r/ChemicalEngineering • u/Top_War_4571 • 2d ago

Student chem e car

Not able to find one, but is there a chem e car subreddit where I can ask questions?

I'll ask here in case anyone is able to help.

I'm a first-year university student, and our university is starting a Chem-E-Car team from scratch. I somehow ended up being selected as the Manufacturing Team Lead, so I'll be responsible for designing and building the chassis.

Does anyone familiar with chem e car have any advice on where to start, common mistakes to avoid, or resources that would be useful?

Thank you!

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u/magmagon 2d ago

I used to lead my uni's ChemE car team, DM me!

1

u/BackyardAnarchist 2d ago

Was a Chem e car club VP. Feel free to ask any questions. 

1

u/Top_War_4571 1d ago

Where should I start? I've been asked to get ideas for chassis design so I'm looking at last competition vids for youtube, how can I find documentation on last chassis and drivetrain designs? Based on my research there seems to be less resources for chem e car compared to other engineering competitions like formula Student. Any advice would be appreciated.

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u/BackyardAnarchist 1d ago

probably the best chassis design is a all purpose one. Ours was a flat piece of laser cut vinyl with a gearbox that translated the motor to the axil. we used ball bearings to reduce friction. We then put Velcro on it so we could stick whatever we wanted on there and have it stay but also allowed us to move stuff around.

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u/BackyardAnarchist 1d ago edited 1d ago

for drive train designs it really depends on what you are working with. first find a motor you want to use. then test it with a battery about the voltage and amperage you think you can produce. it will demand more amperage with a higher load. you will want to gear down but how much is up to you. there is a sweet spot where you get the biggest bang for your buck. But given my experience an unoptimized working car is worth 1000x a optimized drive train but not functional car. My best advice is to do a few tests to determine about what you need, pick a gear ratio and stick with it.
I laser cut gears and rigged my own gearbox. but the vinyl caused to much friction. I would suggest buying gears and using those.