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Home » Completed Projects » Lola B2K/40
Completed Projects
Lola B2K/40
Vehicle Profile
The B2K/40 is a two seater, open cockpit sports racing car developed by the British
manufacturer Lola Cars International to comply with the FIA and Grand-Am rules
for "light" prototypes (SportsRacer 2). The car has enjoyed enormous success,
including a class win at the famed 24 hours of Le Mans. It is considered the
standard for this class of competition vehicles.
Building up the extruded
aluminum
spaceframe at Multimatic's
Motorsports
facility |
Completed chassis |
CAD solid model of
CAE optimised chassis |
Heading to the podium |
SR2 cars are configured as lower cost, second tier prototype sports racers weighing
725 kg, powered by a 3.0 litre, six cylinder stock block engines. They are limited
to using an open cockpit, two seat all enveloping bodywork configuration with a flat
floor and limited aerodynamic aids (rear wing with flap). In the interest of reducing
costs, the rules specify that the main chassis ("tub") cannot be constructed from
composite materials such as Carbon or Kevlar®. As Lola's expertise is in the
construction of composite structures, the design, development and build of the
B2K/40 chassis was contracted to Multimatic. Lola undertook the aerodynamic
development, packaging, primary systems engineering and collaborated with Multimatic
subsidiary, Dynamic Suspensions on the suspension engineering.
More information on the B2K/40 can be found at:
www.lola-group.com
Chassis/Suspension Development
Multimatic is a global leader in the application of aluminum in primary vehicle
structures and has developed a unique performance vehicle architecture that rivals
composites for optimal stiffness to weight. The basis of the Multimatic system is
a skeletal spaceframe structure of custom extrusions, closed by aluminum honeycomb
panels of optimised core density and skin thickness. The resulting structure is
stiff, strong, relatively easy to assemble and requires little tooling investment.
The B2K/40 is the first competition car to utilize this structural architecture
and tested performance rivals that of its composite SR1 big brother.
Multimatic undertook the chassis design and development of the B2K/40 on a
"black box" basis, working with total freedom within packaging constraints
defined by Lola. These were primarily aerodynamic driven and were particularly
rigorous due to the high nose and tightly waisted configuration of Lola's
aggressive design. As with all structural developments undertaken by Multimatic,
the design was evolved using analytical FEA tools before any formal CAD was
initiated. Over 50 individual configurations were analyzed to optimise the
weight and stiffness of the structure. In addition to standard torsion and
beaming assessments, natural frequency (eigenvalue) analysis was utilized to
optimise the overall structural performance. Explicit FEA techniques were used
to assess crash performance and develop a suitable nosebox.
Highlights of the final design are:
- Aluminum welded spaceframe constructed from 9
custom 6061 extrusions
- Semi-monocoque completed with aluminum
honeycomb/skin panels bonded to extruded spaceframe
- Total weight of 58 kg
- Outstanding crash performance and rollhoop
strength
- Torsional stiffness of 36,000 ft-lbs/degree
- First fundamental frequency of 116 Hz
- Novel integrated front roll hoop/damper and ARB
mounting
- Multimatic continues to manufacture and supply B2K/40 chassis to Lola cars.
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