Deflection of Formula One Race Car Rear Wing using Numerical Simulations

Abstract

Formula One is a track-based aerodynamic race between teams. In the design of motorsport cars, aerodynamics is crucial. When compared to the other race cars on the grid, the race car with the best aerodynamic performance performs well on the track and has a good lap time. The design of rear wing has significant influence on the performance of a race car as much of the downforce is provided by rear wing. Using structural and computational models, this paper tries to link the static and dynamic performance of a Formula 1 race car rear wing due to its deflection. Solidworks is used to design a rear wing model of an F-1 car, which is then transferred to Ansys. A speed of 300 kmph is considerd for the study as speed of F-1 cars range from 280 – 340 kmph on Straights. To determine the aerodynamic loadings on the model at 300 kmph, a fluid simulation is run in fluent. Turbulence model of Transition K- Kl- Omega was used. To determine deflection owing to the aerodynamic loads calculated, a structural analysis is performed in Ansys Static Structural. From structural analysis it is evident that deflection exists. Further computational simulations of deflected models about its center of gravity are performed to compare the effects of aeroelasticity of a race car’s rear wing. It is evident from the simulations that a 2 deflection in the wing resulted in a 3 % decrease in drag and a 4 % decrease in downforce which gives a higher performance gain in case of high-speed race cars.