Taking the Materials Approach to a Can-Am Chassis

Race car designers have relied heavily upon mechanical creativity to gain a competitive edge in racing. The Armco/McKee Can-Am car is not short in its mechanical innovations, but the program objective was to demonstrate the merits of special aircraft steels and titanium in a road racing vehicle. The design advantages gained in the use of these very high specific strength and specific modulus materials are shown. Their use in future racing cars will be more in the area of highly stressed components, rather then complete vehicle concepts. Their use in passenger cars will also be in highly stressed components, and will depend upon the emphasis placed on power/weight ratios of specialty vehicles.