Mission

What
-Hydrogen powered vehicle

Why
-To win the world Class event

How
-Using the state of the art technology

When
-Prototype finished by the end of November 2011 and participate in May 2012

Where
-CPUT (South Africa)

Vision

• Promote the use of alternative energy resources.
• Involve schools to create interest and to up the standard in the science and technology department.
• Improve CPUT's collaboration with The Hague Hogeschool
• Sturdy of latest composite materials

Glass fiber

The fiber glass was first cut out as a long strip and then 4 pieces were cut out of that strip.

Mixture of epoxy resin and hardener components. The two components must be mixed thoroughly.

The car was covered with one layer of fiber glass to make the foam blocks sturdy.



Polyfilla

 After the shaping process the car is sprayed with 3 coats of PVA white paint.  Each new coat is only done if the previous coat is dry.  The PVA is sprayed on to allow the glass fibre to grab onto the foam.  The foam absorbs the PVA clogging the pores and sealing the foam, which help us using less epoxy with the glass fibre process.

The holes in the car which was used to insert the steel pipes are closed up with polyfilla and let to dry.

Polyfilla is aslo used to fill the gaps between the foam and hardboard.

  

The polyfilla have been sanded using 80 grit sandpaper. 

 

Shaping process

 

Different glues where tested to find the most suitable glue for the application. It was found that glue sticks (Hot Glue) which is applied with the glue gun is the best to use and the most cost effective adhesive. 

The skeleton of the car (The Hardboard Sections) from the back and front view

After the sections have been glued together the car is shaped with wood rasps and sandpaper.

Shaping continues...

The final shape of the car!

Foam

The sections are cut out from drawings and pinned on the high density foam blocks.  A band saw is used to cut the sections out of the foam.

Sections are cut slightly bigger than the drawing allowing a bit of extra foam for trimming purposes in the final shaping stages.

A small drill bit is used to make pilot holes in the foam at the reference points.  After that a large (25mm) drill bit is used to make the holes to the required size (The size of the pipes). Now the sections are pushed onto two steel pipes of 25mm diameter.  These pipes are used to keep the sections aligned.

After each foam section the corresponding hardboard sections is placed in. These hardboard sections are put in place as a guide and to make the shaping easier.

Hardboard

The drawings are removed from the foam and pasted onto hardboard with pritt.

                                      A jigsaw is used to cut the pieces out to the exact size.

hardboard pieces cut out to exact size.