The ARION4 bike with the ULV Team.
Global engineering firm, Renishaw is providing its metal additive manufacturing (AM) expertise to the University of Liverpool Velocipede Team (ULV Team) as it aims to break the current hand cycle land speed record.
Since 2013, mechanical engineers at the University of Liverpool have worked on the ARION project, which aims to build a series of the fastest human-powered bikes in the world. The past three versions of the bike, the ARION1, 2 and 3 have beaten the previous land speed record for leg powered velocipedes. This week, hand cyclist Ken Talbot and Paralympian Karen Darke MBE will race at the World Human Powered Speed Challenge at Battle Mountain, Nevada, USA with the latest version, the ARION4, which features a titanium component 3D printed by Renishaw.
The challenge for the ULV Team was to design, build and test a bike that was light enough to beat the land speed record, had the strength to deal with the force of the race and kept the rider entirely in control.
“The ULV Team would not have been able to produce a component that met the lightweighting and strength requirements of the bike using traditional manufacturing methods”, explained Llyr Jones, Mechanical Engineer at Renishaw. “Additive manufacturing provided more design freedom for a vital part of the transmission and steering system. The resulting component is lightweight but offers the strong properties of titanium to help keep control of the bike.”
_44
Renishaw provided its additive manufacturing expertise to build a vital component of the ARION4 bike.
The ULV team designed and additively manufactured the CTS, a vital component for the ARION4 which attaches to the headtube to hold the layshaft and front wheel in place. The component weighs less than 600g and is the backbone of the ARION4 transmission system, allowing riders to put in as much power as possible without worrying about the structural integrity of the front of the bike.
“Before taking part in the ARION4 project, the students had theoretical knowledge of AM but no real experience,” explained Michael Head, Post Graduate Lead on the ARION4 project. “The team at Renishaw was very willing to help the students understand how best to design for AM and build a strong and effective part for the bike. The advice and hands-on experience the students received from Renishaw will also be valuable to them when they enter the industry.”
