A P P L I C A T I O N B R I E F S
EX166
Formula 1 External Aerodynamics
In this example, FLUENT 5 is used to study the flow around a model of the Red Bull Sauber C-20
Formula One (F-1) racing car in high speed, high downforce conditions. Pressure coefficients,
computed at two locations on the rear wing and flap, are in very good agreement with experimental
measurements. Other results are helpful in understanding the interaction between the many complex
components of the car.
The flow around a model of the
Red Bull Sauber C-20 Formula
One (F-1) racing car (Figure 1) is
studied in this example. Modern
F-1 cars are capable of reaching
speeds in excess of 350 km/hr.
Cornering in these conditions is
possible because of the large
negative lift, or downforce, gener-
ated primarily by wing structures
at the front and rear of the vehicle.
When combined with wind tunnel
tests, CFD can be used to under-
stand the effect that these wings
have on the vehicle aerodynamics.
To explore the complex flow
around the F-1, a half-car model
of the Red Bull Sauber C-20 was
simulated. An unstructured
hybrid mesh was used for the
turbulent, 3D, steady-state
simulation. A free stream velocity
of 69.44 m/s (250 km/hr) was set
at the inlet boundary of the
solution domain, as were
turbulence quantities based on
local turbulence intensity and
length scale. The Spalart-
Allmaras turbulence model was
used to facilitate closure of the
Navier-Stokes equations. This
one-equation turbulence model
performs well in the prediction of
attached and separated flows,
Copyright © 2002 Fluent Inc.
F R O M F L U E N T
Figure 1: A model of the
Red Bull Sauber C-20
Formula One racing car
typical of those in the vicinity of
the front and rear wings of the car.
The model is also capable of
resolving the salient features of
the exterior and interior flow
fields. To complete the simulation
of the car motion, the ground
plane was given a velocity equal
to the free stream velocity, and the
tires were assigned a corres-
ponding rotational speed.
Figure 2: The surface mesh in the cockpit area
Development of the CFD model
began with a geometry file,
created by the CAD package
CATIA. ANSA was then used to
create a triangular surface mesh.
This mesh was imported into
TGrid, where a hybrid mesh of
approximately 20 million
prismatic and tetrahedral elements
was created. The surface mesh on
the driver's helmet and cockpit
area is shown in Figure 2. The
lower rear mainplane (wing) mesh
is shown in gray in Figure 3. In
this figure, a planar surface with a
quadrilateral mesh, used to
generate layers of prismatic
elements, is shown in red.
Pressure contours on the surface
of the car in Figure 4 show high
pressure regions (red) at the upper
surfaces of the front and rear
Figure 3: The surface mesh in the rear wing area,
showing a planar surface of quadrilateral faces,
used to create prism layers
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Figure 4: Contours of static pressure
on the surface components
wings, indicative of the strong
downforce generated by these
components. Low pressure
regions (green) indicate areas
where the air velocity is highest.
Path lines around the car body are
shown in Figure 5. Of interest is
the interaction between the front
wing and wheels. The degree of
upwash generated by the front
wing is also important. The up-
wash can have a deleterious effect
on the cooling system and can
compromise the aerodynamic
behavior of some components
immediately downstream of the
wing. At the rear of the car, a
strong upward motion of air is in
evidence, along with a pair of
large, counter-rotating vortices.
These effects are the result of the
downforce produced by the car
underbody and rear wing,
respectively.
The upper rear wing of the
vehicle consists of two compo-
nents: the mainplane wing, and a
flap. These are designed to
generate a strong downforce at
high speeds. To illustrate the
Copyright © 2002 Fluent Inc.
Figure 5: Path lines around the vehicle
effectiveness of these compo-
nents, the pressure coefficient, C p,
is plotted against the normalized
chordwise position, x/c in Figures
6 and 7. In both cases, the
FLUENT predictions are
compared to wind tunnel test data.
In Figure 6, the results correspond
to a position that is 100 m to the
side of the vehicle centerline.
There is very good agreement
between the predicted pressures
and the experimental
measurements for both the
mainplane and flap.
In Figure 7, Cp is again plotted
against the normalized chordwise
position, only the results corres-
pond to a position that is 400 mm
from the vehicle centerline.
Experimental measurements are
again in good agreement with
FLUENT predictions. The small
differences that do exist can be
attributed to differences in the
free stream conditions used in the
experiment and simulation,
possible localized regions of
Figure 6: Pressure coefficient 100 mm from the
centerline of the rear wing mainplane and flap
laminar flow in the
experiment (that are not
in the CFD model), and
the presence of the
main wind tunnel strut
which is absent from
the geometry used in
the numerical solution.
In addition, the
difference between the
results in Figures 6 and
7 suggest that 2D simulations of
wing components will fail to ade-
quately capture the full three-
dimensional nature of the flow.
The results presented in this
example demonstrate that it is
possible to use CFD to analyze the
complex flow field about a
realistic contemporary Formula
One car model. The pressure
distribution and surface flow
visualization compare well with
experimental results, showing that
there is significant merit in using a
one-equation turbulence model for
this type of application, despite
the anisotropic nature of the
highly turbulent, separated flow.
The results derived from the
numerical solutions have
complemented the experimental
program at Sauber Petronas
Engineering AG, allowing for a
more rigorous approach to finding
improvements in car performance.
Courtesy of Sauber Petronas
Engineering AG, Hinwil, Switzerland
Figure 7: Pressure coefficient 400 mm from the
centerline of the rear wing mainplane and flap
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