hollus wrote: ↑21 Oct 2021, 22:02
Would it be technically legal not to have any sidepod inlet at all?
All cooling would have be central or at least with a central intake and the results might be horrible, but the regs do not force an actual front facing opening in the sidepods, do they?
Is there an volume defined for the opening where there would be scope for aero widgets?
Maybe on one side only?
Well there goes the "one side only" possibility:
→ The car centre line and plane of symmetry for the car, the car must ostensibly be symmetrical except for some cooling variation and front wing flap adjustment.
For the rest, maybe the jury is still out:
3.7 Rear Bodywork
3.7.1 Sidepod
Bodywork declared as “Sidepod” must:
a. Lie within RV-RBW-SPOD.
b. Form no more than two curves on its surface when intersected by any X or Y plane, each of which must be tangent continuous and open. Furthermore:
i. Assessed on any X plane, any such curve that is wholly or partially visible when viewed from the side of the car, is subject to the following requirements:
- Parts of this curve that are visible from the car centre plane (viewed parallel to the Y-axis) and not visible from the side may contain no concave radius of curvature (as defined by Article 3.1.4) smaller than 50mm.
- All other parts of this curve may contain no concave radius of curvature smaller than 200mm.
ii. Assessed on any Y plane, whenever two such curves are visible when viewed from the front of the car, no part of either curve may have a concave radius of curvature smaller than 200mm.
iii. Compliance with (i) and (ii) is not required within a single 50mm diameter sphere defined by the competitor.
c. In any Z plane, any cross section of bodywork must form a single curve on its surface which must be tangent continuous and open.
3.7.6 Apertures
Once the Rear Bodywork surfaces are fully defined in accordance with Articles 3.7.1 to 3.7.5, the following apertures may be added:
a. For the purpose of allowing suspension members and their fairings and driveshafts to protrude through the bodywork and provided that the result of adding the aperture does not subvert the intention of regulation 3.7.4, a single aperture may be added for each suspension member and driveshaft. No such aperture may have an area greater than 12,000mm2. No point on an aperture may be more than 200mm from any other point on the aperture. Individual apertures may adjoin or overlap each other. At the legality ride height defined in Article 10.1.4, the aperture must enclose the suspension member, including its fairing, or driveshaft for parts forward of XR= -55.
b. For the sole purpose of allowing cooling flow exits, apertures may be added provided they lie within RV-RBW-APERTURE. The total area (per side of the car) of such apertures may be no greater than 150,000mm2. Furthermore, any apertures added must be arranged such that, when viewed from above, no part of RS-RBW-APERTURE may be visible through the aperture and any underlying part of the car exposed by application of an aperture must lie no further than 50mm normal to the untrimmed surface. For the avoidance of doubt, no part of the car exposed by application of an aperture may lie external to the untrimmed surface.
c. For the sole purpose of allowing cooling flow exits, apertures may be added inboard of Y= 25. The total area of such apertures may not be greater than 30,000mm2 per side of the car.
d. For the sole purpose of cooling auxiliary components, (such as Electrical Components, etc.), apertures may be added forward of XF=1300 or below Z=100. The total area of such apertures may not exceed 5,000mm2 per side of the car.
e. For the sole purpose of giving tyre temperature sensors visibility of the tyres, a single aperture with an area no greater than 1500mm2 on each side of the car.
All areas mentioned in this Article will be measured on the untrimmed Rear Bodywork surface.
No mention of the front aperture, interesting sentences like "whenever two such curves are visible" (so it does not apply to a single curve?), and different radii depending on whether a part is visible from the side or from the center line of the car.
Also no mention of connectivity... I think the potential for a "faux sidepod" which is really aero work is there. Limited by 200 or 50 mm radii and limited to having no folds, but still with plenty of margin for directing air up or down or sideways in a diagonal, I think.
(more thinking needed...)
((unless the interpretation of this bans it all: "b. Form no more than two curves on its surface when intersected by any X or Y plane, each of which must be tangent continuous and open.")) What the hell does that mean, exactly?
Rivals, not enemies.