F1technical.net

How flexible are the rules around the fairing/brake duct on the inside of the front wheels??
The front wheel wake is something that has no direct way of effecting it. Things like front wing end plates, barge boards and the turning vanes have indirect effect on it. (correct me if i am wrong please)
Could you extend the faring in the inside of the front wheel backwards and curve it round to the back of the wheel slightly to help direct some air round the back of the front wheel?

The rules are not flexible at all.
If some part sticks out of the legal box, the car gets banned for the race.
You can check the rules on the FIA homepage.
And to answer your question, it is not allowed to have some parts behind the wheels.

yep found the rule..
11.4 Air ducts :
Air ducts around the front and rear brakes will be considered part of the braking system and shall not protrude beyond :
- A plane parallel to the ground situated at a distance of 160mm above the horizontal centre line of the wheel.
- A plane parallel to the ground situated at a distance of 160mm below the horizontal centre line of the wheel.
- A vertical plane parallel to the inner face of the wheel rim and displaced from it by 120mm toward the car centre line.
Furthermore :
- When viewed from the side the ducts must not protrude forwards beyond a radius of 330mm from the centre of the wheel or backwards beyond a radius of 180mm from the centre of the wheel.
- The ducts may not rotate with the wheels nor may they, or any of their mountings, protrude axially beyond the outer face of the wheel fastener.
- No part of the car, other than those specifically defined in Articles 12.8.1 and 12.8.2, may obscure any part of the wheel when viewed from the outside of the car towards the car centre line along the axis of the wheel.
All measurements will be made with the wheel held in a vertical position.
The way i read that there is noting allowed backwards past the wheel rim. thought i was on to something then..

Visualized, this looks like this, with the yellow box being the area wherein any kind of bodywork is permitted.



The left is a look onto the wheel, from the centreline of the car, with the front wing virtually on the left. So indeed, no bodywork allowed behind the trailing edge of the wheel rims.

So something like this would not be outside the regulations but obviously a bit more thought needs to go in to the shape and how it fits round the suspension.
I guess my idea behind this is similar to how i think the strakes(?) on the diffuser help to turn the air from under the car in to the wake of the rear wheels as there is more room for the air to expand and be pulled out from under the diffuser pulling the rear if the car down.
These ducts/faring would help pull air from under the front wing bake to the wake behind the front wheel.
does this sound like a crazy idea or possible.

Yes, some teams have been using similar to what you have drawn.

etsmc wrote:[...]

These ducts/faring would help pull air from under the front wing bake to the wake behind the front wheel.
does this sound like a crazy idea or possible.

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/854/topmc.jpg/
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/138/rearyp.jpg/

I think the latest trend is to use airflow that results from the wheel's rotation to cool the brakes in such a way that traditional ducts can be eliminated altogether.

FW34


The Fluid Dynamics of Formula 1 Wheels

I have often wondered why they dont reverse the air flow and use the wheel to force air from the outside and aim it at the splitter.
This probably doesnt take into account the need to warm up the tyres with the brake air flow through the wheel though.
It might reduce tyre wear.

Why would you want very slow and hot air going towards the splitter?

The title of this forum got me thinking, is there any benefit, scope, reason, or is it even legal to use the same kind of 'ducts' that most teams use with the rear, I.e. with the mini winglets? Just curious really.

Teams put flow conditioners on front brake ducts.


(via Scarbs)


(via PlanetF1)

bhallg2k wrote:Teams put flow conditioners on front brake ducts.

http://scarbsf1.files.wordpress.com/2011/07/stbd-1.jpg
(via Scarbs)

http://images.planetf1.com/13/01/800x60 ... 893484.jpg
(via PlanetF1)

they seem to be sort of what i was thinking.
Do you think something with a more aggressive curve to direct the flow behind the wheel would cause more drag than its worth?

To the best of my knowledge, which isn't saying much, teams use other devices to redirect front wheel wake. Things like these:



Otherwise, I think the idea is to keep the area between the front wheels and the chassis as clear as possible to allow for that much less drag and that much more airflow to the rear of the car. That's why we've seen Williams and others move toward ductless front brakes.

hollus wrote:Why would you want very slow and hot air going towards the splitter?

Not to the splitter but to behind the front wing to increase front wing downforce under braking.

bhallg2k wrote:To the best of my knowledge, which isn't saying much, teams use other devices to redirect front wheel wake. Things like these:

http://i.imgur.com/0KGyS95.jpg

Otherwise, I think the idea is to keep the area between the front wheels and the chassis as clear as possible to allow for that much less drag and that much more airflow to the rear of the car. That's why we've seen Williams and others move toward ductless front brakes.

i thought the turning vanes under the nose were to help with the flow under the nose and turning it to the sidepods.