Paddock partners: Dave Hancock claims the relationship between Instron and McLaren Mercedes is vital to the future success of the Formula 1 team

摘要

The relationship between the Instron Corporation and the McLaren Technology Centre (the headquarters of the McLaren Group) is underpinned by speed and precision. Instron and McLaren first conducted an engineering exchange in the 1980s. The resulting collaboration has become a mutual drive to push the boundaries of structural and material testing. The McLaren Technology Centre was opened in 2004 and accommodates two state-of-the-art Instron test rigs - an end-of-the-line hybrid system and an F1 race track eight-post rig - as well as other materials testing machines. Eight-post race track rigs are usually sunk into the ground so that the race car can be rolled onto it, but the Instron Structural Testing (IST) rig at McLaren Racing rig sits on an 80-ton seismic base with the race car at eye level. It is disconnected from the building by vibration isolation mounts so that loads are not transferred to the structure. Equally, the building must not influence the rig, as this would affect its accuracy.