[MVRC] Mantium Virtual Racecar Challenge 2022 (Grand Prix Cars)

[CAEdevice]

Hi, sorry if I ask a question that has nothing to do with the topic. I can't link your nick with your team / car.

I think that it would be great to better know who we are challenging with. Once, we proposed to include the team name in the visible data (below the messages) , but it would be nice to organize something like a video conference (unofficial, so as not to give the staff any more work)

EDIT: OK, I found the old message: your team is Tolo Racing.

[variante]

Only, i'd prefer the cross sections of my wings to not be shown (at least, not clearly).

Things like wing profiles don't really hold any secrets, it just depends on whether someone's taught you how to design them or not. And this competition should be about teaching things like that imo.

Well, no one taught me.
I started from public images and then invested time and effort to understand airfoils and develop design strategies.
I'm not particularly jealous of such knowledge (you can find many details of my wings in my thread, or in old MVRC discussions), but it's still a competitive advantage that shouldn't be nonchalantly given away.

There aren't many people to learn that from anyway, including the academic world and motorsport world. Not because it's such a difficult topic, but mostly because it's a niche topic even for aerodynamicists. So, for most people, airfoils do hold many secrets.

And that's one of the reasons why i find this competition so interesting: it forces you to build knowledge yourself, to go deep into it. It's a learning path even when there's no one to teach you.

This being said, i reiterate that i agree with sharing much more stuff, at least to fuel the conversation.

[CAEdevice]

I remember when I used simple arcs to model airfoils... maybe 6 or 7 years ago, when I submitted (as a mechanical engineer with no aero skills) my first car for a KVRC (now MVRC) race.

[Hutchie.91]

Ermm, so is my thread that explains my workflow of creating aerofoils from scratch and asking for feedback/tips a good or bad thing? Is that thread something that people might have used to create their own? Not that copying from me is exactly a good idea anyway, especially when I was unsure about my own methods

Edit: Also sorry for just lurking like this and butting in randomly. I genuinely wanted to enter but IRL things got in the way such as a new job, (and of course im still not confident in NX yet like I am with Catia which I no longer have access to). Maybe next year, or I could still try get a car done just for shits and giggles without entering any races and get some feedback from it to somewhat prepare me for the next season

[Koldskaal]

So this was a new one for me...

Andre, did you mention something about overlapping stls for the engine inlet?
Could that cause this issue?

[LVDH]

This is very odd. Either your car is going backwards or maybe the inlet surface has a bad name. You could check 0/U and see if the boundary condition there makes sense.

[LegendaryM]

So here's the car I'm submitting for this race, I've spent quite a bit of time on it since I last posted a picture. Recently I've had a few issues with the cooling flow fluctuating +/- 0.3 m^3/s between very similar runs so hopefully what I submit ends up on the upper bound of that

[variante]

A bit sad that you abandoned the first crazy layout. But this new one is looking great.
And it looks well developed already, so i'm very curious to see how it performs.

[LVDH]

Interesting car. It does show something that I really do not like about the current rules though. I think the structure of the front wing is unrealistic. Without being an expert in carbon fiber construction, I think the front elements of the front wing would bend pretty far downwards. Now I could come up with some rules, but the simple fix is adding these tiny support structures as seen on the outer parts between the wing elements. So the fix is easy, but for the competition and the simulations, I would like to avoid these tiny detail structures.
What do you guys think about this?

[CAEdevice]

Interesting car. It does show something that I really do not like about the current rules though. I think the structure of the front wing is unrealistic. Without being an expert in carbon fiber construction, I think the front elements of the front wing would bend pretty far downwards. Now I could come up with some rules, but the simple fix is adding these tiny support structures as seen on the outer parts between the wing elements. So the fix is easy, but for the competition and the simulations, I would like to avoid these tiny detail structures.
What do you guys think about this?

I agree. Another point is the capability to dissipate energy in case of crash with such a slim shape.

Also, sharp noses are not safe in case of lateral impact with another car, so they are non allowed in the real world (but our challenge is real too).

The car is very well modeled, and same details are interesting (especially the diffuser strakes with large side outlets and the pre 2022 wings).

I was out of office today (in Monza to see the "physical" cars), so I will reveal my "numerical" car for Monza tomorrow.

[G-raph]

Great car indeed! I think it will easily be faster than any car from Race 1.
Now the question is, has anyone else improved enough to beat it?

[CAEdevice]

This is MP009 ready for Monza (except for the front wing and the nose that will be a bit different: I am waiting for the latest simualation).

[CAEdevice]

Great car indeed! I think it will easily be faster than any car from Race 1.
Now the question is, has anyone else improved enough to beat it?

... for Monza my favorite car is Koldskaal's, considering that it is almost perfect and balanced. Also Max produced a well refined car. If I had to guess the podium, I would not forget to include Variante, whose numbers about drag and downforce are the best: if he could solve balance and cooling issues he is going to easily win his home race.

[LegendaryM]

Interesting car. It does show something that I really do not like about the current rules though. I think the structure of the front wing is unrealistic. Without being an expert in carbon fiber construction, I think the front elements of the front wing would bend pretty far downwards. Now I could come up with some rules, but the simple fix is adding these tiny support structures as seen on the outer parts between the wing elements. So the fix is easy, but for the competition and the simulations, I would like to avoid these tiny detail structures.
What do you guys think about this?

Yeah I agree definitely in real life it would need those little stays between the primary element and the others, but I don't think we need/should spend time designing these little things. The tiny structures in the outer part are actually strakes, I have to join the strakes to each wing profile to meet the different front wing rules regarding the end of a section being visible from below etc.

I agree. Another point is the capability to dissipate energy in case of crash with such a slim shape.

Also, sharp noses are not safe in case of lateral impact with another car, so they are non allowed in the real world (but our challenge is real too).

I did actually ask for clarification on the nose to check if it was realistic - I don't think its any more extreme than the 2006 Mclaren or the Mercedes of recent years, its actually quite thick from the side view.


Thanks for all the nice comments everyone I'm not too sure how I'll perform, I've lost a bit of downforce recently when I matched my CFD process to what was required, it'll still be my very first race after all.

[LegendaryM]

A bit sad that you abandoned the first crazy layout. But this new one is looking great.
And it looks well developed already, so i'm very curious to see how it performs.

Yes me too, but if it doesn't perform well you've got to be prepared to throw it away. Having the cooling up there had big advantages in terms of exhausting the cooling air above the rear wing and delivering clean flow towards the beam wing, but it was high drag and also reduced the mass flow to the rear wing a lot - which meant that the beam wing and the floor didn't work as well too