Aerodynamics of F1 car

[Mr. KC]

Hi everybody,

This is Chaitanya. I am doin my Masters in Industrial Engg. &

Technology. I had selected "DESIGN AND TESTING PROCESS OF F1 CAR" as

my topic for this semester in Problems in Industrial Technology. I am in a

dilema about how to start the project? Will any experienced car designers

guide me to complete my project successfully.

Please reply for this post.

I hav some queries about the design.

1. Design of the front & rear wing assembly.

2. Design of the Chassis.

3. Calculation of downforce & drag.

4. Factors that affect Aerodynamic efficiency.

5. Testing process of designed wing profiles to determine aerodynamic effieciency.

I am new to this field. I do not hav any knowledge about the CFD and CATIA.

Please help me.

[miqi23]

Alright then, if you are serious then consider some of the following.....

1 - Think before you do something!
2 - Be realistic
3 - Go back to your supervisor and tell him that this is too much...
4 - You guys are crazy by putting a whole project on the design of an F1 car....come on you are having a laugh.
5. Unless they have asked you to read on how the design process works... no way you can design a whole car your self.
6. In that case just start off by writing a PDS and move it on from there...

Hope this helps and good luck....in fact a silly answer to a silly question - Sorry.

[DaveKillens]

In the regime of aerodynamic discipline, I'm a layman. But all F1 teams invest heavily in their aero. They have wind tunnels, the major one full scale with a rolling bed to simulate the interaction between the car and road surface. They do serious science, with CFD comparing to real world wind tunnel results to validate and refine the CFD process. Since in racing they are driven by a shedule driven by the racing, the time from wind tunnel to actually being on the car is extremely short. For instance Renault state they indend to have updates each race.
Of course the entire car's areo package is relevant, since each component (front wing, rear wing, sidepods, etc) can also be treated in modular fashion, and each individual module is refined in itself. This is all in pursuit of the Holy grail, low drag with high downforce. Anyone can crank out high downforce devices, but in F1, low drag relative to downforce is paramount.
I suggest you check each individual manufacturer's web site, they give out interesting information, and give better insight on how they design and build their cars.

http://www.renaultf1.com/en/
http://www.mclaren.co.uk/
http://www.bmw-sauber-f1.com/en/
http://www.toyota-f1.com/public/en/index_e.html
http://www.hondaracingf1.com//lang_select.php

Good luck and I wish you success.

[Apex]

These may help...

But each is a masters:
Study of a front wing
The design of a rear wing

http://public.cranfield.ac.uk/me/me028/ ... Thesis.htm

Well hope this helps put things in perspective