Omega Solar Team Blog

Cleaning the Moulds

Saurabh Srivastava — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 20:34:47 +0000

Today, the team had some new members come out for the construction session who helped sand the the surfaces of both moulds. Later in the evening, the team cleaned the moulds and sprayed on more coats of sanding primer.

Even More Primer

Saurabh Srivastava — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 20:20:36 +0000

Today, the team sprayed on a few more few coats of the gray sanding primer on the moulds.

New Putty

Saurabh Srivastava — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 20:09:35 +0000

Today, the team went over areas on the body moulds with finishing automotive putty. This putty is much easier to sand and work with than the original putty that was used to create the original mould surfaces. After spraying the last coat of the black sanding primer, more imperfections in the mould were discovered. These imperfections would have made it almost impossible to separate the carbon fibre body from the mould after the layup process. As a remedy, the team went over these imperfections with the finishing putty.

More Priming

Saurabh Srivastava — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 20:07:28 +0000

Today, the team continued to prepare the moulds’ surfaces by spraying on more coats of black sanding primer. The test piece also received several coats of the black sanding primer.

Taking Inventory

Saurabh Srivastava — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 20:01:07 +0000

Today the team organized the various electrical components of the car. We did an inventory of the laminated solar panels and the lithium polymer batteries. The solar panels were designed in two configurations: a panel of 2×4 and a panel 1×3. The car’s solar array is composed of six zones where each zone is made up of 67 solar cells. Below are pictures of the solar panels, lithium polymer batteries, and of the battery management system (BMS) module.

More Sanding

Saurabh Srivastava — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 19:54:58 +0000

Today the team lightly sanded the surfaces of the both body moulds. Yesterday, the team sprayed on a second coat of sanding primer on the moulds. A light sanding was required to allow the next coat of primer to adhere to the moulds’ surfaces. It was was discovered that there was a slight problem with over spray during the painting process. The over spray was caused by the lack of ventilation in the barn. Once the paint was sprayed on, the residuals in the air would eventually settle and cure the moulds’ surfaces. This excess paint required sanding with a lower grit sand paper.

Priming the Mould

Saurabh Srivastava — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 19:47:09 +0000

Today, the team sprayed on coats of black sanding primer on the body moulds. The purpose of the sanding primer is to build up the mould surface and to create a suitable surface for carbon fibre layup. The team also prepared a test piece with automotive putty that simulated the surfaces on the moulds. The objective is to perform a mock carbon fibre layup on the test piece to reassure that the the layup methodology and layup surfaces are adequate.

Sealing In

Saurabh Srivastava — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 19:38:23 +0000

Today, the team sprayed on the first coat of sealer on both body moulds. This will ensure that all of the pores in the mould’s surface are sealed and will not adhere to the resin involved in the layup process. In order to do this, the team installed air lines inside the barn. The air compressor was generously on loan to the team by Jim Allore from UA Local 463.

Dusting Up

Saurabh Srivastava — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 19:34:56 +0000

Today, the team continued to clean the barn area. The team also cleaned the surfaces of the both body moulds with damp cheesecloth to remove any traces of dust particles.

Cleaning House

Saurabh Srivastava — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 19:29:34 +0000

Today, the team began the first stage in preparing the mould for the carbon fibre layup. The team spent the entire construction session cleaning the barn of any loose dust particles and debris. The pre-layup process requires the use of an air powered paint gun to spray on the various coats of primer and sealer. This spraying process would cause the loose dust and debris to rise up and eventually embed itself on the mould’s surface. The cleaning process involved washing the floors with water and further enclosing the mould areas with plastic sheets.