Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Katz, J. (1995). Race car aerodynamics: Designing for speed. Cambridge, MA,
USA: R.
Bentley. ISBN 978-0-8376-0142-7
Adding the aerodynamic components to the car can result in reducing drag and
increasing downforce.
Adding aerodynamic components improves both the performance as well as
handling. Reduction in drag yields a better fuel economy and also the car
acceleration is improved.
Increase in the downforce results in better utilization of tire grip. This results in
better handling of the car at higher speeds. It also improves the turning ability
of cars at high speed due to more usage of tyre grip. Thus aerodynamics plays
a huge role in how a car performs in a race.
Smith, C. (1984). Engineer to win: The essential guide to racing car materials
technology.
Rolling Hills Estates, CA: Carroll Smith Consulting., ISBN 978-0-615-75409-3
The major contributors for aerodynamic downforce over the years are inverted
wings and underbody diffuser (Smith, 1985).
The design of the aerodynamic element for race cars is complex due to the
body interaction between various parts of the vehicle. Due to the advent of
many advanced tools, this complexity has been reduced. Recent advancement
in Computational Fluid Dynamics has allowed the simulations of aerodynamics
to accurately predict the downforce, flow patterns and other air flow around
the vehicles. Thus, aerodynamics plays a huge role in how a car performs in a
race.
According to Smith (1984), Downforce describes the downward pressure
created by the aerodynamic characteristics of a car that allow it to travel faster
through a corner by holding the
car to the track or road surface