Optimising tunnel 5 Full-scale wind tunnel time isn’t cheap, but Racecar l I I l e Engineering's practical techniques and tips will help you maximise the benefits Ensure the best boundary layer control On MPN availabe is used. This shot shows {'sall about preparation. IRAs Boundary layer fence, according to Alex Somerset, whichereates afresh race engineer to 2007 meer rer British Touring Carchampion _*esdet the cor Fatvisi Giovenatd, and a design enginee: at BTC ‘champion manutacturer VeuxhallTrple Eight Race Engineering Somerset also engineered Matt Neal to the 2005 Drivers’ title in the Team Dynamics Konda integra (featured in Aerodytes V16 N6 andN7),and it's probably jence that he's 3 great believer inthe rle of aerodynamics, even ina seres sunposedly offering liited scope for such developments. Se wind tunnel time features igh onhis R&D priority ist and well hear more of his practical tips dhring this article However. forthe first time Visitor tothe wind tunel, the initial approach may need to bea lite more basic. as David ‘manager atthe UK's only commercially available full-scale wind tunnel at MIRA suggests: Until baseline figures ‘ate established. you may nat efforts. So we suggest that new customers with ne data come in fot a couple of hours tome {his After they ve analysed the baseline date they can then make parts totry cut ard cone back fora development session Once youknow the tatal forces, and especially the front torear split of vertical forces, you ae in abetter position to design a development programme. But ition always going to vieble‘or possible to make two visits in which case you jst have to prepare for alleventuaites. The keyat the outset i to define what you hope to achieve prepare 2planand gather the requisite materials and tools. But before you head off tothe wind tunel. there's lot more useful preparation tobe done. ‘allow time and a ha fer each change. especalyif they involve Jacing the car up. chances are some modifications wil be ‘made up on the day too, So take plenty of suitable materials (ee panel on p5€) with you Once you've prepared your schedule this way, bear in mind that you may have to deviate fem itn Having this dats in advance enables data seston Asmat wotlorgice tom Soowecs eget tea ors eqared to make Se ae nfgretontimges eTicety — Suveniaauan aera ‘mn opensheel car tunnel Anaherme swer'sto Feu beeing the torte wast ffecratumon oral ‘slows! down the sping atoms o pushy sto roctanguar and ‘triangular areas that are more easily calculated area of « closed car can pallrogs hason ride height so that predetermined incremental changes can be quickly mace response tothe results Orit rite neeght isnot easly a dicey leeeee PUINNING RND PREPARATION Pianin tne fr flow atjustable, analteratve tthe the approximate erea, First plore the configurations visalsation'toovsingsmote it tunnelfloor under thewheelsis of tie staded portions youwant to evaluate, and then avaliable, woo tuts (which wil feds to pe-set the cartoits from the aroa given by work outhowmany runs you have been stuck on previous, _lawestenvsagee rideheights ‘the (height x wiam, hope to fitinto the allotted of course. and test fui if and prepare some tyre contact Session ation. Ore 4 ‘atch sizedshims' fom taskistohave a means of ofthe fst questions 4 Plywood, say Sm tick, strapping the bake pedal theristowingdces 10 prioritise the sothat arangeof de firmly down torender the car arabe? AMRAT = EMAQUPETIONS YOU — reigned otesmay immovable ititdoesnt have an takes about aminute to be teste Also check efficient parking brake thats xaeawancsabne WERE to evaluates TY) verso ue temo the tow, a minute to secif they conprovide TESTING sample data andaurther minute applicable, Tme spent ecorcing weights to simulate the civer An ovgoised team isrequred for to decelerate he a agan Detore ths wim stlland videocamerasaboare and, isan open cay, atest session with adesgnated entering the est section to make canbe very worthafile buteats suitable crash hemet-wearng _leaderecision make, a acantiguation change. into your allotted test periodall dummy to put nthe cockpt.An__configuraton notes maker/photo But of more significance too que, idea ol the woight onthe font taker (possibly he leader) and isthe time i kes to make and ea axles wil enable you toa smal group (robably two to the configuration changes ADVANCE INFORMATION compare your scales to those of four people. 