Design and fabrication of intake manifold for formula SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers) race car

Every year, a group of students from Ecole de technologie superieure (ETS) in Montreal design and build a formula-type race car and compete in the Formula SAE competition. In this paper, we examine the design and fabrication of the air intake system. A number of constraints challenge the designers. For example, to ensure the security of amateur drivers, motors are restrained to 600 cc and a circular restriction of 20 mm in diameter is placed at the entry of the system. Under these conditions, it is important to optimize the quality of the air/fuel mixture which depends mostly on the air intake system. A theoretical analysis reduced the field of possible runner length. However, the influence of runner configuration, plenum shape and size can only be determined experimentally. Polyacrilic functional prototypes were produced and tested on a dynamometric bench. A stereolithography model representing the inner passageways of the optimal intake manifold was built and used as a positive for a polyurethane mold. A composite lamination process was used to laminate the pre-production prototype over a molded wax plug. The major advantage of this approach over craftsmanship or even machining is the time saved to make the mold and the unlimited complexity of the shape permitted by the rapid prototyping systems.