With the 2022 rule change on the horizon bargeboards will no longer be a feature of F1 cars, but what are they, how do they work, and will F1’s designers be able to replicate their function in 2022?
When a F1 car runs close to another F1 car in the dirty air round a corner/straight it can loose up to 50% downforce.
Running in dirty air = Less downforce/ less drag, making the slip stream effect stronger.
Running in clean air = More downforce more drag, making the slip stream weaker.
Yeah, but where does this come from? You just wrote "less drag", without any reasoning.
If you follow a car that has a clean wake, the air isn't disturbed which makes your cars areodynamics create more downforce. There will be more volume of air is running over your car.
If you follow a car that has dirty wake, the air is disturbed which makes your cars areodynamics create less downforce. Less volume of air is running over your car.
When a F1 car runs close to another F1 car in the dirty air round a corner/straight it can loose up to 50% downforce.
Running in dirty air = Less downforce/ less drag, making the slip stream effect stronger.
Running in clean air = More downforce more drag, making the slip stream weaker.
Yeah, but where does this come from? You just wrote "less drag", without any reasoning.
If you follow a car that has a clean wake, the air isn't disturbed which makes your cars areodynamics create more downforce. There will be more volume of air is running over your car.
If you follow a car that has dirty wake, the air is disturbed which makes your cars areodynamics create less downforce. Less volume of air is running over your car.
There's no such thing as clean wake, 98% of air disturbances translate to turbulence. Laminar flow is very specific and special case, a laboratory condition. Honestly, once teams get a handle on how to set up the cars and what underbody geometry works best, the cars will have the same dirty air as before.
The aim of the new regulations is to reduce the outwash and overemphasize the up wash. Like a surfer tube riding, the hopes is that the wake will go over the car.
The reality will be that the air will be just as dirty as before but there won't be any bargeboards to clean up the outboard wake from the high pressure air curling around the floor. The devices that can clean up the tire wake are all prescribed, and rather ineffective compared to what we're giving up.
A few considerations, do you want the beam wing closer to the diffuser or the rear wing? Do you want a bigger tunnel inlet at the expense of side pod undercut area? How narrow do you make the throat of the tunnels?
Do you want to create as much outwash possible with the fences?
Some issues with the tunnels are similar to teething issues with the cape(boundary layer effects), but a little different due to different reynolds numbers. Another consideration, after looking at the rules I see no mention of regulating textured surfaces.
Obviously the fences and the tunnels will require flexing tests, it's too easy to exploit that to tune the tunnels at different speeds.
The T-tray/ship's bow leading edge of the floor will also be massively important. It won't be a simple matter of making it as angular as possible, the way air spills off the sides affects airflow to the fences or to the tunnels, and where the expansion waves will form downstream.
If you follow a car that has a clean wake, the air isn't disturbed which makes your cars areodynamics create more downforce. There will be more volume of air is running over your car.
If you follow a car that has dirty wake, the air is disturbed which makes your cars areodynamics create less downforce. Less volume of air is running over your car.
True, but you said "less drag" which is completely different from downforce.
"Less downforce/ less drag" Seemingly implies that that the two is proportional. I'm quite sure drag is actually worse with turbulence in the same volume of air since air doesn't hit the car predictably but with a lot of randomness. Getting caught in all sorts of nooks and crannies it wouldn't hit otherwise.
Honestly, once teams get a handle on how to set up the cars and what underbody geometry works best, the cars will have the same dirty air as before.
The aim of the new regulations is to reduce the outwash and overemphasize the up wash. Like a surfer tube riding, the hopes is that the wake will go over the car.
The reality will be that the air will be just as dirty as before but there won't be any bargeboards to clean up the outboard wake from the high pressure air curling around the floor. The devices that can clean up the tire wake are all prescribed, and rather ineffective compared to what we're giving up.
