2013 Drexel FSAE Fuel Tank Overview
We began this project in order to become familiar with the engineering design
process while developing a functional, useful, lightweight fuel tank for our team. The main
goal of the project was to develop a light weight fuel tank for the 2013 Formula
SAE Racing Team to use on the race car at the 2013 Lincoln, Nebraska
competition. During this project, we learned the basics of the
SolidWorks 3D Design technology as well as basic manufacturing techniques, such
as lathes, drill presses, sheet metal shears, and sheet metal breaks. We faced many constraints including the guidelines stated in the Formula
SAE handbook as well as constraints dictated by the already designed and built
chassis. During the project, we researched different available
options for the fuel tank, designed a lightweight version of it, manufactured it,
and integrated it into the design of the race car. While doing these tasks, we learned SolidWorks 2013 and became comfortable with different types of machinery. In the end, we created the tank shown below. It was lighter than the previous tank (5.95 pounds to 5.05 pounds), will hopefully function better, and contains an external fuel pump rather than internal to allow for easier repairs if necessary.
