An improved active drag reduction system for formula race cars

Abstract

Drag reduction systems are largely employed in racing car competitions to help drivers in overtaking manoeuvres, ensuring a good show to the public. This paper presents a full-design approach to drag reduction systems that includes the computational fluid dynamics estimation of the forces acting on the rear wing, the dynamic analysis of the drag reduction system mechanism and the whole vehicle behaviour through the simulation of an overtaking manoeuvre. For the purposes of this work, a novel drag reduction system mechanism is proposed that features lower aerodynamic disturbance and comparable manufacturing costs than those of drag reduction systems of the main Formula categories.