Glasgow-based Castle Precision Engineering is to engineer and manufacture the wheels for Bloodhound, the supersonic car aiming to break the land speed record next year.
The selection of Castle Precision, the 2010 winner of TM’s Manufacturer of the Year Award, as supplier of Bloodhounds wheels was announced at Holyrood Palace today.
Andy Green, Bloodhound’s driver, made the announcement alongside representatives from the Institution of Mechanical Engineers.
As Bloodhound attempt to exceed 1000 miles per hour, the Castle Precision wheels will spin 177 times per second and withstand a load of 50,000 radial G at the rim.
It has taken Castle Precision three years to produce a wheel design to satisfy Bloodhound. They worked alongside Innoval Technology and Lockheed Martin UK to produce the winning concept.
The major engineering challenges in creating the Bloodhound wheels were creating a design that would not fly apart when turning 10,200 times per minute and which could be manufactured to incredibly tight tolerances with zero distortion.
Castle precision used its experience on manufacturing wheels for runway testing in the aerospace industry to guide the development of the Bloodhound wheels. Castle also supplies to the energy and automotive sectors.
The purpose of the Bloodhound land speed record attempt is about more than extreme engineering for its own sake however.
The project aims to inspire a new generation of engineers and its progress is now being followed by 5000 UK primary and secondary schools.
Following the announcement that Bloodhound’s wheels will be made in Scotland, service company Serco, a leading sponsor of the Bloodhound project, has arranged for the Bloodhound show car to be placed on display outside Glasgow’s Riverside Museum from April 26-28.
