FORUMula1.com - F1 Forum

[sagi58]

 wrote:">New F1 fuel-flow controversy looming ahead

A new controversy surrounding Formula 1’s fuel-flow rules appears to be looming as teams and drivers jet into Kuala Lumpur for the Malaysian grand prix.

A year has now passed since Daniel Ricciardo was disqualified from the 2014 season opener when his Red Bull-Renault was found to have breached the maximum allowed flow of fuel to his turbo V6 ‘power unit’.

Now, the fuel flow issue is set to resurface. Italian media reports claim F1’s governing body has issued a technical directive to the teams that will come into effect at the Chinese grand prix next month.

Until now, the FIA has policed the maximum allowed fuel flow rate of 100kg per hour solely with the use of a standard fuel flow meter. Now, the governing body reportedly wants to check pressure in other parts of the fuel system.

The FIA reportedly suspects that some teams and manufacturers are finding their way around the rule by increasing fuel flow in other areas, whilst ensuring it never exceeds 100kg per hour through the actual meter.

Omnicorse suggested the trick could partly explain the step forward in 2015 taken by Mercedes and Ferrari.

It is claimed upgrading their turbo systems to withstand a maximum of 500 bar for this year might have facilitated it, whilst struggling Renault is still running at just 250 bar.

Omnicorse said the new Honda power unit, significantly de-tuned in Melbourne due to reliability problems, might also be capable of a maximum of 500 bar.

[sagi58]

 wrote:">Fuel, fuel usage and refuelling

What the sporting regulations say:

■Cars may use no more than 100kg of fuel in each race (with the power unit regulations stipulating that fuel flow must not exceed 100kg/hour). Drivers exceeding the fuel limit during a race will be immediately excluded from the race results.
■Teams are not permitted to add or remove fuel from a car during a race. In other occasions during the weekend they may refuel cars but only in their respective garages, and only at a rate of 0.8 litres per second. (Article 29.1 of the 2015 FIA Sporting Regulations)

What the technical regulations say:

■Formula One cars run on petrol, the specification of which is not significantly removed from that used in regular road cars.
■All fuels must comply with strict requirements, and prior to each event the teams must submit two separate five-litre samples to the FIA for analysis and approval. Fuel samples will also be taken during an event to ensure the fuel being used is legal. (Article 19.1.2 of the 2015 FIA Technical Regulations)
■Fuel tanks are also strictly governed - they must comprise a single rubber balder, which must be made of materials approved by the FIA and must be manufactured by certain approved companies.
■The tank must be situated directly behind the driver and directly ahead of the engine. All fuel lines must be self-sealing in the event of an accident and no lines must pass through the cockpit.
■The fuel tank must be encased within a crushable structure that forms part of the car's safety cell. This structure must be able to withstand very high impact loads as specified in the regulations.

[sagi58]

Edd Straw wrote:">FIA issues new directive to measure fuel pressure

The FIA has issued a technical directive to allow it to measure fuel pressure throughout each car's fuel system, AUTOSPORT can reveal.

The directive, issued on Sunday, calls for teams to measure the pressure at multiple points in the fuel system.

This is on top of the FIA fuel flow meter that monitors both fuel-flow rate, which is limited to 100kg/h, and the overall fuel usage, which is limited to 100kg per race.

The FIA has asked for these systems to be implemented by the Chinese Grand Prix in April at the latest.

But it has also requested that teams do so earlier if possible, with each team set to be contacted by the FIA to evaluate how the fuel pressure will be measured and how these systems will fit in with the standard ECU.

This will allow the FIA to monitor the fuel flow through the system in more depth rather than relying purely on the single FIA-homologated fuel-flow sensor that all cars must carry in their fuel tank.

This could potentially allow closer monitoring of technical regulation 5.10.5, which states that "any device, system or procedure the purpose and/or effect of which is to increase the flow rate after the measurement point is prohibited".

[sagi58]

Edd Straw wrote:">FIA issues new directive to measure fuel pressure - Part 2


Craig Scarborough, Technical expert @scarbsf1

This technical directive demands that fuel pressure is measured at various points in the fuel system from the tank to the injectors.

Currently, the system has a pump in the fuel tank, which pumps fuel via the fuel flow sensor up to the high-pressure direct injection pump on the cylinder heads.

In theory, with the fuel-flow sensor, it should not be possible to have fuel flowing into the engine at a rate greater than that measured by the fuel flow sensor.

But as the fuel flow sensor is in the fuel tank, there is some distance between it and the fuel injectors, as indicated in the diagram below.

There, you could potentially accumulate fuel during periods of low demand from the engine.

This could subsequently be pumped into the engine at a greater pressure and/or fuel-flow rate than stipulated by the regulations.

This greater fuel flow would increase engine power, which is currently restricted by fuel-flow regulations.

By measuring the fuel at these different points in the system, it should be possible to prevent any abuse of the regulations.

The below illustration shows the layout of the fuel system of a generic F1 engine.

[sagi58]

Not sure what's more interesting: How the FIA comes up with rules/regulations
or how the teams figure out a way to get around them!

[myownalias]

That has been the way of F1 since day one, the FIA bring in rules to slow down/inhibit car performance and the engineers find a way around the restrictions. Without the FIA measures to slow down F1, we would probably be going around corners at 300mph by now. It will be interesting to see if teams do fall foul of these new sensors, but I expect most, if not all to be on top of it!

[stonemonkey]

Not sure what's more interesting: How the FIA comes up with rules/regulations
or how the teams figure out a way to get around them!

Its not so much a rule as a way for the FIA to enforce a rule that had been in the regulations throughout last year.

5.10.5 Any device, system or procedure the purpose and/or effect of which is to increase the flow rate after the measurement point is prohibited.