9s appropriate) 10 themselves and ths is key There some basic information the tunel which have of course. cary out configuration changes tocptimising your sesion.1f thatthe wind tunnel team wil been properly calibrate). The session leader may well be possible.instal as many test require from you in advance The Ona lastimpartantprearation a team aerodyramicst but if pars as possible on the car beforehand, because removing them will almost certainly be faster than fitting them If fo ‘experimental reasons, this can't be done -if song interaction between part is ikely for example then spend time ahead ofthe session prefitting parts to minimise fitting time In me tunnel, Our groessional aduiser Alex Somerset. suggest rebearsing changes and timing how long they take so you can refine your schedule. adting ‘maximum and mirimum track widths (to the inside and outside ofthe tyres)and the wheelbase erable the pads that sit atop the load cels tobe ore-adiustedto fit Anda value for the frontal ‘area (see pane! above) will enable the data acquisition software to calculate coetficients frm the forces measured by the loadcells. (Other measurements usefully ene ahead include the front and rear ride heights, dealy at easily accessed reference points that tenable rapid veifcation in the Setting the cr up onthe load calls andaligned withthe afew fs rua, May 2008+ wwe racecaengineeing con ETAQRS eeincieces Making sure you have the folowing ‘tome with you will save ‘you time and money: Hoavy gaugo card Medium to low- density tooling block or builders PU ‘ngulation foam panel ‘Aluminium fol tape (various widths and gauges) Race tape, ots of Quick set euper ghue Foam sealing tape Fasteners ‘Aluminium sheet GFRP sheet + MDF plywood Flow vie Bid! ‘which ean compris paraifin coloured ‘witha litle copper (grease ortalc: ‘Tools to work with the above (check in advance that your wind tunnel ‘workshop has band saws, guilotines, folders etc.) Presitting pats saves vakable tunnel time Plan your programme well 0 parts thatare interactive an be removed (or added) inthe correctordet yourteam does ot have one any Reynolds effects that is to ‘valable, your wind tunnel can _sayany signifkant eiference ‘probably rovide one if pe In the cakeulated coetficients booked. Although an accessible, at different airspeeds. Such qualified aerodynamicist wil diffeconces might aise, for probably ncur an extra fee, ‘example if a particular car they willbe a valuable asset, shape creates flow separations ‘speciallyin the early stages of in different locations atthe baselining and deveiopment different speeds. I not, then Different wind tunnelshave it's more econemica to un at different Ag the slower metnoas i speed, and of dealing rehearsing yous wonhe GHANGES and — lesstineso foear timing how long = stmant they take DD decelerate air that the develops along the wind tunnel airflow. Theseinitial runs also floor through viscous friction serve to indicate what level of (Seepane)).The important thing repeatability i to be expected with racecars with generally fon Coetfcients are generally round clearancesisto speciy _repartedto thvee decimal paces. the best boundary layer control —_andane would expect duplicate thats available Andif rotating _ readings froma single un to be Wheels isan option then its within one percent For example, cleatly better to utise that ‘on aGT car recently tested facilty, co. for Racecar at MIRA, the dae. AUMIRA it'susua'to starta coefficient was around 0500, so session with acoupleof baseline on any par of duplicate results runs at different speeds to froma tun, vatation between establish wheter there ae results should be no greater than 0.005, or tive courts" Inpracte, upicates from this session were realy al within two or tree counts. It vatiation consistently exceeds tis level, stop 10 look for reasons - something may be loose on the car and interfering with tneairtion. Once underway it's then a case ofrunning through scheduled configurstion changes, takirg notes and Dhotes. end logging resuts. The wind tunnel data acquisition system generates an electron wed woot file or paper printout at tufts especially the learning carve en the car under test is steep session's end. But it helps Eee Do PLAN AHEAD AND REPARE WELL Forward tack a \wheelbase dimensions Presit pats where possible Havea means Be methodical ‘yough your snedue a step at atime Have one person to take Have one person to make deters Have a smal group to imaie changes and tolsteady thenextonfieuatin change Test abaselneset up ime tor vistalisaton Runrepeateonkay or aealable Analyse cata Don’t ‘TURN UP WITHOUT APLAN auandevalucble tun theresuts from pats yea the goundina foed especialy itPRINCIPLES: pooceescusee peers ater Sache ttenreanee inane pron ge of angles, heights or distances, ecco ae eo sonceer aeons Serena bape Sey aaa as anes wcnetene ole Societies bay ices carton Ad ns wil cause major wind chil so takea warm coat! Sometimes anidea doesn't work 3s hoped. coif came parts ‘show poor results, be prepared te abandon that development ‘ute tis no less valuable to discover which ideas don't work, and negative results shouldn't necessarily be disappointing. ‘AS 2final task during a session return toa baseline configuration forthe last run ‘This wil increase confidence ‘e coutlous ofthe reauts of ground: preximly devices, but assess tends inthe results, as lng a the baseline is more o less the same forcesor coeffcents.and each _outsoverieat, tom et to right. ait was eater anyway. has te uses the run/cantiguation number, ‘The load cells under the wind speed and yaw angle are INTERPRETING RESULTS. wheels measure absolute self-explanatory. The next three (On that first visit tothe wind aerodynamic forces exerted columns are the basic total ‘tunnel it can takea while to horizentally, vertically and forces: dag, side force ad lift theme in an the