Well the nose cone does have safety and aerodynamic reasons. Though it was first developed as an aerodynamic device....only later at the begining of the 90's people started paying attention to the safety aspect of the cars.
Ao aerodynamicly the nose cone kind of dictates how the air will flow around, under and over the car....the space between the nose and the front wing will dictate how much air will go to the underbody (which with the help of the diffuser will produce downforce) of the car...and with the help of the bargeboards the amout of air going into the radiatores (part of the air that goes under the nose is diverted into the radiatores).
for safety reasons the nose cone is a crush-"able" structure....which will be crushed in the case of an accident, and they way it "folds" on impact is dictated by the FIA technical regulations.
16.2 Frontal test :
All parts which could materially affect the outcome of the test must be fitted to the test structure which must
be solidly fixed to the trolley through its engine mounting points but not in such a way as to increase its
impact resistance.
The fuel tank must be fitted and must be full of water.
A dummy weighing at least 75kg must be fitted with safety belts described in Article 14.4 fastened.
However, with the safety belts unfastened, the dummy must be able to move forwards freely in the cockpit.
The extinguishers, as described in Article 14.1 must also be fitted.
For the purposes of this test, the total weight of the trolley and test structure shall be 780kg and the
velocity of impact 14.0 metres/sec.
The resistance of the test structure must be such that during the impact :
- the average deceleration over the first 150mm of deformation does not exceed 5g ;
- the average deceleration of the trolley does not exceed 40g ;
- the peak deceleration in the chest of the dummy does not exceed 60g for more than a cumulative
3ms, this being the resultant of data from three axes.
Furthermore, there must be no damage to the survival cell or to the mountings of the safety belts or fire
extinguishers.
This is only part of the nose cone safety regulations there is also a push-off test, and a few design regulations that prevent the nose cone from being pointy (in order to prevent monocoque penetration in case of a T-bone accident)
The nose cone is usually made from composites usually carbon but some teams do also use kevlar (aramid), with a aluminum honeycomb filling.
Sorry for the long post....this is a fast and simple way of explaining the nose cone....if someone has something else to add...or if you did not understand anything I mentioned....do ask! (Welcome to the forum)
