IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jeners/v14y2021i23p7907-d687576.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

CFD Analysis of the Influence of the Front Wing Setup on a Time Attack Sports Car’s Aerodynamics

Author

Listed:
  • Maciej Szudarek

    (Institute of Metrology and Biomedical Engineering, Warsaw University of Technology, 02-525 Warszawa, Poland)

  • Janusz Piechna

    (Institute of Aeronautics and Applied Mechanics, Warsaw University of Technology, 00-665 Warszawa, Poland)

Abstract

In time attack races, aerodynamics plays a vital role in achieving short track times. These races are characterized by frequent braking and acceleration supported by aerodynamic downforce. Usually, typical cars are modified for these races by amateurs. Adjusting the aerodynamic solutions to work with bodies developed for other flow conditions is difficult. This paper presents the results of a numerical analysis of the effects of installing a straight wing in front of or above the body on the modified vehicle system’s aerodynamic characteristics, particularly on the front wheels’ aerodynamic downforce values. The paper presents the methodology and results of calculations of the aerodynamic characteristics of a car with an additional wing placed in various positions in relation to the body. The numerical results are presented ( C d , C l , C m , C lf , C lr ), as well as exemplary pressure distributions, pathlines, and visualizations of vortex structures. Strong interactions between the wing operation and body streamline structure are shown. An interesting and unexpected result of the analysis is that the possibility of obtaining aerodynamic downforce of the front wheels is identified, without an increase in aerodynamic drag, by means of a wing placed in a proper position in front of the body. A successful attempt to balance the additional downforce coming from the front wing on the front axle is made using a larger spoiler. However, for large angles of attack, periodically unsteady flow is captured with frequency oscillations of ca. 6–12 Hz at a car speed of 40 m/s, which may interfere with the sports car’s natural suspension frequency.

Suggested Citation

  • Maciej Szudarek & Janusz Piechna, 2021. "CFD Analysis of the Influence of the Front Wing Setup on a Time Attack Sports Car’s Aerodynamics," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(23), pages 1-29, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:14:y:2021:i:23:p:7907-:d:687576
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/14/23/7907/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/14/23/7907/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Mattia Basso & Carlo Cravero & Davide Marsano, 2021. "Aerodynamic Effect of the Gurney Flap on the Front Wing of a F1 Car and Flow Interactions with Car Components," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(8), pages 1-15, April.
    2. Daniel Martins & João Correia & André Silva, 2021. "The Influence of Front Wing Pressure Distribution on Wheel Wake Aerodynamics of a F1 Car," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(15), pages 1-18, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Maciej Szudarek & Konrad Kamieniecki & Sylwester Tudruj & Janusz Piechna, 2022. "Towards Balanced Aerodynamic Axle Loading of a Car with Covered Wheels—Inflatable Splitter," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(15), pages 1-28, July.
    2. Maciej Szudarek & Adam Piechna & Piotr Prusiński & Leszek Rudniak, 2022. "CFD Study of High-Speed Train in Crosswinds for Large Yaw Angles with RANS-Based Turbulence Models including GEKO Tuning Approach," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(18), pages 1-24, September.
    3. Maciej Szudarek & Adam Piechna & Janusz Piechna, 2022. "Feasibility Study of a Fan-Driven Device Generating Downforce for Road Cars," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(15), pages 1-27, July.
    4. Krzysztof Wiński & Adam Piechna, 2022. "Comprehensive CFD Aerodynamic Simulation of a Sport Motorcycle," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(16), pages 1-27, August.
    5. Krzysztof Kurec & Konrad Kamieniecki & Janusz Piechna, 2022. "Influence of Different Plates Arrangements on the Car Body," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(2), pages 1-17, January.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Janusz Piechna, 2021. "A Review of Active Aerodynamic Systems for Road Vehicles," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(23), pages 1-31, November.
    2. Carlo Cravero & Davide Marsano, 2022. "Flow and Thermal Analysis of a Racing Car Braking System," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(8), pages 1-16, April.
    3. Krzysztof Kurec, 2022. "Numerical Study of the Sports Car Aerodynamic Enhancements," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(18), pages 1-19, September.
    4. Jakub Broniszewski & Janusz Ryszard Piechna, 2022. "Fluid-Structure Interaction Analysis of a Competitive Car during Brake-in-Turn Manoeuvre," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(8), pages 1-16, April.
    5. Min Chang & Zhongyuan Zheng & Xiaoxuan Meng & Junqiang Bai & Bo Wang, 2022. "Aerodynamic Analysis of a Low-Speed Tandem-Channel Wing for eVTOL Aircraft Considering Propeller–Wing Interaction," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(22), pages 1-21, November.
    6. Daniel Martins & João Correia & André Silva, 2021. "The Influence of Front Wing Pressure Distribution on Wheel Wake Aerodynamics of a F1 Car," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(15), pages 1-18, July.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:14:y:2021:i:23:p:7907-:d:687576. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.