Windshear

[darwin dali]

As well as setting the fastest time of the week at Mugello, Lotus has been out completing a full-scale wind tunnel session at the Windshear facility in the United States. Boullier said that the data gathered in Italy coupled with the "positive results" in America meant the car has definitely improved, but by how much compared to the rest of the field is impossible to tell.

"Even when the weather wasn't great (in Mugello), we were able to try some combinations that we would not normally go for during a race weekend, as they take quite a lot of time to set up," Boullier said. "We've learned a lot about the car. Also, our Windshear session had given a lot of positive results. We know that the E20 will be even quicker now. But performance is a relative concept. Let's wait and see how our opponents have improved."

[What's Burning?]

I wish there was a US based F1 team.

[scotty]

Erm, i don't quite understand the importance of this? Except for a suggestion that Lotus have improved. Unless there is something special about the windshear facility that i missed...

Anyone ever heard of Laurel Hill? It's in WB's part of the world. Quite interesting, well, as interesting as a wind tunnel can be http://www.racecar-engineering.com/arti ... urel-hill/

[What's Burning?]

Erm, i don't quite understand the importance of this? Except for a suggestion that Lotus have improved. Unless there is something special about the windshear facility that i missed...

Anyone ever heard of Laurel Hill? It's in WB's part of the world. Quite interesting, well, as interesting as a wind tunnel can be http://www.racecar-engineering.com/arti ... urel-hill/

Very interesting! Not my neck of the woods per say, Pennsylvania is a pretty big state for the north east, so that would be about a three hour drive from me. My wife and I had been planning to go in that area at some point because there are quite a few Frank Loyd Wright homes there so if I make it out this might be an interesting side trip.

[Jabberwocky]

Erm, i don't quite understand the importance of this? Except for a suggestion that Lotus have improved. Unless there is something special about the windshear facility that i missed...

Anyone ever heard of Laurel Hill? It's in WB's part of the world. Quite interesting, well, as interesting as a wind tunnel can be http://www.racecar-engineering.com/arti ... urel-hill/

interesting, but would this count as a straight line testing day?

[What's Burning?]

Erm, i don't quite understand the importance of this? Except for a suggestion that Lotus have improved. Unless there is something special about the windshear facility that i missed...

Anyone ever heard of Laurel Hill? It's in WB's part of the world. Quite interesting, well, as interesting as a wind tunnel can be http://www.racecar-engineering.com/arti ... urel-hill/

interesting, but would this count as a straight line testing day?

What testing? Did you see it?!?! Prove it.

[Jabberwocky]

Erm, i don't quite understand the importance of this? Except for a suggestion that Lotus have improved. Unless there is something special about the windshear facility that i missed...

Anyone ever heard of Laurel Hill? It's in WB's part of the world. Quite interesting, well, as interesting as a wind tunnel can be http://www.racecar-engineering.com/arti ... urel-hill/

interesting, but would this count as a straight line testing day?

What testing? Did you see it?!?! Prove it.

I bet all the FIA ECU's remember to the meter how far they have moved

[bigpat]

No it wouldn't count as a straightline test day because the car wasn't on track. It would count as windtunnel time under the resource agreement. It is a windtunnel after all.....

I would imagine the test would've been quite useful. Unlike scale wind tunnel work, you can accurately gauge wing flex, panel stiffness ,cooling and duct flows etc. Also vortices behind the wheels, wings. That's off the top of my head, and I'm sure the teams have a lot more creative ideas....

A full scale tunnel test day is quicker and easier than CFD too, as a CFD computer takes a whole night to compute one simulation, and isn't very good at modelling turbulent airflow. Here, they can put bits on the car, and actually see and measure in full scale what's happening. I wouldn't be surprised if they installed simple hydraulic actuators in place of the dampers, and studied ride height changes, rakes, roll etc in real time (transient conditions). The team cold easily fire up the engine, and test things like airbox designs, and rev the engine to examine exhaust flow, and play with exhaust outlets etc. This full scale session would also help them calibrate their tunnel and CFD programs back home, seeing how close the numbers match.I think it was a clever idea by the team actually....

I was fortunate enough to have a major role during a test day in a fixed floor, full scale facility at Monash University, Melbourne, Australia, with a sports sedan. It was an eye opening experience to say the least, where you learn what air actually does, compared to what you think. Although I am no aerodynamicist, with some changes and parts we fitted to the car, we took some very valuable lessons away with us that day......