A F1 car is always in a dynamic flow when racing. The most common case would be acceleration, deceleration and turning a corner. Due to the new rule by FIA since 2021, ground effect is much more significant for F1 car. Limited by the experimental set-up of F1 teams, flow under the car and accelerating flow are hard to be measured quantitatively.
This research is on an accelerating wing with ground effect. The airfoil representing the front wing is from a real F1 car, the Tyrrell 026. Prediction of downforce and flow field in steady phase was done by conformal mapping (potential flow theory), SST k−ω and 2D-DES CFD simulation.
A force and PIV measurement was done to investigate the dynamic flow behaviour.
The connection between force and flow field was discussed, considering the measured residual force and the added mass force. A conclusion is drawn with suggestion on setting the optimal clearance of an F1 car’s front wing on track, to improve the racing performance of the car.