I don't think that you opinion is well grounded in reality. Those little fins atop the tires in themselves reduce the turbulence substantially. Plus a lot of the vortex generating parts are now removed and impossible on the wings floor, bargeboards.
isn't the 2022 argument that the wake is 'smaller' ? ie shorter (in terms of length of track)
Something like that. Though not really explained. Which made me ask the original question, that why is wake less when the car throws all the dirty air out of the way instead of depositing it right behind? Because the former seems like actively taking away air from the wake of the car in contrast to the latter.
By the way what is "slipstream" or "wake". Less air quantity/pressure, air moving in the direction of the car like you said, or a bit of both? (or something else?)
The wake is not less, it simply moves up instead of staying low. Thus the wake “is less” where the trailing car is.
Saying that the trailing car meets less of the wake would be more accurate.
The wake is not a void, air rushes in too fast for that. So as the “dirty” air moves up, new, less dirty air moves in at ground level. This new air has less “forwards” component. The wake is many things, but the main one affecting the trailing car seems to be simply air moving forwards. Which will often be called “less energy in the air” or lower dynamic pressure.
If you follow a car that has a clean wake, the air isn't disturbed which makes your cars areodynamics create more downforce. There will be more volume of air is running over your car.
If you follow a car that has dirty wake, the air is disturbed which makes your cars areodynamics create less downforce. Less volume of air is running over your car.
True, but you said "less drag" which is completely different from downforce.
"Less downforce/ less drag" Seemingly implies that that the two is proportional. I'm quite sure drag is actually worse with turbulence in the same volume of air since air doesn't hit the car predictably but with a lot of randomness. Getting caught in all sorts of nooks and crannies it wouldn't hit otherwise.
Drag doesn't always mean downforce, but downforce always means drag. I didn't mean to imply the two is proportional.
The wake is not less, it simply moves up instead of staying low. Thus the wake “is less” where the trailing car is.
Saying that the trailing car meets less of the wake would be more accurate.
The wake is not a void, air rushes in too fast for that. So as the “dirty” air moves up, new, less dirty air moves in at ground level. This new air has less “forwards” component. The wake is many things, but the main one affecting the trailing car seems to be simply air moving forwards. Which will often be called “less energy in the air” or lower dynamic pressure.
Now this is a good explanation, it makes sense. Thanks.
I’ve been looking at the aero regs (and reading through a lot of @jjn9218’s material!), I think that there is scope to do something interesting with the nose/front wing to help the centre keel (that separates the two tunnel entrances). The legality boxes allow for a generous feed for the underside of the front wing, and a ‘through-flow’ nose (similar to that used by Red Bull - and to a greater extent Ferrari) could improve centreline flow to the keel.
Perspective - Understanding that sometimes the truths we cling to depend greatly on our own point of view.
I’ve been looking at the aero regs (and reading through a lot of @jjn9218’s material!), I think that there is scope to do something interesting with the nose/front wing to help the centre keel (that separates the two tunnel entrances). The legality boxes allow for a generous feed for the underside of the front wing, and a ‘through-flow’ nose (similar to that used by Red Bull - and to a greater extent Ferrari) could improve centreline flow to the keel.
Can't have holes in the nose except for driver cooling and that has a maximum size.
#aerogandalf "There is one big friend. It is downforce. And once you have this it’s a big mate and it’s helping a lot." Robert Kubica
I’ve been looking at the aero regs (and reading through a lot of @jjn9218’s material!), I think that there is scope to do something interesting with the nose/front wing to help the centre keel (that separates the two tunnel entrances). The legality boxes allow for a generous feed for the underside of the front wing, and a ‘through-flow’ nose (similar to that used by Red Bull - and to a greater extent Ferrari) could improve centreline flow to the keel.
Can't have holes in the nose except for driver cooling and that has a maximum size.
Damn!!
Oh well an under-nose profile somewhat similar to the Williams FW14 will be about as far as they can go within the rules?
Perspective - Understanding that sometimes the truths we cling to depend greatly on our own point of view.
