Authors: Tiago Rocha, André Oliveira, Luís Eça, André Marta

Formula Student cars use aerodynamic appendages that are becoming too complex. However, the limitations imposed by the rules (low aspect ratio wings) and the relatively low speeds that the cars attain lead to large drag forces to obtain a significant downforce. The goal of this study is to reduce the drag force of the rear wing of a Formula Student by using a new design of the endplates that uses airfoils sections. A model at the scale 1:2.5 is tested in two wind tunnels to evaluate the aerodynamic performance of the new design and compare it with the traditional use of flat plates for the endplates and a wing without endplates. The two wind tunnels allow to check the influence of the Reynolds number that has a significant impact on the performance of the new design. At the desired range of Reynolds numbers, the results confirm the potential of the new design to reduce the drag force generated by the rear wing. The experimental data also show significant scale effects at low Reynolds numbers with a decrease of the lift to drag ratio.

Tiago Rocha1 | André Oliveira1 | Luís Eça1 | André Marta1
1 Departamento de Engenharia Mecânica, Instituto Superior Técnico, Portugal,
Emails: tiago.pereira.rocha@tecnico.ulisboa.pt; andrerochaoliveira@tecnico.ulisboa.pt; luis.eca@tecnico.ulisboa.pt; andre.marta@tecnico.ulisboa.pt