LD200 Attenuator wanted

[Messenger Racing]

Is anybody currently making LD200 Carbon Attenuators?

Thanks!

Jay

[chrisw52]

https://www.apexspeed.com/forums/sho...200-Attenuator

[Messenger Racing]

Yes. Familiar with the thread but no longer made I believe. That is why I asked if anyone was currently making them.

If if you have a current accurate contact I would love to have it.

Thanks

Jay

[OneWayOut]

The SEC part looks nice, but none of the photos seem to show it installed with a rear anti roll bar in place.

[CGOffroad]

Send Crowe Composites a message. I think I remember him talking about attenuators a while back

[Messenger Racing]

Last time I talked to Michael it was still down the road a bit.

JM

[Brian Graham]

I purchased one of the SEC pieces, very well made, had to modify it to fit with our chopstick style rear bars but will be running one this weekend at Montreal at the F1 events.

Brian.

[Roux]

I hit Armco backwards and folks about a 1/2 mile away in the paddock heard the loud impact. Were not expecting to see that I was able to drive the car back. Hewland and everything else were unscathed. Just a smashed attenuator originally from SE COmposites. I bolted on the spare and went racing. Logged about 5G on the AIM and speed was 48MPH. Fortunately a somewhat glancing blow, but without the attenuator I would have been fixing expensive stuff. I encourage racers to work on front and rear crush boxes. Does anyone know of a new source for these or viable alternatives?

Steve

[SeBeco]

I will check with SE Composites and see if they still have the mold.

I hit Armco backwards and folks about a 1/2 mile away in the paddock heard the loud impact. Were not expecting to see that I was able to drive the car back. Hewland and everything else were unscathed. Just a smashed attenuator originally from SE COmposites. I bolted on the spare and went racing. Logged about 5G on the AIM and speed was 48MPH. Fortunately a somewhat glancing blow, but without the attenuator I would have been fixing expensive stuff. I encourage racers to work on front and rear crush boxes. Does anyone know of a new source for these or viable alternatives?

Steve

[Rick Kirchner]

wondering how a thick 3d printed part might fare. Are those attenuators filled with anything? foam?

[Roux]

Rick,

the construction is along the lines of what other crush structures are. 2 layers of about 5 oz carbon, then 1/4 or 1/2 inch honeycomb (in this case aluminum) and then on the inside 2 more layers of about 5oz carbon. All laid up with epoxy resin.

3D printed plastic part with some TBD percentage of infill instead of honeycomb would be really interesting, but I am not sure how to qualify such a construction without testing. My guess is that it would be way better than nothing.


Steve

[BeerBudgetRacing]

Make sure any new attenuator can accommodate the new rain light.

RainLightAtten.jpg

Still fiddling with this but it will mount between the FC wing mounts up against the back of the gear box.

Plan to print the big portion in PETG black and the light frame in yellow or green.

[Roux]

Paul,

one suggestion. Taper the strength to be weakest at the light and strongest at the gearbox to ensure crushing in a semi gradual way and to avoid snapping off at the base in a less than dead on hit. (Imagine contact at 45 degrees on the tip). Strength taper is easy to achieve by changing the part internally and in no way requires the outside profile to taper. Am I making sense?

Steve

[BeerBudgetRacing]

Paul,

one suggestion. Taper the strength to be weakest at the light and strongest at the gearbox to ensure crushing in a semi gradual way and to avoid snapping off at the base in a less than dead on hit. (Imagine contact at 45 degrees on the tip). Strength taper is easy to achieve by changing the part internally and in no way requires the outside profile to taper. Am I making sense?

Steve

Yes - thank you. Great advise.

[Rick Kirchner]

a lot of slicers now allow you to change infill density as you move through the part. might also want to start with a thin wall thickness and add more walls as you go down through the part, or, print in a direction that aligns the layer lines fore/aft instead of up/down, which makes the snap off problem less of an issue.

I doubt if any FC attenuator has actually been tested - probably a take off from a similar design on a FIA spec car of similar size.

I have a attenuator in the battery compartment of my nose box. It's just extra pour foam from a seat I made 20 years ago, and covered with epoxy. A couple of years back I made a 3D printed attenuator to go in there as the foam piece tends to be a bitch to remove, but got the dimensions a little tooo tight on the 3d part as well. Haven't made another one yet. I printed it with a 1mm nozzle so it wouldn't take a week....

Would be pretty easy to make one for the circular hole that the wing pole passes through as well.