Quote Originally Posted by redefine View Post
this pic is what WILL happen. raised bonnet or no.
if im correct the bolts will be stronger in tension, being steel, and a shear force is a combination of tension compression. steel is actually quite weak in compression (which is why we use concrete, and not steel for foundations, its the combined tensile strength of steel and compressive strength of concrete that makes reinforced concrete so good, but thats another point)

if the bolts were to shear off you would need an EXTREMELY rigid bonnet. like insanely rigid. considering the length of the bonnet, the cross-sectional area, and the compressive strength

and i rekon the carbon shards would have a better chance of scratching and getting in the eyes of bystanders then spearing you in any way. the firewall/windscreen do a great job of protecting you from shards of material
Well actually... I'm still not sure about bolts being stronger in tension than shear, but shear is not a combination of tension and compression, it's just shear... and steel is equally strong in tension and compression, the issue is that if a steel member (say in a roof truss) is subject to compression without either having lateral restraint or being suitably 'stocky' it will buckle under the loading.

Concrete is used for building foundations because it can take on a large area whilst being relatively cheap compared to steel.


and yes, in order for the bonnet to spear you, you'd need to be very rigid so it won't buckle... but that means it'd be thick, and also heavy... I suppose that's undesirable isn't it

Hows that for a civil engineer's nerd-out!