numbers that Istorally at the tyre centacts. The (negative whon it's downlorce) ‘matter on the data acquisition PC coefficients are alculatedusing Here the major forces are drag, ‘Screen. MIRA provides a print out the basic aerodynamic force and downforce, with smal side negative results equations. which include force being logzed. Side force the frontal area of the car. arises ether from a yaw angle ‘hiss why anaccuate or from vehicleasymmevy. untiesnotepumeat Shouldn't necessarily csmstecrrowoles nieces tore ccmaosre bedisappainting jj) tricorn snaconanoaea ae ‘and/or photograph the results for later study. Note that if ambient temperature is below comfortatle: then standingin a wind tunnel at 25.30mph for flow visualisation ‘meaningful. Lets un downforce. al can be ignored. ‘through the print out to The moments MX. MY and MZ lof the onscreen results during see what each column means and arise from the distribution of the ‘the session, and examples are determine which numbers you _-aeradynanic ferces around the shown on page 62, There are two are most ltely to focus on. centre of gravity. Here there's basic formats, displaying either Looking at the fore print 3 large pitching moment fabout EEE Commercially avaitable fultscaiewindtumels Namo (Country) Tost section Maximum aroa,m' speed ‘Aeroayn (USA) 21.0 20g DNWLLF 9025 max, S¢7hawh (Germany/ counguiable (depending on Netherlands) configuration) Langley FST (USA) 1670 120 Langley ‘14e22' 20.2 ‘290k (270K (usa) inopen jet configuration) Loekbaed Martin 95.1 atten (usa) MIRAFSWT (UK) 25.0 129kemvh NRC (Canada) 82.8 188ew/h Pininfarina (Italy) 40.3 260k SAA GIE S2A, 24.0 at nozzle *>240km/h’ (France) Windshear (USA) 16.7 at nozzle 289kvh WindtunnetoXtrome 13.4 266k Comments ‘Closed jet, contourodt wall (eption for slotted wall), boundary layer suction, otating wheels, Optimised for stock cars oy NASCAR Closed or open jot configurations, various boundary layer controls Including moving ground, trpping, blewing ¥, open jet, xed ground, ‘ground boa’ or ‘active secondary, Doundaty layer contro! Closed jot oF ¥, open jot, wingle balt moving ground in late 2000, Closed jet, fixed Noor with tangential lowing boundary layer control Closed jet, fixed ground, houndary layor tp fence Closed jet, boundary layer removal by upstream suction, and Jengthened x-Pininfarina moving central ground belt plus wheel rollers to allow two cars on helt in 2008, ¥, open jet, moving ground “Tbek’ comprising long central belt plus short belts under font wheels ¥, open jet, moving ground central bot plus driven wheels (max. speed 200km/n) single belt moving ground. Comingon line during 2008 ‘Clesod jot, aaaptive we in 2009 open muving ground, scheduled to be on line ¥ay2008+ wom acecarerginewing.om EIRWl RST 2eiNncieLes BGA reo arseetonmoe ——courniacaesiispssiety usta way of expe ne Seen downforce at the rear. amend the frontal area used to aerodynamic balance, calculated Theale ads VF and VR. caleuatethecoatflants shoud as(CLF/(CLF+ CLR] x100, ae the site foces measured a configuration significantly ater Of al these figures. the ones teach ani and arenegieibly thearea Althoughcoeffcients _toconcentate onin mest cases Smal. The vertal loads UF aelust a mathemati teatment wile itt and dag Balance andLUR are mportant though, of res they canmake t istey njustabout every case Showing the spit of downforce easier teil spot reds and where comeing is oncemed. Gntietiontard wat whois qursifyguveilesestiow—wherkas theese of beeen SUR ttl it thatas withthe foces.CYF+ — downtore ad dais very mich Crag ioten more CyR= Ci total side force and Gown te your racecar an its commreinsbie in tes cle ciR= Col it ‘competition arena of horsepower absorbed This printout format also ‘Once youve started ndmenenteaumshows ——offerstecakite he cermte—«geefaig ind tunel ta thisin klowats vide by of pressure hich he the next question willente our rent wil 0.746 toconvertto Dip) Andon at which the total ot fn nat hose rade ots souls BREE teccton attency themerogmaric ese be anon wat acca numbers on a spread frequently expessedas ft _—etfectvelyexertea But the it__canfigations you plan to tes sheet or printout (see divided by drag (L/D), The final per centfrontis pethapsamore at yournext session. @ right), The figures baa ‘wil be wteranced by abbreviations explained ee inaurapssty nae wee pee Wind tunnel (or CX): drag rime le : ae » song ORNAMIC Forces and Moments GF sideforce concent Sl, ‘tras espera GL (or C2): Lite Par SmaczOn » res F Coe eS Beer ree re es as | EME. aerodynamic rol ‘ont axle (negative for ome) {CLAM coemeIeNE at eee ye IE {onan (nogativ for om ewes rns downforce) Seen mers XCP: centre of pressure moniter * Toowtion along x acs iar as eae oe tts tee ae of wheelbase cae ‘The contol room and the dats scquistion PC fare the heart of any wind tunnel Here's whe ‘the reste of al your testing wl come role HHI re nceaennern con 2008Get Racecar Engineering direct to your computer Each month Racecar Engineering brings the best possible insight into all forms of the rapidly changing world of motorsport engineering. 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