Lotus E20 VD

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hardingfv32
hardingfv32
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Re: Lotus E20 VD

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bhallg2k wrote:Don't confuse the fact that the wing is not being stalled with the idea that the system is in place to keep air flow attached.
Please expand. Is it not being proposed that the system, when on, does not stall the RW?

Again: What is the basic step strategy for this system? With the system off, the RW wing be stalled and switching the system on eliminates the stall?

Brian

gato azul
gato azul
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Joined: 02 Feb 2012, 14:39

Re: Lotus E20 VD

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amc wrote: Reducing lift by 13% doesn’t seem to be enough for a true stall.
If I have seen further than others it is by standing on their shoulders... so apologies if it hurt too much.
I think we again get hung up too much on the term "stall", and what it means for different people. (stall, semi stall, true stall, deep stall etc. etc.)
Is it used to describe a condition of reduced lift/downforce (Cl), a regime past the max.Cl the wing or element of a wing can produce or do we use it to describe a condition of flow separation on the underside (in race car terms) or low pressure side of the wing or it's elements.

Reducing lift/downforce in whatever way will reduce the induced drag, that is and was my point and this will be beneficial for straight line speed/performance, how people chose to call this condition is up to them, and may varies from one user/forumer to the next .

As to how, to do it, and how to visualize this for oneself, well I think their are different ways to do so, and different people may prefer different terminology (a different picture before their minds eye).

One way would be to think in terms of "circulation" around the wing. (a concept used in 2D lift theory)
What if we create different amounts of "circulation" around the span ( less/slower circulation in the center part for example).

If you got the analogy of the rotating cylinder (and I'm sure you did), which I chose to illustrate a system, which independent of his form (no change in angle of attack etc.) is able to create different amounts of lift/downforce, then mind about a cylinder which would have different rotational speeds along it's span, and what this would mean for the overall lift & drag values produced by it.
The center section could either not rotate, rotate slower or rotate backwards compared to the outer sections, what would this do to lift and drag?

I don't know, what you wanted to say with your last sentence??
If it was aimed at me then be assured that you don't hurt my feelings whatsoever with your posts, and I'm quite open to any form of sensible technical debate, where people propose different concepts.

On a more general note:
I think we (some of us) may use the term "stalling the wing" a bit too liberal/literally.
As far as I'm concerned the aim even with the original F-duct was never to "stall the wing" (as in the complete system).
As far as I can tell, the aim was to "stall" the flap of the rear wing, and thereby it's contribution to the overall downforce and drag produced by the complete wing.
IMO, the F-duct was an attempt to replicate the effect of an closing slot gap (at speed), something which was used before, but got outlawed by the FIA.
To understand the effect of a stalled flap, one has to think about how the whole rear wing as a unit creates his lift/downforce, and what the contributions of the individual elements are, and how the interact which each other.

IMO, "stalling" the flap or parts of the flap (VD wing) does not necessary lead to flow separation on the trailing edge of the main element. (it may does, but it does not need to be that way). Thereby speaking of "stalling the wing" (as in the complete unit) is maybe a bit of a misnomer.
And even if the flow separates at the leading edge of the main plane (as in the example wing @ >48°), the wing still produces some downforce via it's top side (high pressure side).

How much "downforce/lift" contributes the flap in itself to the overall system, and how much does he, with his own pressure distribution, manipulate the pressure distribution of the main plane.
Let's remember in this context that the terms lift/downforce and drag are arbitrarily-defined components of the net aerodynamic force vector either perpendicular to the ground/freestream [lift/downforce] or horizontal to them [drag].

hardingfv32
hardingfv32
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Joined: 03 Apr 2011, 19:42

Re: Lotus E20 VD

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So then, no more use of the term 'stall'. With regard to what has been proposed in the last few pages:

1) What is the basic step strategy for this system? The RW produces more down-force when the system system is on.

2) Could the system be forming a vortex that reattaches the flow to the bottom of the wing?

3) Would it be correct to assume the system is off (not blowing) on the straights?

Brian

bhall
bhall
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Joined: 28 Feb 2006, 21:26

Re: Lotus E20 VD

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1. To improve lap time by making the car faster.
2. Yes. Then again, it could also be a soda dispenser.
3. It would be correct to assume that the system works when it's supposed to work if it's actually works when it's working.

Normally, such an answer is just me being a shithead for the sake of being a shithead, and I'd be the first person to admit that. But, in this case, Brian, you clearly haven't read the extensive explanations already put forth on this system. Otherwise, I don't think you could ask those questions.

Don't get hung up on the word "stall." The system does not stall the wing; it merely reduces its ability to create lift (downforce). Therefore, by definition, the system reduces drag accordingly.

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hollus
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Re: Lotus E20 VD

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Brian, are you seriously not trolling?

Answers to your questions:

1) Yes, exactly like that. Or maybe the other way around.

2) Yes, like that, or maybe in a completely different way.

3) Yes, like that, or the other way around.

We just don't know, and the system could conceivably be designed either way. You can make it high downforce when not blown and less downforce when blown, or exactly the other way around. And the differences in design are minimal (like the angle at which it is blown). As long as we don't know in which state (or states) the slits blow, and in which direction, it could be either way.

