Tommy Cookers wrote: ↑03 May 2018, 00:15
@ SonicBoom
initial braking power at the rear axle can be c. 1000 kW - this then falls rapidly with falling speed and downforce
ie most of the braking energy is flowing at a rate far beyond the rate at which a 120 kW MGU-K can capture energy
the rear braking energy rate only falls to 120 kW at rather low speed and downforce
so a 120 kW MG can only capture/provide a fraction of the total rear braking energy
Good point, I had overlooked both the effect of the aero drag and the peak braking capacity.
Since this idea of recovering additional energy from the MGU-K is centred around actually having it available, is there a simple-ish method for which we could calculate the recoverable energy? i.e. could we just say 120kW x total time under braking(per lap)? That would just assume that whenever under braking the full 120kW is being recovered.
If that is a reasonable approach, then on Sebs pole lap at Baku (crudely - based on onboard footage) the total possible recovered energy from the MGU-K is only ~1.9MJ (~16 seconds of braking)
Also, apologies if all of this has already been discussed elsewhere, I'm still new to this forum. So feel free to direct me to where it's been covered.