JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #116 - October 2017 - 55

lnnovative SLS front air inlet made with high-performance materials

Front air inlet
(final version) after
testing. Outlined
in red is the zone
where the front
fork touched the
inlet duct
First prototype: after
mounting the duct, the
required changes were
marked and the flexible
areas were adjusted to
guarantee the minimum
steering angle

material is useful for various racing applications and applications
subject to vibrations.
The first prototype allowed the
engineers to see if the design
fitment was correct and suitable
for assembly. The first design
revealed that some sections
needed to be changed due to the
lack of space available under the
lower triple clamp. This problem
was further complicated when
the motorbike was cornering
and under braking conditions.
To optimize the volume of the
inlet duct under the lower triple
clamp, the engineers adopted a
creative approach and decided to
use a portion of the Windform®
RL duct, the new rubber-like
composite material produced by
CRP Technology. This duct was
bonded to the main structure
that was made of Windform®
XT 2.0 for evaluation in racing
conditions. To facilitate the task,
they also conducted a bonding
test to study the characteristics
of the final assembly.
Windform® RL is the new material in the family of high-performance 3D printing powders.
This durable thermoplastic
elastomer with exceptional rubber-like features is a material of
choice for motorsports applications requiring flexibility, durability, stability and excellent
shock absorption.
Windform® XT 2.0 is a ground-

breaking carbon fibre-reinforced composite 3D printing
material known for its mechanical properties that is particularly
suitable for demanding applications such as the motorsports,
aerospace, and UAV sectors.
The concept was to make the
bottom part of the duct with
Windform® RL in the fork and
triple clamp area, and then
assemble it into the top part
produced in Windform® XT 2.0.
This approach would allow good
clear airflow on the straightaway
sections of the course, and thus
excellent flow to the airbox.
Under breaking, the front fender
could move up and collapse the
inlet duct without any damages,
due to the flexible material.

Fig. 5: A bonding test was conducted to examine the joining of Windform® RL to
Windform® XT 2.0 and GF 2.0

After examining the part, the
team also decided that making
the ducting flexible in the same
area next to the front fork would
offer an additional benefit. The
engineers were able to maximize
the duct volume because the
maximum steering actions
are only reached when the
motorbike is pushed into the
paddock by the technical staff. In
this situation, the front fork can
touch the inlet duct deforming it
without any damages.
Second prototype
A second prototype was made
with Windform® GF 2.0.
Once the second prototype was

Comparison of the two prototypes. First prototype: the changes to be made are outlined in yellow. Second prototype: the flexible area was redesigned (outlined in red) to
ensure the mobility of the steering

N°116 October 2017

/ jec composites magazine

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #116 - October 2017