AR3-GP wrote: ↑03 May 2023, 02:36
vorticism wrote: ↑03 May 2023, 01:56
Counterpoints:
-they haven't run the stacked beam wing in '23
-their '22 beam wings are not more drastically pitched than competitors
-their diffuser looks about the same as everyone else's
Another explanation is that their car is simply lower drag sans rear wing relative to the other cars i.e. all the other parts are relatively lower drag, so when RW drag is cut we get to see how efficient the rest of the aero package is.
That's also a plausible explanation. The rear wing could just be very draggy. Others may not be able to afford to carry this drag.
This interests me the most "relatively lower drag" and particularly the sidepod inlet, new for this race in changed form. Being (looks like roughly similar area) less vertical and more surface presented horizontal on the lower lip.
There's a parallel in this type of aero (caveat needed here. You need to look at this in scale proportions, both physical and speed difference wise) with the air intake of fast jets, although inverted in this use, as are most car based compared to planes.
The intake entrance on RB 18 19 series is planing the air from topside to enter duct, lower lip prevents underspill after its passed that point.
Taking concorde as example, the internal airflow is slowed to mach 0.5 for turbine intake but restriction there (unlike conventional flat front air intake) give lift and reduced drag as that mouth stalls the air relative to velocity of air stream.
As the throughput effectively chokes, then the mouth geometry becomes important to the overall aero performance.
On RB series, as that internal flow slows relative to outside air velocity the front end of sidepod starts to generate downward pressure combined with less drag in that scenario. Now consider if opening the rear wing extracts less negative pressure from rear outlet of cooling exit, that front end will potentially choke earlier, making more use of that front end geometry pressure accumulation. Would likely need less front wing flap to maintain overall concept downforce of chassis too, which is generally what we see on this car.
Unlike "conventional" intake entry, this one controls exactly what is happening as cooling ducts choke, that's by ensuring the top side surfaces are now favoured relative to the undercut that many of the chassis employ. RB is the only one doing this fully.
Making the duct entry wider on this latest iteration just works that lower lip flat increased surface area more effectively as the reduction in vertical sides has no loss. Appears to be overall gain in chassis load, with added reduction in drag when internal flow chokes.
Potentially less front wing flap could be used for even more gain at terminal velocity, without attendant reduction in front axle load.
