Rim Aerodynamics

[trinidefender]

First and foremost can anybody tell me if the rims used by various teams are a standard part with variations allowed on rim coating etc? Or are teams free to design their own rims once they stick to the basic rules of 13" diameter etc?

The reason I asked is because I came up with an idea, that I wouldn't be surprised if many others came up with the same idea, of shaping the rim spokes as fan blades to suck air through the rim. This will have the effect of helping to pull more air through the brakes allowing smaller brake ducts. It will also reduce drag in the same way that the new Ferrari axle ducts work, I.e. Filling the low pressure zone created behind the front tyre.

[beelsebob]

First and foremost can anybody tell me if the rims used by various teams are a standard part with variations allowed on rim coating etc? Or are teams free to design their own rims once they stick to the basic rules of 13" diameter etc?

The reason I asked is because I came up with an idea, that I wouldn't be surprised if many others came up with the same idea, of shaping the rim spokes as fan blades to suck air through the rim. This will have the effect of helping to pull more air through the brakes allowing smaller brake ducts. It will also reduce drag in the same way that the new Ferrari axle ducts work, I.e. Filling the low pressure zone created behind the front tyre.

The teams were doing this about 5 years ago. It was determined to be illegal, as it's a movable aerodynamic device.

[trinidefender]

First and foremost can anybody tell me if the rims used by various teams are a standard part with variations allowed on rim coating etc? Or are teams free to design their own rims once they stick to the basic rules of 13" diameter etc?

The reason I asked is because I came up with an idea, that I wouldn't be surprised if many others came up with the same idea, of shaping the rim spokes as fan blades to suck air through the rim. This will have the effect of helping to pull more air through the brakes allowing smaller brake ducts. It will also reduce drag in the same way that the new Ferrari axle ducts work, I.e. Filling the low pressure zone created behind the front tyre.

The teams were doing this about 5 years ago. It was determined to be illegal, as it's a movable aerodynamic device.

Well I know that they were running big fairings around their rims and things like that but I have never seen any F1 rim spokes shaped like fan blades/wing surfaces/compressor blades to push air out of the inside of the rim. Can anybody provide a picture?

[beelsebob]

First and foremost can anybody tell me if the rims used by various teams are a standard part with variations allowed on rim coating etc? Or are teams free to design their own rims once they stick to the basic rules of 13" diameter etc?

The reason I asked is because I came up with an idea, that I wouldn't be surprised if many others came up with the same idea, of shaping the rim spokes as fan blades to suck air through the rim. This will have the effect of helping to pull more air through the brakes allowing smaller brake ducts. It will also reduce drag in the same way that the new Ferrari axle ducts work, I.e. Filling the low pressure zone created behind the front tyre.

The teams were doing this about 5 years ago. It was determined to be illegal, as it's a movable aerodynamic device.

Well I know that they were running big fairings around their rims and things like that but I have never seen any F1 rim spokes shaped like fan blades/wing surfaces/compressor blades to push air out of the inside of the rim. Can anybody provide a picture?

Not from the time period I was thinking about, but here's a pic of one from earlier than that:

[flynfrog]

http://ziprage.com/uncat/turbofan-wheel ... akes-cool/

[trinidefender]

Well then did the FIA standardise the design of the rim spokes or is there still some freedom when it comes to that?

[beelsebob]

Well then did the FIA standardise the design of the rim spokes or is there still some freedom when it comes to that?

There's still freedom of design there, they just have to not be overtly aero based designs.

[trinidefender]

Well then did the FIA standardise the design of the rim spokes or is there still some freedom when it comes to that?

There's still freedom of design there, they just have to not be overtly aero based designs.

Hmmm that makes me wonder why teams don't try and push the boundaries a bit on rim design and aerodynamics because obviously rims design will have a large impact on how air flows through it and therefore how well they can get airflow into the low pressure zone behind the front tyre

[beelsebob]

Well then did the FIA standardise the design of the rim spokes or is there still some freedom when it comes to that?

There's still freedom of design there, they just have to not be overtly aero based designs.

Hmmm that makes me wonder why teams don't try and push the boundaries a bit on rim design and aerodynamics because obviously rims design will have a large impact on how air flows through it and therefore how well they can get airflow into the low pressure zone behind the front tyre

They already did. The FIA have it sufficiently locked down that RedBull were told they couldn't even drill some holes around the edge of the wheel nut. Any changes in this area are going to be scrutinised intently.

[___]

There's still freedom of design there, they just have to not be overtly aero based designs.

Hmmm that makes me wonder why teams don't try and push the boundaries a bit on rim design and aerodynamics because obviously rims design will have a large impact on how air flows through it and therefore how well they can get airflow into the low pressure zone behind the front tyre

They already did. The FIA have it sufficiently locked down that RedBull were told they couldn't even drill some holes around the edge of the wheel nut. Any changes in this area are going to be scrutinised intently.

That's not really accurate. The wheel nut holes fell foul of the rules specifically because they constituted "air ducts". The ruling effectively rules out a class of aero devices where a fixed air channel interfaces with a rotating air channel, but that's it.

The only restriction on other sorts of "overtly aero based designs" is the abundance of other rules in force.

Most importantly:

j) The wheel design cannot be handed between left and right designs.

That rules out most of the designs pictured above because obviously the fan blades only blow in the right direction when the wheel spins one way.

Probably the next most important:

The only parts which may be physically attached to the wheel in addition to the tyre are
surface treatments for appearance and protection, valves for filling and discharging the tyre,
wheel fasteners, balance weights, drive pegs, tyre pressure and temperature monitoring
devices and spacers on the inboard mounting face of identical specification on all wheels for
the same axle.

This means any trick rims have to be made entirely from magnesium alloy, since any part that isn't could not be claimed to be part of "the wheel" so would instead be a non-permitted attachment. That makes it harder for the aero benefit to outweigh the weight benefit.

Then there's the mountain of dimensional constraints that keep anything straying too far from the norm.

In spite of all that we've seen a number of exotic designs over the years, this year included. There's just nothing out there at the moment that's so good it's a game-changer.