Publisher's Synopsis
Vehicles running at high speed are greatly influenced by their aerodynamic profile. Racing car teams strive to tune the setup seeking higher levels of downforce aerodynamic load. Wind tunnel tests or track data for specific vehicle positions are useful but incomplete and very expensive. Transient loads on the vehicle come from very different sources and, to date, there is no established methodology to take them into consideration. Computer simulation seems to be a good starting point to study the effect of transient aerodynamic loads in the design and optimization of the tuning of the suspension of a racing car. This paper studies the effect of transient aerodynamic loads on the downforce of a vehicle. Heave vibrations on an aileron are analyzed on a simulation model. The data obtained in this simulation model are validated both in a steady and a transient state for different frequencies (1-800Hz). These results lead to the obtainment of a transfer function for the downforce on the aileron in question. Finally, a new quarter car model including aerodynamic effects from these studies is presented and some results on the influence of heave transient aerodynamics loads on a racing car are obtained.
