Hermax F1 Schools Project

[Hermax]

hello there.I need some help on this dihedral angle and how it affects the windflow.which one do you think is the best ?

Often times the shapes used by F1 designers have nothing to do with what is ultimately most effective, but rather with what is best way to exploit what is permitted by rules.
For example the front wing shape with central "spoon" which was common between 2001-2008 was because only in the center section the wing could be lowered close to the track surface.
And in all cases the wing must be looked onto as part of the whole bodywork. The shape of the frontwing is chosen so that it provides flow to the parts behind it and rear wing must work with the flow it gets from what is in front of it.

thanks

[Hermax]

Note also that gullwings are primarily to provide clearance for other wing mounted things, as opposed to being specifically for aerodynamic benefit. The example shown above is often used by seaplanes to elevate the engines above the salty mist of seawater. The F4U Corsair used an upside down version of that to elevate the engine further up above it's landing gear so the propeller had adequate ground clearance without using excessively long landing gear struts. Long struts being bad because longer things tend to be easier to buckle.

will it like decrease the drag value ?

[Hermax]

dihedral i is used to maintain stability on aircraft that need to bank to turn. It has no use on a car that only drives in a strait line. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dihedral_(aircraft)

This.

This has more to do with flight dynamics than wing proformance.

For your car, straight section wings always.

Even on F1, almost everytime main wing elements deviate from rectangular the design was mandated by the rules to reduce wing efficiency.

but will the angle of lifting up the wings imply any changes ?

[rjsa]

The bigger the angle, the bigger the upright position restoring moment:

http://demonstrations.wolfram.com/Dihed ... aftFlight/
On the other hand, when the lift vectors start to point at each other, you are just wasting lift.

[Hermax]

hi there, i will be competing in F1inSschools competition this year.So I am trying to put in a huge effort to do the best I can. i am looking for tips on aerodynamics and i thought that if I post a few pics of our car on this forum someone might be able to give me a few pointers on improving my cars performance.

The program involves us designing, making, testing, racing and analysing our car the cars are only <210mm long and have a minimum weight of 55g. Check out the full rules here : http://www.f1inschools.co.uk/uploads/me ... 1_1852.pdf

Here is a few pics of my car :

http://i1279.photobucket.com/albums/y53 ... 0523fb.jpg
http://i1279.photobucket.com/albums/y53 ... aed53f.jpg
http://i1279.photobucket.com/albums/y53 ... f0b430.jpg
http://i1279.photobucket.com/albums/y53 ... 38e376.jpg
http://i1279.photobucket.com/albums/y53 ... cd24e6.jpg
http://i1279.photobucket.com/albums/y53 ... d51916.jpg

Give me some comments!
Thanks!
Avi

[VectorOne]

Check the rules over carefully, This year they reduced the weight limit of the cars to 52g, along with some other major rule changes. Are you attending the World Finals in Austin TX this year?

-Daniel
VectorOne Canada

[Hermax]

Check the rules over carefully, This year they reduced the weight limit of the cars to 52g, along with some other major rule changes. Are you attending the World Finals in Austin TX this year?

-Daniel
VectorOne Canada

no.im competing for regional finals in malaysia

[VectorOne]

Ah ok, First check that your car meets every single regulation, The worst thing you can do is lose points because your car isnt to specs. Ive noticed that your front airfoil may be too thin, I would check that regulation. Also have you run any wind tunnel tests on your car? What was your drag coeffeicent? What kind of bearings are you using in your car? Your front airfoil lets too much air through, you want to try and deflect that around/or above the wheels.... If you can post a picture of your car running a wind tunnel simulation, that would help us find spots for improvement.... Also Good Luck at regionals!

-Daniel
VectorOne Canada

[Hermax]

Ah ok, First check that your car meets every single regulation, The worst thing you can do is lose points because your car isnt to specs. Ive noticed that your front airfoil may be too thin, I would check that regulation. Also have you run any wind tunnel tests on your car? What was your drag coeffeicent? What kind of bearings are you using in your car? Your front airfoil lets too much air through, you want to try and deflect that around/or above the wheels.... If you can post a picture of your car running a wind tunnel simulation, that would help us find spots for improvement.... Also Good Luck at regionals!

-Daniel
VectorOne Canada

Thanks okay i've made several changes. i've tested the car in the Project Falcon VWT and the drag is 1.30N.
Im using Full Ceramic bearings which my seniors suggested me.and why do you think letting too much air below the wheels is not a good idea ?

[flynfrog]

Why do you have a diffuser and a DF producing wing? You really need to go back to step one and define the problem properly before you start finding solutions.

[VectorOne]

Ceramic Bearings work well for this competition, and your wheels will cause alot of drag on your car, deflecting as much air as possible around these wheels will be benifictial. Take a look at front foils on a real F1 car, most of them deflect air around/over the wheels as well as cause downforce. Would you mind posting new pictures of your car? Also take flynfrog's advice, look for problem area's in your car before getting ahead of yourself to try and fix them

-Daniel
VectorOne Canada