other really dense metals. The only ones that were legal were ferrous metals.

in case of the use of ceramics in F1, all manufacturers are aware of the great possible advantages of ceramics in F1, however because they are so rigid, they are not great absorbing shocks or vibrations. As an F! engine is of course part of the structure of the chasis. the engine can take a beating not only from its internals but also from the suspension. I think the manufacturers are testing ceramics and are very intersted in it, hense why Renault signed a partnership with NASA just about a week ago. These experimental materials can be applied to so many things!! It could be as big of a breakthrough as plastic was one day.

[tempest]

Yeah, I agree, beryllium was banned in 2001 when McLaren tried to do something with it in the engine block. Fair enough too, the stuff is seriously toxic, so its probably not a good idea to have it in something that is so easily broken as an F1 engine.

[Rogue230]

Berylium isn't actually "toxic". The true description is quite lengthy but many, if not actually most, people who have been exposed to berylium dust have never and will never suffer any ill effects.

For those who do suffer, I'm aware of no cure.

Clearly it's not worth the risk in racing.

[West]

I heard that beryllium is extremely toxic if it catches fire, as in beryllium oxide.

I thought it was banned because Mercedes was using it to good use and Ferrari couldn't get it to work in their cars.

[Monstrobolaxa]

Well I always thought they were using it in the pistons....

A question I kind of made in my first post in this thread is.....where is the list that has the banned materials?where is it publishes?I've always thought the ceramics is a exotic material....so is it or not?

[rodders]

as I understand it the MACHINING of Berrylium is the most toxic stage of it's use, and to say that no one has been effected by it's use so far is well not reallt valid. Remember Asbestos ???

Also some forms of 'O' ring material can be quite dangerous to human health if the 'O' ring has been subject to trememdous heat. Recorded information in the airline industry shows that this material CAN create a situation where upon contact the effect is that the contact patch is just "eaten away" and continues without any means of containment !!

Nasty

[West]

I guess I should stop playing with those beryllium knives i ordered then.

[Monstrobolaxa]

Eureka.... I've found it in a Racecar Engineering magazine!!!!!

The materials used in the engine can only have a maximum modulus of elasticity of 40 GPa! (the same thing with the chassis materials) Ceramics have a modulus of elasticity of over 80GPa! So Ceramics are banned!

The question is why aren't these numbers publish in the technical regs?
Why isn't the word Berillium in the technical regs?
Are there special tech regs that are only given to teams, with the materials that are banned?

[axle]

Are the technical regulations available on-line as I'd like to look through some of them???

[Monstrobolaxa]

Here they are:

http://www.fia.com/resources/documents/ ... _Reg_a.pdf

[axle]

Thanks very much

[solo-one]

I belive that the aluminum-beryllium alloy McLaren were using in their pistons falls under the ban of materials having a modulus of elasticity greater than 40GPa. The alloy is expensive but is easier to machine than titanium alloys, thus offering cost savings in manufacturing.

[ReubenG]

Don't the regs speak about specific modulus of elasticity i.e elastic modulus divided by density (GPa *m^3/kg ) ?

Steel has an elastic modulus of 205-210 GPa which would make it "illegal" - its specific modulus of elasticity is about 26 GPam^3/kg which is OK...