Ferrari has filed a patent with the European Patent Office detailing an innovative car frame design that incorporates special compartments that make safety features and energy-absorbing materials easier to integrate into the overall design.
Using a combination of aluminum and carbon fiber, standard materials for most makers of expensive sports cars, the incorporation of the compartments in the design is aimed at improving overall design efficiency and performance.
Ferrari Redefines the Supercar Frame
Most supercar makers employ carbon fiber extensively in the manufacture of their vehicles, but these designs often take the form of a basic carbon-fiber tub for the passenger compartment, with various attachment points for suspension and powertrain subframes on either end. Ferrari’s new design focuses on the integration of safety features, but the new frame is also claimed to be lighter and stiffer than current designs.
Ferrari’s design also uses carbon fiber for the basic body cell, but what makes it unique is that it incorporates a network of partitions and compartments in which safety equipment such as airbags and other features such as impact-absorbing materials can be incorporated. The design makes provision for various material types, and Ferrari says it uses aluminum parts in strategic locations for optimal impact absorption in a crash, while the modular design allows it to more optimally tune a car’s mass distribution.
Ferrari Takes A Modular Approach
Detailed information is not available, but Ferrari’s approach looks interesting in how it manages to combine metals and composites to save even more weight over existing designs. What arguably gives it the edge is its ability to provide modules to integrate safety features, which means safety is baked into the core design at an even earlier stage. Presumably, this also allows for more flexibility to swap out material types and vary the number of safety devices fitted, depending on the car and its design requirements.
