Active aero

[OO7]

Hi Guys,
I'm an engineer and an automotive enthusiast from Italy.
I made a concept about an active aero device for race cars and I would like to know what you guys think about this.
The idea is centred about one or more vertical wings mounted on a vehicle which can produce lateral forces (left and right) over the center of gravity of the car. The force generated whilst cornering counterbalances part of the inertia force of the vehicle and reduces the total rolling moment.
With 2 vertical wings it is possible also to generate drag whilst braking and reduce the longitudinal load transfer.
The core of the idea is the controlling of the angle of attack of the vertical wing to keep the aerodynamic force always proportional to the inertia force of the vehicle.
How can I post some pictures or a presentation in PDF of my concept, can you help me?

Like a rudder but about the cars c of g for lateral control, rather than yaw control?

[federicobernabei]

Yes and no,
a rudder stabilize the yaw moment, and I want to stabilize the roll moment.
How can I post pictures on this forum???
Thanks

[OO7]

Yes and no,
a rudder stabilize the yaw moment, and I want to stabilize the roll moment.
How can I post pictures on this forum???
Thanks

Okay, so you don't mean sideways as the following video shows, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1i1VeByog4k you specifically mean roll motion?

To post an image, paste the image link between the following tags:

[federicobernabei]

The video on the link is about the "Tiny Car Changes", my concept doesn't have anything to do with that.
I made some JPG or PDF files about the concept, how can I post them on this wall?
Thanks

[OO7]

The video on the link is about the "Tiny Car Changes", my concept doesn't have anything to do with that.
I made some JPG or PDF files about the concept, how can I post them on this wall?
Thanks

At the beginning of the video you can see the car moving sideways. I was wondering if your aerofoil concept would create a similar force (a sideways force as shown in the video) or a rolling force (like an aeroplane banks left and right)?

To post images copy the link into the subject box, highlight the link and then select the 'Img' button from the subject menu, or select the 'Img' button and copy the link between the tags.

[bhall II]

The idea is centred about one or more vertical wings mounted on a vehicle which can produce lateral forces (left and right) over the center of gravity of the car.

Something a bit like this?

[federicobernabei]

I have finaly found the way to post picture on the forum.
So this in my concept:

[turbof1]

Awesome stuff =D>

[bhall II]

So this in my concept:

[...]

Wouldn't that reduce loading on the outside wheels, thereby reducing mechanical grip and/or lateral acceleration?

EDIT: I just realized that probably doesn't make any sense.

[trinidefender]

So this in my concept:

[...]

Wouldn't that reduce loading on the outside wheels, thereby reducing mechanical grip and/or lateral acceleration?

These vertical adjustable fins will also be providing and a force toward the inside of the corner resulting in a reduction of the centrifugal force on the car.

In addition because the car will have a lower tendency to roll then softer spring and damper rates can be used further increasing available mechanical grip.

I quite like this idea.

[bhall II]

Hence, my edit.

For whatever reason, my initial impression was informed by a bizarre take on load transfer. My brain does that sometimes - but not often.

[NOT A TA]

Has there been any consideration of the affect natural winds would have? I would imagine trying to compensate for shifting natural winds while the vehicle is changing directions might be complicated.

I'm reminded of nylon material wheel discs we tried using on BMX bicycles to reduce drag back in the 80's. Seemed to work OK indoor but at the first race I tried it at outside a cross breeze blew the rear of my bike sideways while jumping the first set of doubles which made for a very scary landing. I immediately removed the disc and never tried it outside again.

[ChrisDanger]

Would this be completely illegal in F1?

Sorry bit of a shameless plug.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1Zqv5-AaX4

It would be interesting to see how much lift and drag coefficients are changed by this.

[federicobernabei]

Exactly, the rolling moment can be reduced, so you can use a little bit softer springs, have less load transfer than more homogeneous vertical forces on the 4 wheels and a better usage of the tyres.
The controlling of the angles of attack is a little bit more complicated (I prefer not to share it for the moment), what you see in the presentation is just to give an idea of the functioning.
If needed it is possible to implement a controlling that also counteract the side wind.

The problem of this idea are the fields of application:
- is not good for RC-cars (too slow), so it is useless trying to build a cheap RC-car small prototype.
- is not good for Formula Student cars (also too slow)
- is not good for street legal cars (for many reasons..)
- is not good for race cars (moveble wings are not allowed in competitions)

The only good field of application is for a track day car.

In any case I would like to find someone willing to build a prototype of this device.
Do you have guys any idea??

[Andres125sx]

- is not good for RC-cars (too slow), so it is useless trying to build a cheap RC-car small prototype.

RC cars can be very fast, it all depend on the setup you choose

For example:


What speed would you need to check the system? There are RC car going over 300km/h, I´m sure you need a lot less than that, so no need for special setups wich requires special knownledge in the specific field, just a powerful standard setup