Copyright © 2001 - Carolyn Abberley
All Rights Reserved
Webmaster: webmaster@f1roro.co.uk
Numerous skilled designers work in one office to create from scratch Toyota’s V10 engine. Close by are both manufacturing and assembly workshops, so all engineers can remain in close contact.
The engine designers’ work is all done via Catia CAD (Computer Aided Design) software provided by IBM. Gone are the traditional drawing boards, everything is done electronically for instant retrieval by the various manufacturing and testing processes.
In the Engine workshop all the Toyota Formula 1 engines are hand-built by skilled mechanics. The staff are divided into project teams working on different aspects: sub-assembly components, cylinder heads, test/race engine build and test rigs. In addition to race engines, development continues using single cylinder engines.
Some 50% of the mechanics in this department have worked at Toyota Motorsport for 10 years or more, the remainder have been added as the engine operation has grown over the past months.
Nothing is left to chance in the search for the most powerful and reliable Formula 1 engines possible.
This facility allows bench testing of every Toyota Formula 1 engine both for development and before installation into the car.
There are eight dynamometers that are used extensively in the engine development programme where detailed analysis of power and efficiency can be performed. The engines can be run up to full speed and maximum load to improve design and reliability.
It is also possible to simulate race conditions using Transient Dyno techniques where the engine will be connected to a gearbox and run through a cycle of acceleration and deceleration modes experienced on any given circuit.
Before being fitted into the test or race cars, each freshly built engine will be run on the dyno to assess its performance and eliminate potential problems. It will be run with a number of auxiliary components as in the real car like the engine control unit (ECU).
From the control rooms, highly-qualified engineers use computers to monitor the test engine’s every beat. It is possible to build engines to different specifications depending on which circuit it is going to run.
The Toyota Motorsport CNC (C_omputer N_umerical C_ontrol) area is equipped with the latest and most sophisticated machinery available in the world. Both fast and powerful, many of these machines are multi-pallet and can handle up to six identical components in one machining cycle.
As well as multi-pallet capacity, all of the machines have extensive tool stations and automatic selection of these tools, depending on the cutting or measuring job that they carry out. The latest machines currently installed are five-axis enabling a degree of flexibility and accuracy in manufacturing which would be difficult to achieve without this technology.
Some of these machines are capable of machining components over an area of 1 metre to an accuracy of 4 microns (0.004 mm) approximately 25 times smaller than the thickness of a human hair.
All these machines are programmed either by the design office or by the machine operators who are each responsible for the accuracy and quality control of their components. There is a dedicated quality control facility housed within the CNC shop for this purpose.
A range of materials are machined here including aluminium and magnesium castings for engine blocks, cylinder heads, throttle valves and gearboxes, as well as synthetic materials used for the production of patterns.
The CNC department staff work on a flexible 3 shift system. The department is capable of working 24 hours if necessary. The design data that is processed by the CNC shop in a year is expected to be in the region of 2000+ Mb in addition to the 10,000 operator loaded programmes.
The Composites department is where all of the laminated components used in the construction of the chassis are produced. Materials such as carbon and kevlar fibre are used extensively.
The various stages of composites manufacture start with the production of patterns in the CNC machining shop. These are then transferred to the composites area where moulds are made from carbon fibre. The moulds are prepared to a very high quality finish and are then thoroughly checked on the measuring rig because the quality of the final components depends on the accuracy of the original moulds.
The actual race car composite components are then taken from these moulds. The basic structure of a typical composite component (diagram) is an aluminium honey-comb core onto which are layed and bonded interwoven carbon fibre cloth which has been impregnated with a resin system that hardens with heat. This process, known as the "lay-up" stage, takes place in rooms are carefully controlled providing a dust free air-conditioned environment. All the carbon layers are cut from a roll of material using an accurate ultrasonic computer-controlled cutting machine.
Once this lay-up process is complete the mould and the laminates are packed together into a sealed vacuum bag ready for curing (baking). The curing takes place in one of our two autoclaves - a vessel that puts the components under pressure, pushing the carbon layers together and then heats them to speed up and improve the hardening process of the resin. After some trimming the components are ready for painting and fitting to the car.
To enable the engineers to create new parts very quickly and establish new installation concepts, state-of-the-art EOS lasersinter machines are used. The lasersinter department is capable of producing high-accuracy rapid prototypes of car components for either wind tunnel models or installation testing on actual cars.
Even in today’s high-tech world, hand skills, such as bending and welding, often take precedence over the technology, although this area too has some of the latest and best fabrication equipment in the world.
A team of highly skilled craftsmen drawn from the motorsport, aviation and industrial worlds use both traditional metalworking techniques and state-of-the-art machinery to produce components, which are sometimes more work of art than work of engineering.
As well as the intricate exhaust systems made here many other fabricated components are produced in-house including wishbones, pipe work, oil tanks and other parts impossible to make by machines.
The fabrication team has a diverse range of skills enabling sophisticated crafting of components often in exotic materials such as incanel and titanium.
To use one example of the work carried out here, a typical exhaust system will take one man about 50 hours to produce. Each exhaust system will be replaced after each race or test.
The chassis design team is headed by the extremely experienced Gustav Brunner. Many designers create the shape of the central F1 monocoque, or ‘tub’ as it often known, gearbox, suspension, brakes, steering as well as the aerodynamic package.
Working closely with the aerodynamicists taking windtunnel test data, and the test and race team collecting telemetary data, their job is one of constant innovation and evolution.
As both teams are under the same roof, they have an advantage over most other F1 teams.
The Toyota Formula 1 facility houses its own wind tunnel for aerodynamic testing of half-scale models.
As the weight and dimensions of an F1 car are fixed, next to the engine much of the difference in performance between competing Formula 1 teams is due to improvements in aerodynamics. Although much can be learnt on computerised "Computational Fluid Dynamics" programmes, the wind tunnel remains the best tool to simulate track conditions and to develop a car aerodynamically.
Consisting of a new technology steel belt rolling road from the USA and a Canadian/German fan, the wind tunnel was designed in partnership between Toyota Motorsport and a German engineering company from a specification laid down by TMG Aerodynamicist, René Hilhorst, in 1999.
The wind tunnel is capable of running at speeds in excess of 200 kph.
As soon as an improvement is suggested or a hypothesis established, new components can be manufactured and added to the wind tunnel models to test the theory.
By using half-scale models, modifications can be implemented quickly and at lower costs before being set into full scale production.
The wind tunnel is capable of 24 hour operation if necessary.
The Formula 1 workshop is the real home of the Toyota racing cars. It is here that all the components come together. The F1 car is built and then completely stripped and carefully re-assembled between every race or test.
This requires a team of technicians to check the 4.500 components on every car and the engine is regarded as just one of the components.
It is only through meticulous attention to detail that speed and reliability can be ensured when the cars are on track.
From this workshop, the cars are loaded with all their support equipment and spares into the race trucks for dispatch to the next race or test venue.
Included within the F1 workshop department are smaller areas as suspension sub-assembly, transmission assembly, hydraulics, prototype fabrication, cleaning and a store.
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Copyright © 2001 - Carolyn Abberley
All Rights Reserved
Webmaster: webmaster@f1roro.co.uk