Motorsport Engineering - Colorado State University


RESEARCH PROGRAM Corporate Research contracts allow your company to take advantage of the capabilities available at Colorado State University’s Motorsport Engineering Research Center (MERC). These resources include both experienced personnel and specialized test equipment. Some of the specialized equipment supporting research includes: advanced materials testing flexible shock dyno — over 100Hz brake friction dyno full-scale structural testing floating-liner friction engine studies quad processor HP workstations and UNIX machines for sophisticated computational tasks machining, casting, injection molding By contracting CSU for your research needs you can obtain key results that your company does not have the internal capabilities to generate. CSU Motorsport Engineering researchers have a track record of being able to deliver results on an accelerated timeline, as well as to generate continuous improvements over year long and multi-year research contracts. Contracting CSU Motorsport Engineering for your Research and Development needs has many advantages: A competitive advantage based on results of findings of efficient/skilled CSU Motorsport Engineering Researchers whose focus is the Motorsport Industry. Projects can be tailored to incorporate all aspects of Motorsport Engineering at CSU, including all affiliated Laboratories. Customized research experiments, and research equipment, can be developed in response to your specific corporate needs. Contract R&D can include on-site team testing, including company representative involvement as necessary.	Research at the Motorsport Engineering Research Center The Motorsport Engineering program moved to the current site in fall of 2002. Students and faculty began presenting results of motorsport-related research later that same year, in Dearborn, at the 2002 SAE Motorsport Engineering Conference. Students and faculty continue to generate new findings that relate to the motorsport industry, and have presented papers at each of the SAE Motorsport Engineering Conferences since 2002. In Fall of 2005, the research complex became a named center at Colorado State University, the Motorsport Engineering Research Center (MERC). Professor Radford became the first MERC center director. The research at the MERC has four primary focus areas; Advanced Materials, Aerodynamics, Engines Technology, and Vehicle Dynamics. More specific information related to current projects in those areas can be found on the "Research" tab of this website, under each of the focus areas.
	Program Research Program research, such as the results presented in this website, is not only funded by companies supporting the motorsport and performance industries. In certain cases the findings generated, based on applications in the motorsport industry, are transferred to other industries and are supported by those industries. PhD and Master's students work on a variety of projects at the MERC, including projects ranging from highly computational to largely experimental in nature. Students enter the program with an interest in one of the research areas, and are immediately teamed with an appropriate faculty advisor. Companies interested in sponsoring research at the MERC can contact any of the faculty listed on the "People" menu item; however, for most practical purposes, the research areas and associated key faculty member follows: Aerodynamics/CFD: Dr. Sakurai Vehicle Dynamics: Dr. Fitzhorn Materials/Engines: Dr. Radford Overview of Areas Highlights of the four key areas of research at the MERC follow: Advanced Materials Fiber reinforced composites are the primary focus in this research area. Fundamental and applied resarch is underway at both the material and at the structures levels. One current research project is the development of fiber reinforced composite engine valves.	Aerodynamics Computational Fluid Dynamics of vehicles and airfoils has been the focus. Recent work has emphasized the effects aerodynamics at high yaw angles. This work has included windtunnel verification. Engines The current focus in the engines area relates to materials optimization for engines technology. Projects are underway related to the measurement of valve temperatures and in measuring engine friction using a floating-liner approach. Vehicle Dynamics Studies in vehicle dynamics are performed using both computational and experimental tools. On-track research can be performed using MERC data acquisition systems. Much of the focus is on damper testing and optimization utilizing the very flexible servo-hydraulic damper dynamometer.
	A Program in Mechanical Engineering , Fort Collins, CO 80523-1374