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Abstract
Aerodynamics plays a very important role in motorsports. Car manufacturers around the world have been fascinated and
influenced by the various aerodynamic improvements that are used in racing. There has been a constant effort on their side to
incorporate these changes to road vehicles not just as an aesthetic design feature but also since they believe that these features
can contribute to improving fuel economy and vehicle handling. One of the main areas of concern in racing is to balance
aerodynamic forces and to streamline the air flow across the body towards improving stability and handling characteristics,
especially, while cornering. At present, formula racing cars are regulated by stringent FIA norms, there is a constraint for the
dimensions of the vehicle used, engine capacity, power output and emission. It is difficult to obtain the optimum aerodynamic
performance with the existing racing car. There is a need for improvement in the aerodynamic performance of these race cars
by using add-on devices locally with different configurations to streamline and channelize the airflow besides reducing
aerodynamic forces and providing stability that improves cornering and handling characteristics.
In this project work, an attempt has been made to improve the aerodynamic performance of F1 race car by using various
add-on devices with different configurations through steady state CFD simulations. Initially, steady state external air flow
simulation on the baseline model F-1 car without add-on devices has been carried out to obtain air flow pattern around and
for aerodynamic forces using FLUENT solver. A detailed survey on different add-on devices used for racing applications has
been made and geometric models of some add-on devices like front wing, bargeboard, nose wing, rear wheel scallops, roof
spoiler and rear wing with best possible configurations were created and attached to the baseline model. Steady state CFD
simulation on the modified F1 race car with add-on devices has been carried out for different speeds. Aerodynamic
performances like lift force, drag force and their co-efficients are evaluated for different configurations of add-on devices for
different speeds
From parametric CFD simulations on F-1 car attached with add-on devices, there is a considerable amount of drag and
lift force reduction besides streamlining the airflow across the car. The best possible configuration for all add-on devices, i.e.
front and rear wings, nose wing, barge board, roof spoiler and wheel scallops, are derived from CFD simulations. The
combination of all these add-on devices with the most appropriate configurations is suggested to incorporate for F1 race car
to improve aerodynamic performance..
Key Words: F-1 Car, Steady State Aerodynamic Analysis, Wings, Add-on Devices, Drag Reduction
1. INTRODUCTION
A Formula-1 car has many add-on devices that aim at
reducing the lift and drag forces on the car and there-by
reducing the lap times. But, the lift and drag forces are
inversely proportional to each other. Often one tends to
ignore the fact that the combination of the right
configuration of all the add-on devices is what contributes to
the reduced lap times and not just the design of the
individual add-on devices. For example, the lift reduction
achieved by an add-on device, say the front wing, comes at
the cost of higher area being exposed the air leading to an
increase in the drag force, but, the additional downforce is
essential for F1 cars as the high speed requires huge amount
of traction to improve its stability, especially at corners to
allow high cornering speed. In race cars, especially the open
wheel types like the ones used in Formula-1, the add-on
devices play a major role in the lap timings and ultimately is
the difference between the best and the rest. The design of
TECH Journal
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SASTECH Journal
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Location
Construction
Displacement
2,997cc, V10
Valve
Aspiration
Naturally Aspirated
Fuel feed
600 kg
Length
4545 mm
Width
1796 mm
SASTECH Journal
Height
959 mm
1470mm
1405 mm
Wheel base
3100mm
Overall length
4545mm
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Solver type
velocity
absolute
flow
steady
viscosity model
Turbulent (K-epsilon)
Boundary Conditions
Car body
Add-on devices
Domain Inlet
Velocity Inlet
Domain outlet
Pressure outlet
Wheels
Domain bottom wall
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3.2 Results
The baseline model of the F1 car is simulated and the
results are as tabulated in table 5.
car body and regions of low velocity just behind the car
(wake region), which is considerably large.
Drag
Force
Cd
Lift
Force
Cl
150
1215.49
0.7866
439.74
0.2846
200
2158.84
0.7865
766.80
0.2826
250
3375.14
0.7865
1207.39
0.2814
300
4860.24
0.7865
1732.39
0.2803
350
6613.07
0.7862
2363.45
0.2810
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Car
Speed
Drag
Force (N)
Cd
Downforc
e (N)
Cl
150
1353.72
0.7814
346.63
-0.200
200
2404.78
0.7808
620.95
-0.201
250
3754.96
0.7805
976.01
-0.202
300
5407.41
0.7806
1413.07
-0.203
350
7357.34
0.7802
1929.99
-0.204
Fig. 19 Graph showing variation of drag coefficient for the different models
Baseline
Wings
only
All addons
Drag Force
(N)
Cd
Downforce
(N)
Cl
2158.85
-0.7859
766.81
0.2791
2571.81
-0.8406
-798.77
-0.2611
2404.78
-0.7809
-620.95
-0.2016
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different configurations
simulations.
through
steady
state
CFD
L/DRatio
Baselinemodel
0.355
Modelwith
wingsattached
0.310
Modelwith
alladdons
0.258
6. REFERENCES
[1] McKay, Noah J, 2002. The Effect of Wing
Aerodynamics
on
Race
Vehicle
Performance. SAE Publications
[2] Gregor Seljak, 2008. Race Car Aerodynamics.
[3] 2011 FIA Regulations
[4] Katz, Joseph and Garcia, Darwin, 2002.
Aerodynamic Effects of Indy car components.
SAE Publications
[5] Selig, Michael S and Maughmert, Mark D, 1992.
Generalized Multipoint Inverse Airfoil Design
AIAA Journal, Vol. 30.
[6] Ashok Gopalarathnam et al, 1997. Design of
High Lift Airfoils For Low Aspect Ratio Wings
With Endplates AIAA Journal
[7] BMW Sauber F1.07 Development: Analysis &
Drawings.
2012. BMW
Sauber
F1.07
Development: Analysis & Drawings. [ONLINE]
Available
at:
http://www.f1network.net/main/s491/st122735.ht
m?print=1.
[8] Johansson, Magnus O and Katz, Joseph, 2002.
Lateral Aerodynamics of a Generic Sprint Car
Configuration SAE Publications
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