The fairing design will continue in the design phase, deterrmining the exact process and fairing design. The design will then be analyzed and begin assembly by the end of the semester.

The design lead for the fairing is Kevin Montoya, while the secondary is Matt Gerlich. The fairing consists of making an external structure that will increase streamlining and reduce drag. The structure can be made out of various materials, including fiberglass, plastics, Kevlar®, carbon fiber, or metal. In some occasions you will see a hybrid that may consist of carbon fiber and Kevlar®, or fiberglass and metal. The team’s goal is to create a lightweight yet rigid fairing that will assist the operator in achieving high speeds while protecting them from the outside elements. Multiple designs will be modeled within a program called SolidWorks. When the various models are completed, CFD, computational fluid dynamics, will be simulated in both the SolidWorks program and ANSYS for comparison purposes. From those results a final design will be chosen and construction will begin. To produce a fairing that will mimic that of the CFD analysis, the surface and shape will need to be near perfect. The fairing will be created using a mold and vacuum bag process to create a smooth surface and a shape equivalent to the CAD design. Once the shell is created from one or two of the many listed materials above, fitting the fairing and smoothing the surface will take place to ensure a low coefficient of drag, thus allowing the vehicle to reach high speeds.