Mercedes AMG F1 W05

[thedutchguy]

I made a small gif of the video:
http://i.imgur.com/zGqj2m3.gif

I just watch the whole video which also shows some other cars taking the same kerbs. None of them show even close to the amount of flex/deformation in the front wing like we see here on the Mercedes.

[MercedesAMGSpy]

All i see is a lot of $$$ spent on this car. The detail is very high.. it's almost like a 2008 level of detail.
Lord knows how much was invested into this year, but the car seems to have a lot of downforce by sheer number of surfaces.
The engine's power is more than likely why they can do this kind of thing.

All I see is also a lot of $$$ spent on the Red Bull (Toto Wollf impressed by the amount of boxes with RBR updates) or the Ferrari. Not only money is needed to build a good car.

[Emerson.F]

I made a small gif of the video:
http://i.imgur.com/zGqj2m3.gif

I just watch the whole video which also shows some other cars taking the same kerbs. None of them show even close to the amount of flex/deformation in the front wing like we see here on the Mercedes.

Thats because Nico is riding the curb a lot more. His front left is almost all across the curbs surface, where the vertical gaps are bigger. Thats why it is oscilating like that. I can also have to do with the spring setup of the W05 wich to me looks more like how the Mclaren where, very stiff. These could all be factors wich makes it look as if it's more flexible but imo it has more to do with the speed and angle he is hitting the curb.

[Agerasia]

That is no way consistent in how you would expect an F1 front wing to flex, it's obviously deliberately designed that way.
The question is, why?
I myself believe it has a mass damping effect.

[Emerson.F]

That is no way consistent in how you would expect an F1 front wing to flex, it's obviously deliberately designed that way.
The question is, why?
I myself believe it has a mass damping effect.

I dissagree but I'm listening. Explain.

[stefan_]

I think that's normal flexing considering that he is riding the kerb.

[bonjon1979]

That is no way consistent in how you would expect an F1 front wing to flex, it's obviously deliberately designed that way.
The question is, why?
I myself believe it has a mass damping effect.

I could believe that. I wonder if there are weights at either end of the wing?

[bhall]

Think of the aeroelasticity of the front wing sort of like the viscoelacticity of Silly Putty: the higher the force applied to it, the more rigid it becomes.

Around high-speed circuits, the front wings will flex as intended, but they'll maintain more rigidity within the flex, as it were, due to the high aero loads. The low speeds of Monaco, however, make for less aero loading, so the wing is more deformable, which means the vibrations caused by the bumps of the curbs produce effects they wouldn't produce elsewhere.

Source: I'm the idiot who put forth the idea that the flexible nose on the RB8 was a "mass damper."

[timbo]

That is no way consistent in how you would expect an F1 front wing to flex, it's obviously deliberately designed that way.
The question is, why?
I myself believe it has a mass damping effect.

I could believe that. I wonder if there are weights at either end of the wing?

Yeah. They are called endplates.
Seriously, I think it is impossible to draw any conclusions from this. If one creates a similar shape (i.e. a rigid main plate and a series of relatively elastic flaps) it gonna behave that way.
If somebody calculates the frequency of the vibration and it happens to be in the range of natural frequency of the chassis itself it would be inderect evidence that the wing is indeed tuned, but to me it looks that for each "hop" the car makes there's 4-5 oscillations of the wing, so the frequency is way to high.

[SiLo]

Pretty sure the Merc has quite a soft setup compared to other cars.

[Coefficient]

I made a small gif of the video:

http://i.imgur.com/zGqj2m3.gif

Mass Damper

[Coefficient]

I think that's normal flexing considering that he is riding the kerb.

Check the same in the Williams Thread, their wing is rigid.

[Emerson.F]

I made a small gif of the video:

http://i.imgur.com/zGqj2m3.gif

Mass Damper

Rubbish. It lacks the mass (Weight) for it to be functional as as damper.

[timbo]

I think that's normal flexing considering that he is riding the kerb.

Check the same in the Williams Thread, their wing is rigid.

They don't have as many elements as Merc on their wing and the car seems to be setup differently.

[MountainBiker]

I think riding the kerbs and a stiff suspension set up make it look worse than the other teams.

No doubt that's its been designed and laid-up to flex though, as someone has already pointed out this will be handy on the straights, not so much here maybe but other at other tracks.