Aerodynamic Simulation of a 2017 F1 Car with Open-Source CFD Code

Abstract

Open-wheeled race car aerodynamics is unquestionably challenging insofar as it involves many physical phenomena, such as slender and blunt body aerodynamics, ground effect, vortex management and interaction between different sophisticated aero devices. In the current work, a 2017 F1 car aerodynamics has been investigated from a numerical point of view by using an open-source code. The vehicle project was developed by PERRINN (Copyright©2011—Present PERRINN), an engineering community founded by Nicolas Perrin in 2011. The racing car performance is quantitatively evaluated in terms of drag, downforce, efficiency and front balance. The goals of the present CFD (computational fluid dynamics)-based research are the following: analyzing the capabilities of the open-source software OpenFOAM in dealing with complex meshes and external aerodynamics calculation, and developing a reliable workflow from CAD (computer aided design) model to the post-processing of the results, in order to meet production demands.