Calculation of variables in a rear wing

[usethi23]

Hello everyone,
I was doing my final year project at university on F1 rear wings, and I am having real problems calculating the reynolds number, drag and lift force of the wing itself. The formula for drag force is D = 0.5 x density of air x reference area x Coefficient of Drag x Velocity^2. I guess I can take an assumption for the density but how would I calculate the other variables without drag force itself. I am not doing the project on CFD as I have access to a wind tunnel and need to do my experiments there. I am really confused how I would go about calculating all the values. Any help would be really appreciated.

[Lycoming]

You wouldn't. The drag coefficient is dependent on wing geometry. It's either derived from measured data or CFD. Are you trying to predict the performance of the wing to compare with wind tunnel data, without using CFD?

[usethi23]

Yep thats what the aim of the project is. I have the chord length of my lower wing element is 352.9 mm and the upper wing element is 133.7 mm. The width of the wing is 680 mm. I could calculate the area from this, but I was told by my supervisor that the observable area would be slightly different as the total chord length is not meant to be taken. These are also slightly arbitrary values that I have assumed as I dont really know what the exact geometry range should be ( besides the width). How would I calculate the different forces if I were to take these assumptions?

[rjsa]

Have a look here: http://www.f1technical.net/forum/viewto ... =6&t=10795

Nice chart on slotted airfoils.

[gixxer_drew]

When you say calculate, if you dont mean Navier-Stokes you wont get close to accurate. Works fine for aircraft, but narrower span and aspect ratio of race cars the end plates and tip vortices are a huge effect.