Cooling Question..

[harvest_motorsport]

Going back over some pictures of the Dallara F3'05/6/7 there are various cooling options...

1. Chimney half way dwn the side pod.
2. Grills in place of the chimney
3. No opening at all, just relying on hot air exiting at the rear of the pod.

My question is:

What is more efficient for the extraction of the hot air?
What is more aero efficient?

[PNSD]

i thought gills were more aero efficient, because i thought the hot air also energised the boundary layer??? not sure though...

[alexbarwell]

OK, what do you think about this idea (if it has not been dismissed already) - the sidepod openings onto radiators are being shrunk to reduce the drag, aero disturbance or whatever. Maybe the pods as we know them could be minimised further if some cooling was performed more directly through a smooth radiator plate in the bodywork with the coolant pipes in good thermal contact as there is very good airflow across these surfaces rather than trying to ram it through the rad. Normal composite bodywork is not the best conductor and only place on top of the sidepods so errant wheels don't crack the pipes and finish your race really quickly.

Or if someone can point me in the direction of a good shop selling straight-jackets. I've always thought they looked quite smart...

[walter]

Maybe the pods as we know them could be minimised further if some cooling was performed more directly through a smooth radiator plate in the bodywork with the coolant pipes in good thermal contact as there is very good airflow across these surfaces rather than trying to ram it through the rad.

I wondered of the same thing but the idea gets thrown out due to the need for a high surface area of the heat transfer plate/radiator. The hundreds of thin plates in a radiator are necessary due to way that radiant energy is transferred...SLOWLY when compared to other forms of energy. In order to get proper cooling with an external plate you would either need fins like on an air cooled chopper engine, or have it cover the entire sidepod surface area, both of which are bad ideas.

I also think there might be a regulation on the visibility of cooling devices... i might be wrong.

[Scuderia_Russ]

i thought gills were more aero efficient, because i thought the hot air also energised the boundary layer??? not sure though...

I have read that gills were less aero efficient than chimneys.

[wesley123]

Gills are more efficient but cant be used to direct air, which a chimney can.