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9 Apr 2014


A selection of the best technical images from Tuesdays action in Bahrain courtesy of Sutton Images

 Sauber C33 - The team are utilising a pitot tube array in order assess the impact of the tyres wake on the components (Sidepod, Airflow Conditioner, Bargeboard, Floor etc) downstream.  The rig is moveable (vertically) and so the team can do many more measurements out on track without having to come in to reset the rig.


 Ferrari F14T - The team were utilising 2 pitot tube arrays, 1 behind the front tyre and 1 ahead of the rear tyre / over the rear of the sidepod.  The array behind the front tyre measures the wake coming off the tyre and therefore how it impacts the Sidepod, Sidepod Airflow Conditioner, Bargeboard, Floor etc aft of it.  Note its not a full fence like some of the teams use as they're looking at specific target areas of flow and don't want to impinge on performance dramatically as it then creates a further offset for the rig behind.  The reason the team would run both rigs together is all about data collection and analysis within a set time period, track time/testing is finite and so the team will want to gather this data as quickly as possible without having to make too many changes.  The offset of having the rig within the airflow can be quantified and an offset applied to the collected results.




 McLaren MP4-29 The team are utilising a moveable pitot tube array boom behind the front wheel to measure wheel wake.  Also note the small ball mounted in the front wings cascade, these are thermal imaging cameras looking at the front face of the tyre.

 McLaren MP4-29 - As we can see the pitot tube array boom is now in a different position taking measurements of how the wake from the top of the tyres wake will impinge on performance.  Also note in the inset that the team have not installed the 'Wishbone Wings' at the rear of the car to assess performance without them.


 Mercedes WO5 - testing with a pitot tube array behind the front tyre assessing it's wake




 Marussia MR03 with a pitot tube array installed behind the diffuser to understand it's performance



 Lotus E22 - Pitot tube array (fence) mounted behind the front tyre to assess the tyres wake, note how high the fence is to measure much more than the perceived interference it may have with the Sidepod




 Force India VJM07 - Pitot tube array (fence), this large fence is collating data for the whole rear of the car ahead of the front tyre, you'll note that the fence overhangs the floor to measure the effects as air is drawn into and around the tyre and how that could effect floor performance.

 Toro Rosso STR9 - another team using a pitot tube array behind the front tyre to assess the wake from the front tyre. Also note the team are not using the centralised rear wing pylon raced in Bahrain.


 Force India VJM07 - Note that the usual splash of orange on the sidepods is missing from the car



 McLaren MP4-29 from the rear we can see the team have applied flo-viz (blue paint) in order to assess the airflow without the 'Wishbone Wings' covering the suspension











McLaren MP4-29 the team also tried setting the car up with just the lower of the two 'Wishbone Wing' appendages on the suspension




 Force India VJM07 the team have made a minor change adding some small winglets either side of the crash structure to aid in the upwash of the airflow.  This is similar to solutions we have already seen McLaren and Mercedes adopt.


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5 comments:

  1. great read and great shots. Keep up the goodness

    ReplyDelete
  2. I'm no aero engineer, but it does not seem sensible to have front and rear pitot tube arrays at the same time - re Ferrari pics. Does the front one not mess up the air flow to the rear one?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. they have limited test time. They believe they can correct the results by adding an offset.

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    2. If they were worried about interference I guess they could install them on different sides of the car, so my guess would be that they want a correlation in the measurements of the front tyre wake and those of the airflow over the sidepod.

      Delete

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