Bluebird Land Speed Car

1: Why Scan a Land Speed Record Holder
Wednesday 31st August 2011

Bluebird Electric is the fastest electric car in the UK, having held the record for several years. As EV’s go, it is pretty special – a single-seat car which on a straight tarmac road, should easily exceed 200mph. It is very high-tech – so why did it need to be scanned?

Most of us would assume that the design was totally driven by CAD, entirely developed from an aerodynamic model that then dictated the mechanics. In fact, as with many high-performance vehicles, the design was developed in a much more practical way – starting with the major functional components of wheels, motors, batteries, driver’s compartment – and then coming up with a sleek bodyshell to enclose these components.

Once that bodyshell was designed, it had to be manufactured as a one-off. That meant limited jigs and fixturing were available for the advanced space-frame chassis. The undertray is of lightweight, hand-beaten aluminium, and the moulds for composite/GRP panels were developed on a minimal budget. The result is a beautiful, sleek creation – but one in which there are tolerances between the car and the original design. This is extremely common. While Airbus and Boeing work to incredibly tight tolerances on aircraft such as the A380 or Dreamliner, almost all military jets in service have hand-fitted panels – and tolerances which are probably not measured in microns, but in inches. Even modern cars have a tolerance on their length which is commonly closer to “half an inch” than a few microns – so it is no surprise that a one-off high-performance vehicle is not absolutely as designed.

Of course that creates a problem – high-speed aerodynamics is a complex area, and sophisticated CFD relies on accurate models of the vehicle. With no such model available, the CFD modelling was at best an estimate. Scanning the vehicle was the only solution, and one we were proud to assist with.

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