UAQ Racing Team Aerodynamics

NECESSARY INFORMATION ABOUT DESIGN OF THE AERODYNAMIC

PACKAGE

1. INTRODUCTION

Aerodynamics is the sciences of how the air flows around and inside objects.
The air is really just a very thin type of fluid. Slow speed means that the air
flow around and through a vehicle begins to have more pronounced effect on
the acceleration, top speed, fuel efficiency and handling.

To build the most efficient possible race car it is needed to understand and
optimize how established that the aerodynamics has a key role in the
performance and the efficiency of an open wheel racing car, even when it is
moving at low speeds on track as a FSAE car does.

The aerodynamic package is able to utilize the airflow around it in order to

produce as much vertical to the ground force as possible while maintaining
the air resistance force at low levels. The vertical force is known in motorsport
as DOWNFORCE and the resistance force is called DRAG.

The grip and the performance of the tires increases and the car is able to
achieve higher cornering speeds while at the same time there is better fuel
consumption due to the reduced air resistance.

2. AERODYNAMICS APPLIED – FSAE RACE CAR

2.1 INTRODUCTION TO RACE CAR AERODYNAMICS

 DOWNFORCE: every object travelling through air

creates either lifting or a downforce situation. A wing
can make a plane take off; the same principle that
allows an airplane to rise off the ground by creating lift
from its wings is used in reverse to apply force that
presses the race car against the surface of the track.

LIFT (sustentación): aerodynamically induced force acting on a surface. In race

car aerodynamics, the vertical downward force provided by aerodynamic devices
mounted on the car. Pushes the tires onto the track surface provide more grip,
which in turn enables higher cornering speeds and faster braking.
UAQ Racing Team Aerodynamics

FIGURE 1: RACE CARS USE INVERTED WINGS TO PRODUCE DOWNFORCE INSTEAD OF LIFT

AERODYNAMICAL GRIP: the grip between tires and track pavement provided by
aerodynamical forces.
MECHANICAL GRIP: function of the car mass repartition, tires and suspension.
The creation of downforce by passive devices such as wings, bodywork or
diffusers almost always can only be achieved at the cost of increased aerodynamic
drag and the optimum setup is almost always a compromise between the two. It is
a function of the flow of air over and under the car, the aerodynamic forces
increase with the square of velocity, downforce increases with square of the car’s
speed and requires a certain minimum speed in order to produce a significant
effect.

 DRAG FORCE: when the fluid flows over a surface, the

surface will resist its motion. In aerodynamics, drag is
the fluid drag force that acts on any moving solid body
in the direction of the fluid freestream flow.

FIGURE 2: DRAG FORCE ACTING ON A MOVING RACE CAR

On a race car, the AERODYNAMIC DRAG is the sum of friction, form and
pressure drag. FRICTION DRAG occurs as air particles pass over a car’s surfaces
and the layers of particles closest to the surface adhere. SKIN FRICTION DRAG is
caused by the actual contact pf the air particles against the surface of the moving
object.
UAQ Racing Team Aerodynamics

The layer (la capa) above these attached particles slides over them, but
consequently slowed down by the non-moving particles on the surface; the layers
above this slowed layer move faster. As the layers get further away from the
surface, they slow less and less until they flow at the free-stream speed.
The force required to shift the molecules of air out of the way creates FORM
DRAG: the smaller frontal area of a vehicle, the smaller the area of molecules that
must be shifted, and thus the less energy required to push through the air.
With less engine effort being taken up in the moving air, more go into moving the
car along the track, and for a given engine power, the car will travel faster. FORM
DRAG and PRESSURE DRAG are virtually the same type of drag.
Drag in race car aerodynamics is comprised of three forces:
1. FRONTAL PRESSURE: created by a vehicle body pushing air out of the
way.
2. REAR VACUUM: created by air not being able to fill the hole left by the
vehicle body.
3. BOUNDARY LAYER: effect of friction created by slow moving air at the
surface of the vehicle body.

FLOW DETACHMENT applies only to the rear vacuum portion of the drag
forces, has a greater and greater negative effect as vehicle speed
increases. The drag increase with the square of the vehicle speed, so more
and more horsepower is needed to push a vehicle through the air as its
speed raises. Therefore, when a vehicle reaches high speeds it becomes
important to design the car to limit areas of flow detachment.

In other words, to understand the relationship between speed and drag

(important in calculating maximum endurance and the range of the race
car): When drag is at a minimum, power required to overcome drag is also
at minimum.

 𝐂𝐋 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐂𝐃 𝐜𝐨𝐞𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬:

𝐂𝐋 LIFT COEFFICIENT: dimensionless coefficient that relates the lift generated by

a lifting body to the fluid density around the body, the fluid velocity and an
associated reference area. This coefficient expresses the ratio of the lift force to
the produced by the dynamic pressure times the area. Is often found using
computer generated models or wind tunnel testing. In certain ranges of operating
conditions and when there is no stall, the lift coefficient has a constant value and
the lift or downforce produced is then proportional to the square of airspeed and
can be determined using the following equation.
UAQ Racing Team Aerodynamics

1 2
𝐿= 𝐶 𝜌𝑢 𝐴
2 𝐿

Where L is the lift force, A is the relevant plan area, 𝜌 is the fluid density and u is
the flow speed.
𝐂𝐃 DRAG COEFFICIENT: impacts the way the automobile passes through the
surrounding air. Aerodynamic drag increases with the square of speed therefore, it
becomes critically important at higher speeds. Reducing the drag coefficient of a car
improves the performance of the vehicle as it pertains to speed and fuel efficiency.
It changes as a function of the shape of the body. Drag changes as a function of 𝐶𝐷
and flow direction, air density and viscosity, object size, speed and is proportional to
the density of the air and to the square of the relative speed between the air and the
object.
1 2
𝐹𝐷 = 𝐶 𝜌𝑢 𝐴
2 𝐷

Where 𝐹𝐷 is the drag force, A is the relevant plan area, 𝜌 is the fluid density and u
is the flow speed. The reference area A depends on what type of drag coefficient is
being measured. For automobiles and many other objects, the reference area is
the projected frontal area of the vehicle.
For airfoils, the reference area is the nominal wing area. Since this tends to be, large
compared to the frontal area, the resulting drag coefficients tend to be low, much
lower than for a car with the same drag, frontal area and speed.
The shape of the body of the vehicle affects the drag coefficient of a vehicle. To
achieve a low drag coefficient, the boundary layer around the body must remain
attached to the surface of the body for as long as possible, causing the wake to be
narrow.
The boundary layer will transition transition from laminar to turbulent if REYNOLDS
NUMBER of the flow around is sufficiently great (larger velocities, larger objects, and
lower viscosities contribute to larger Reynolds numbers.