Side pod design

[mach11]

how is the sidepod of a F1 car designed???

what design parameters are taken into consideration???

[wesley123]

well i believe regulations and what cooling it needs, the teams always try to make the sidepod tighter with more undercut fronts and lower and tighter rear ends. But you can go to far with such things, see the Brawns undercut sidepod, it was too much undercut that it was inefficient(the transition around the sidepod was really bad) and they filed it in with a infill panel.

[ringo]

I was thinking about this the other day too, i guess the front tyre area is also considered. New tyre width for 2010 should affect the sidepod opening shape.

[mach11]

the cars during season 1994-1995 were having sidepods very far from the front tyres but for the past few years they are a little forward...

with the new front wing for a car will it cause loss of pressure near the opening of the sidepod?????

i was reading about drafting of air.... is that considered for the design of the sidepod???

[gedders2010]

Side pods are designed under 3 parameters

the cooling requirements given by the engine manufacturers
the radiator dimensions
Airflow

My understanding is that the newer "half heart" side pods are shaped to avoid hot air from the brake cooling ducts entering and to allow air that travels through the suspension arms in. As we know the width is determined by the width of the radiator and the dimensions are calulated with the amount of heat transfer needed for an engine.

[ringo]

The downward slope at the end seems to be most exagerated by team redbull.



Mclaren's are almost horizontal. (from the aero dev thread)


That sidepod on the redbull almost terminates at the floor! No matter why they had to split the engine cover to allow for more cooling. There is almost not enough area at the end for sufficient heat extraction.

[mach11]

are there any advantages or disadvantages of placing the radiators on top of the intake manifold...
this way a channel for air to cool the radiator can be made through the air intake design....

this way the width of the car also reduces making it more streamlined....

[Mystery Steve]

are there any advantages or disadvantages of placing the radiators on top of the intake manifold...
this way a channel for air to cool the radiator can be made through the air intake design....

this way the width of the car also reduces making it more streamlined....

Hypothetically you could do it. But to get enough mass flow you would have to increase the area of the intake inlet so that you can effectively evacuate heat from the radiators and feed the engine. This extra intake area contributes to the drag the same as separate radiator/engine intakes.

Also, the current location of the radiators would complicate the routing of the air flow from the current intake locations, and the radiators are in a very convenient spot at the moment since they are located low (and they contain a lot of water so they are heavy) and they can't be pushed back much further due to packaging with the engine and exhaust.

Having the radiators and sidepods also offers driver protection by absorbing energy in a side collision. It just makes too much sense to have them where they are that I wouldn't see it worth it to move them.