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Abstract
Aerodynamics plays a very important role in motorsports. Car manufacturers around the world have been fascinated and
influenced by the various aerodynamic improvements that are used in racing. There has been a constant effort on their side to
incorporate these changes to road vehicles not just as an aesthetic design feature but also since they believe that these features
can contribute to improving fuel economy and vehicle handling. One of the main areas of concern in racing is to balance
aerodynamic forces and to streamline the air flow across the body towards improving stability and handling characteristics,
especially, while cornering. At present, formula racing cars are regulated by stringent FIA norms, there is a constraint for the
dimensions of the vehicle used, engine capacity, power output and emission. It is difficult to obtain the optimum aerodynamic
performance with the existing racing car. There is a need for improvement in the aerodynamic performance of these race cars
by using add-on devices locally with different configurations to streamline and channelize the airflow besides reducing
aerodynamic forces and providing stability that improves cornering and handling characteristics.
In this project work, an attempt has been made to improve the aerodynamic performance of F1 race car by using various
add-on devices with different configurations through steady state CFD simulations. Initially, steady state external air flow
simulation on the baseline model F-1 car without add-on devices has been carried out to obtain air flow pattern around and
for aerodynamic forces using FLUENT solver. A detailed survey on different add-on devices used for racing applications has
been made and geometric models of some add-on devices like front wing, bargeboard, nose wing, rear wheel scallops, roof
spoiler and rear wing with best possible configurations were created and attached to the baseline model. Steady state CFD
simulation on the modified F1 race car with add-on devices has been carried out for different speeds. Aerodynamic
performances like lift force, drag force and their co-efficients are evaluated for different configurations of add-on devices for
different speeds
From parametric CFD simulations on F-1 car attached with add-on devices, there is a considerable amount of drag and
lift force reduction besides streamlining the airflow across the car. The best possible configuration for all add-on devices, i.e.
front and rear wings, nose wing, barge board, roof spoiler and wheel scallops, are derived from CFD simulations. The
combination of all these add-on devices with the most appropriate configurations is suggested to incorporate for F1 race car
to improve aerodynamic performance..
Key Words: F-1 Car, Steady State Aerodynamic Analysis, Wings, Add-on Devices, Drag Reduction
velocity absolute
flow steady
Baseline Model
Car Drag Lift
Cd Cl
Speed Force Force
150 1215.49 0.7866 439.74 0.2846
Fig. 14 Contours of pressure and velocity
200 2158.84 0.7865 766.80 0.2826
Fig. 13 Variation of down force (N) v/s speed 350 7357.34 0.7802 1929.99 -0.204
(kmph)
Figure 13 shows the contours of pressure distribution Both the drag and lift forces are increasing with
and velocity distribution along the center plane in x- increase in speed. The variation in the drag and lift forces
direction. High pressure points can be observed at the nose with speed is almost linear as shown in figure 5.17 and 5.18
tip, the front wheel, the body of the car and the area behind respectively.
the cockpit. The velocity plot shows stagnation points on the