One of the best student racing formulas in the world is being developed at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering in Brno. It is built entirely by students from the TU Brno Racing team, who have been sharing the same, yet always slightly different goal for already thirteen years: to design and construct a new single-seater racing car and set off with it to the international races of the Formula Student series, which take place all over the world.
Photo: Václav Široký, Student Photo Club Technika Brno
Although Jiří Janečka is only studying for his Bachelor's degree now, he became the head of the technical section of the formula team at BUT this year. In the workshops, where a brand new single-seater is created every year, Jiří is now working on the development of a new crash box, among other things. "A crash box is a part that extends and distributes the impact over time, which in turn reduces the G-force acting on the pilot. There has always been a crash box on our formulas, but now we are trying to build it from composite materials. Previous models of the formula had this part made of aluminum, now it will be made of carbon fibre in an epoxy matrix," explains Jiří.
The advantage of the composite crash box is its lower weight and thus better driving characteristics of the upcoming formula, which will be called Dragon e3. "First, we prepare a 3D model of the new part, then we design the composition of the laminate with simulations. The part will also undergo crash tests using a drop test, in which a three-hundred-kilogram weight falls on it at a speed of seven meters per second," says Jiří.
When our students really “step on the gas”, they can get into the top ten out of seven hundred teams in the world and are unbeatably the best in the Czech Republic. In addition, students from TU Brno Racing form a great team, combining their knowledge acquired at school with practical application in the construction of a racing car and gaining invaluable experience during their studies.
"What I enjoy the most about it is the most basic thing: you just build your own formula, and that's cool. Everything around it is just a bonus," says Jirka. And when asked what benefits a team work has to offer to him, he adds: "Formula gives you exactly what you give to it. Above all, it taught me that if you really want something, nothing is impossible," concludes Jiří Janečka.