Developing the Competitive Edge
IndyCar (Champ Car) Wing Development
Project Overview
In 2001, the champ car team, Team Green, wanted to increase the downforce over the Reynard wing that was currently being run. Over a six month period their current rear wing was analyzed and an improved design was created. The new design was prototyped and then tested in a wind tunnel. The results showed the new designed produced the increase in downforce that was desired.
Shortly after finishing the development on the new wing, the Champ Car series moved to a spec wing removing the possibility that this wing would be used. The design was a success but it never made it into production.
Additional Project Details
A full Viscous Navier Stokes analysis was performed:
- Both 2D and 3D models were used in the developement
- Several hours to converge on computing cluster
- A simplified undertray was developed to accurately represent the flow near the wing
- Detailed analysis of results by experienced engineer required
Project Results
The final design was found to be extremely efficient with a great deal of down force.
Project Images
At A Glance
Project Goal
Use computation fluid dynamics to improve the rear wing design on a Champ Car.
The Techniques
- High order surface modeling techniques (Boeing code)
- Complete Flow Visualization
- Navier Stokes Analysis (NASA code)
The Results
An improved rear wing was successfully designed and confirmed with wind tunnel testing!