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Taking the Lid Off F1 Formula One Technical Analysis | |||
by Will Gray, England |
Atlas F1 presents a series of articles by certified engineer Will Gray, that investigates in greater depth all the technical areas involved in design, development, and construction of a Formula One car. This is the final episode in the series
The underbody airflow provides the car with a significant amount of downforce. The car will be designed before the start of the year, and the underbody and chassis will generally remain the same for the season. Nowadays, the teams may have a go at improving the diffuser for the middle of the season, but generally a change in that sort of area is seen as a major effort. However, cars are constantly being developed in other areas, and this section will look at different tricks used now, and in the past, to improve the car's aerodynamics.
Wings are the most important part of the developing aerodynamics - front and rear. Many teams use Computational Fluid Dynamics to develop wing assemblies, and then try the best ones in the tunnel. So it is here that our investigation will begin:
Front Wing:
The final part of the front wing assembly, and the part which tends to change most in design, is the endplate. The primary function of this is to stop the high pressure air on the top of the wing from being encouraged to roll over the end of the wing to the low pressure air beneath, thus reducing the effect of the wing. Additionally, they aim to discourage the dirty air created by the front tyre from getting under the floor. They do this by channeling the strong vortex from the wing using scoops and shaping, designed through tunnel testing. Further to these, some teams use 'splitters', which are vertical fences, attached to the undersurface of the front wing, to assist in the job of the endplates.
Rear wing:
For the wing to work best, it must be positioned in clean air. Obviously, this is difficult, as the air has seen most of the car before it gets to the wing, and the engine cover and cockpit sides provide a serious obstacle to this. In the initial design stage, the engine cover is designed to be as narrow, and the cockpit sides as low as possible. The cockpit area is structurally a roll cage, with a strong point ahead of the cockpit, and the roll hoop above and behind the driver's head. The large side cushions, for safety, are bulky, and create more frontal area on the car - so as frontal area is bad, designers want to make these as low as possible. With the car in side view, the cockpit sides must be a given distance below a line drawn between the front and rear roll structures. Investigations into reducing their size led to the discovery of a loophole: The much seen 'legality fins', first seen on the 1996 Williams car, mean the rules are satisfied without having high sides. Cheeky!
Other wings:
Barge Boards:
Suspension:
Aerodynamic development is often a thankless task. Days spent in the wind tunnel testing part after part in the hope of obtaining mere pounds of downforce can prove a tough job. Even when an improvement is made, it is rarely a notable step, and sometimes may even prove worse when put on the full size car! Less than one in ten parts obtain an improvement - the rest are merely worthy of a place in the dustbin! But if you don't try, you won't get, and the more cash available for aerodynamic advancement, the closer you'll be to that all important win!
Previous Parts in this Series: Parts 1 & 2 | Part 3 | Part 4A | Part 4B | Part 4C | Part 5A | Part 5B | Part 6A | Part 6B | Part 7A | Part 7B-1 | Part 7B-2 | Part 7C
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Will Gray | © 2000 Kaizar.Com, Incorporated. |
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