High Halo

[PlatinumZealot]

Been thinking about making the Halo look better and probably function better too.
The main gripe about the Halo is that is looks awful on the car.
The second thing is that the views of the driver and from the on-board camera are pretty much gone to crap.

To see if I can at least fix the viewing problem while keeping the same concept, I designed the "High Halo."

It is basically a stretched Halo; it has a higher canopy to give a better views and also give a better escape if the car rolls over. The design is not perfect though, getting into and out of the car could be trickier... perhaps It should be made even taller?

Better views - the driver can see up Eau Rouge now..



Poor view - can't see sh**

[Nickel]

I wish they'd just enclose the cockpit already. These half measures just seem so contrived. No offense intended but your suggestion has contextualized the halo in a less negative light for me. At least it doesn't look like half an egg beater.

[Fulcrum]

I think optimisation in this direction is relatively useless considering the entire purpose of the device was to prevent flying debris coming into contact with the driver - something which is more likely with this 'improvement'. Escaping the cockpit is largely irrelevant these days considering how quickly drivers are attended to in the event of an accident, how low the likelihood of a fire is, and the overall safety of the monocoque in general.

Staying in the vehicle until you can be extricated by marshals is arguably safer than getting out by yourself. At least when the marshals are present you know racing conditions have been suspended.

Honestly, it's less aesthetically pleasing than the current Halo and less useful.

[garyjpaterson]

Not gonna lie, the big positive thats come from your 'tall halo' is it suddenly makes the normal halo look surprisingly neat and aesthetically pleasing.

I may be in the minority but I don't think the hole 'flip flip' look up close is all that bad. Sure, its not 'nice', but its alright.

What bothers me most is how it ruins the already lacking visual proportion of a modern F1 car. It shifts the visual mass much further forward (looking at the car from the side profile), which with the huge length of the wheelbase of these modern cars and most of that space between the driver and rear axle, is very detrimental visually.

[turbof1]

I appreciate that we are atleast getting opinions in on what could be done better. It's always nice to brainstorm on that. If PZ wants, I could redub the title to a more broader subject where all kinds of proposals can be made regarding the Halo.

That being said, I'm not a fan of it being higher, aethetically speaking. It just puts more emphasis on a piece of bodywork which is not integrated into a car's general sillouette. In my opinion, of course.

[jjn9128]

It's naaat true I did not hit heeer I did naaaat. Oh high halo.

Shall we wait until Australia or at least until the car launches and pre-season testing before imagining improvements to the halo - so far they've not been integrated into the chassis, nor have they got the full aero treatment from teams. Why would they give the game away in a post season test?

I will say your high halo would make it near impossible for the drivers to get in or out of the car - already a difficult task without the halo because of the amount of aerodynamic clutter in front of and on top of the sidepods.

[n_anirudh]

perhaps you are blocking the airflow into the airbox and eventually the rear wing. Also CoG is higher and would not prevent debry from entering the shielded zone.

[turbof1]

So this is my view what would be a better solution:


Basically I filled the area between the side pillars a bit up with surfaces to smoothen the transition. I also added additional support right beneath the airbox area, again filled up with a surface to smoothen the transition.

This allows for a thinner structure in the front. Combined with the surfaces, this will more carefully handle the airflow towards the airbox.

My solution emphasises those 2 things: more and more subtle surfaces to merge better with the existing bodywork, less surfaces where it is not able to merge with the bodywork; and a better transition towards the airbox. My take on this is that the driver would be able to quickle release the panels by some sort of release mechanism right where the 4 panels and the front bar meet. It will be a hassle to get the halo fitted when the driver gets into the car, but I take it they aren't dealing with a life treatening fire at that moment of time .

[PlatinumZealot]

How does the driver get into the car though?

I will be refining the High-halo in the meant time. It might just end up being a regular old roll cage canopy.

[turbof1]

How does the driver get into the car though?

I will be refining the High-halo in the meant time. It might just end up being a regular old roll cage canopy.

The panels should be removable. The full halo will be assembled after the driver is seated, with a quick release mechanism when the driver needs to get out. A bit of a challenge given it needs to be structurable able to widstand projectiles at high speed, but nothing an engineer shouldn't be able to handle.

[strad]

Better views - the driver can see up Eau Rouge now..

I could easily slip Massa's spring thru there.

[turbof1]

Better views - the driver can see up Eau Rouge now..

I could easily slip Massa's spring thru there.

Which was already highly likely with the current halo.

I was wondering, is it possible to deviate such a projectile through influencing the path of the airflow?

[strad]

yeah they do seem to be concentrating on things like tire/wheels.
Suppose they figure something like a spring is a one in a million.

[roon]

Better views - the driver can see up Eau Rouge now..

I could easily slip Massa's spring thru there.

Which was already highly likely with the current halo.

I was wondering, is it possible to deviate such a projectile through influencing the path of the airflow?

A sufficiently fast/massive gas stream to redirect something as massive as a spring at 100+ mph... Maybe pyrotechnic charges that fire upward. It only has a split second to influence the object.

I've considered that sturdy upward firing pins mounted around the cockpit, pyrotechnic charge powered perhaps, combined with radar or optical sensors, could track objects within the volume around the front half of the car, and fire upward when need in the proper zone they are mounted in. If constructed of CF, they would act like the front/side/rear crash structures, shattering on impact with debris, absorbing enough of their kinetic energy to reduce their velocity to a safer speed that a normal helmet can deal with. At lower speeds, these moveable structures could block larger, more massive objects. That function may require a metallic structure, not sure. The roll hoops aren't permitted to be made of CF. Can CF not be tailored to that sort of application?

[PlatinumZealot]

I too have thought about that... But there is risk of the barriers activating by accident and seroiusly hurting a person.