Caps the front bulkhead of the frame, closes out the front of the bodywork, and shapes the air arriving at the undertray inlets and the front tires.
A CFRP shell bonded and fastened over the front bulkhead. It works with the front wing to decide how much of the front wing's wake and how much clean air reaches the undertray inlets. On CR26I the addition of the center tunnel in the undertray allowed a shift away from the previous low-nose arrangement, which had been forcing the whole car's ride height up to keep the nose off the track surface.
Outer surface is taken directly from the aerodynamics CFD geometry so the simulated coefficients still apply to the manufactured part. Laminate schedule is chosen with the team laminate weight calculator against the handling and mounting loads rather than aerodynamic load, since the nose produces very little downforce itself.
Rules require the frontal impact structure behind it; the nose is non-structural and must not interfere with the impact attenuator or anti-intrusion plate. Ride height at the nose tip sets a floor on the whole vehicle ride height, which is why it interacts with undertray design. Must be removable for access.
Aerodynamic surface evaluated as part of the full-car ANSYS Fluent runs. No standalone structural analysis; the part carries no design load case.
Mold milled from tooling board on the 5-axis gantry (previously CNC foam plug into a fiberglass mold). Layup, cure, trim, leading edge filled with polyester filler, satin clear coat for UV protection. Test fit on the frame before drilling mounting hardware to jigs.
CFRP skin. Nomex honeycomb core where a sandwich panel is used. Structural adhesive for bonding.
None recorded. This part has no entry in Knowledge_Transfer/Issue Logging/Fault Vault.xlsx, in either Issue Log.xlsx, in CR22/Issue Tracking/Shakedown 7-15-23.xlsx, or in any design review issue list found in CrimsonStorage or Box.
CAD mass, CR22 master assembly: 1.415 lb (0.642 kg). CG at X 4.33 in, Y -0.02 in, Z 15.86 in in vehicle coordinates. (CAD component: Nose Cone Skin - Manufacturing - Final) Source: SolidWorks mass model exports: CR22 (5 May 2024), CR25 (4 Jul 2025), CR26I (30 Jul 2025), CR26E (22 Mar 2026) Quantity per car, as costed: 1
Nothing in CrimsonStorage covers these yet.