Now, please, stop asking for answers and postulating, sit back, relax, wait for more hard data (Spa?), and enjoy the speculation.
Rivals, not enemies.

bhall
bhall
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Re: Lotus E20 VD

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All of those thing are true, too. We don't really know anything. These are just our best guesses thus far.

I have a feeling the Lotus system will look different in Spa. I also have a feeling Lotus won't be alone in fielding such a system in Spa.

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N12ck
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Re: Lotus E20 VD

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Evolution of speculation:

DRS Activated F duct >DRS deactivated downforce generator >DRS coupled with F duct > automatic F Duct >Downforce generator

someones gotta be right?! :lol:
Budding F1 Engineer

hardingfv32
hardingfv32
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Joined: 03 Apr 2011, 19:42

Re: Lotus E20 VD

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hollus wrote:Brian, are you seriously not trolling?
What about my questions was trolling? They are valid questions and well related to the current conversation. I think that there are enough visual clues to form a good understanding of the system if they are interpreted in the proper aerodynamic light. I am still interested in learning how the system works.

Brian

hardingfv32
hardingfv32
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Joined: 03 Apr 2011, 19:42

Re: Lotus E20 VD

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Is it logical to assume that adding the pylon/strut to the lower surface of the wing reduces wing performance?

Could this part of the system be about 'wing-body junction flow'? Could the slots in the pylon/strut be an attempt to control the vortices produced by an 'intentionally' poor wing-pylon/strut design?

http://people.tuke.sk/peter.gasparovic/ ... illets.pdf

Brian

superdread
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Re: Lotus E20 VD

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hardingfv32 wrote:Is it logical to assume that adding the pylon/strut to the lower surface of the wing reduces wing performance?

Could this part of the system be about 'wing-body junction flow'? Could the slots in the pylon/strut be an attempt to control the vortices produced by an 'intentionally' poor wing-pylon/strut design?

http://people.tuke.sk/peter.gasparovic/ ... illets.pdf

Brian
The vortices, as described in the first graphic of the paper, would surely appear on the pylon. But with the fence right behind the it, the air stream could be reattached and "laminarized" quite quickly. I don't think the junction design is intentionally bad to produce vortices (they are heavily speed-dependent and the paper is at airplane speeds, even there, when scaling the graphics to the Lotus system, the wake would be small).

Blowing air through the slots would only increase the size of the vortices, what, after all, could be the intend.

Image

To go back to the beginning (rather the middle) of this discussion:

The flow next to the wake is completely straight, so the flow is not pushed aside (as would if the slots were blown to increase mass flow and pressure).

Additionally at the middle ridge the flow-vis has swept outwards, suggesting, that the wake is of rather low static pressure (so it sucked the paint out of the area at the fence where flow is slower (it's next to two surfaces, so more friction))

hardingfv32
hardingfv32
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Re: Lotus E20 VD

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This is the Mercedes take on the Lotus duct. Note how it is not attached to the bottom of the wing and how the flow is aimed at the wing. Does this give us any hints into what both teams might be trying to accomplish?

Could the Mercedes system be routing the low pressure from under the wing to another part of the car?

Could this have something to do with keeping the engine intake plenum in tune over a broader range?

Brian

Image

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PlatinumZealot
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Re: Lotus E20 VD

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Hey, the Lotus wing is very difficult to "adjust" to get a decent result for me in the CFD. How I have it now it the flow from the slots is still not making good coverage to the underside of the rear wing in the Delta shape due to how I position the ducts.

However the results still point to the Ducts producing about 20% more down-force and about 16% more drag over a normal wing. Granted I have not fine-tuned the model to how I want - I only have one slot where Lotus have two, but I definitively think these wings are Blown wings. Basically reshaped passive F-ducts. Same exact blown wing principle. At least this is what I can say when DRS is off.
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hardingfv32
hardingfv32
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Re: Lotus E20 VD

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n smikle wrote:However the results still point to the Ducts producing about 20% more down-force and about 16% more drag over a normal wing. Granted I have not fine-tuned the model to how I want - I only have one slot where Lotus have two, but I definitively think these wings are Blown wings. Basically reshaped passive F-ducts. Same exact blown wing principle. At least this is what I can say when DRS is off.
I do not understand your statement. '20% more down-force and about 16% more drag', I assume this is when flow is coming out the slot. I though the original F-ducts were about down-force and, most importantly, drag reduction.

Brian

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PlatinumZealot
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Re: Lotus E20 VD

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The F-duct were blown wings that could be stalled by the driver by cutting off the flow, if I am correct. My theory is that the Lotus VD is a blown wing that is could be i)always on or ii) stalls passively... either way it is a down-force producing wing.
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superdread
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Re: Lotus E20 VD

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I don't think we can rule out that the slots stall the airflow under the rear wing. Is your wing model without the VD anywhere near its stalling point? Further, the sculpted endplates and ridge along the middle of the wing, might influence it as well.
Alternatively you could simulate it at un-F1 speeds and unrealistic duct pressures, just to see if the wing stalls at any point and Lotus might just have found a way of moving it in an area reachable by their car.