McLaren MP4-31 Honda

A place to discuss the characteristics of the cars in Formula One, both current as well as historical. Laptimes, driver worshipping and team chatter do not belong here.
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Pierce89
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Re: McLaren MP4-31 Honda

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Thunders wrote:Amazing how the Article talks about different finishes to micromanage Airflow when the Wing was in reality just a Prototype that simply hasn't been painted yet. :mrgreen: We've seen this before this Season.
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Thunder
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Re: McLaren MP4-31 Honda

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AMuS has a good Picture of the new Splitter used in Silverstone:
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3jawchuck
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Re: McLaren MP4-31 Honda

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Pierce89 wrote:
Thunders wrote:Amazing how the Article talks about different finishes to micromanage Airflow when the Wing was in reality just a Prototype that simply hasn't been painted yet. :mrgreen: We've seen this before this Season.
Somers is always full of it. The tiny tiny bit he does know, he learned here at f1t.
That's perhaps a little harshly put. Still, I think it's obvious that technical forums and such are used heavily by nearly all technical journalists, at least those who haven't actually worked in F1 in a technical role.

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mclaren111
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Re: McLaren MP4-31 Honda

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Amus:

Image
In terms of front wing is experimenting with McLaren. Particularly at the transitions of the individual elements are working, as can clearly be seen on the metal inserts.
Is it possible that these Aluminium pieces on the Front Wing is fitted with sensors and are for evaluation purposes only ??

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Alonso Fan
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I was under the impression the metal had been added to increase strength. The areas where the metal has been added are some of the weakest points of the wing structurally. The metal parts were present at the gp before testing too

Not sure if they were used in the race though
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mclaren111
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Re: McLaren MP4-31 Honda

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But were hardly used during testing this week - if at all ?? !!

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godlameroso
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Re: McLaren MP4-31 Honda

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Alonso Fan wrote:I was under the impression the metal had been added to increase strength. The areas where the metal has been added are some of the weakest points of the wing structurally. The metal parts were present at the gp before testing too

Not sure if they were used in the race though
Carbon fiber is stronger than steel.
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3jawchuck
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Re: McLaren MP4-31 Honda

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godlameroso wrote:
Alonso Fan wrote:I was under the impression the metal had been added to increase strength. The areas where the metal has been added are some of the weakest points of the wing structurally. The metal parts were present at the gp before testing too

Not sure if they were used in the race though
Carbon fiber is stronger than steel.
Carbon fibres themselves are generally stronger than most metals, but that's only a uniaxial property right? Carbon fibre composites can be somewhat isotropic, but in that case surely they wouldn't be as strong as the carbon fibre itself in any single direction? Perhaps the choice of material is related to the nature of the loading expected, perhaps its related to fracture? For which a metal could be a better choice. However, joining carbon fibre composite to metals is tricky. Must be a very good reason for it.

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mclaren111
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Re: McLaren MP4-31 Honda

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Maybe it's for use on very bumpy circuits only ?? !!

zac510
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Re: McLaren MP4-31 Honda

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I was considering whether the standard (central) wing part is perhaps one-piece moulded to the nosecone, but I can't find in the regulations whether the central wing section needs to be detached for the FIA crash test (ie the nose test is nose-only).

If it is now one piece then these metallic parts could be the joints where they actually change the wing profiles.

Farfar
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Re: McLaren MP4-31 Honda

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Coul be a way to speed up the manufacturing process so they can go faster from design to the trackpad.

SameSame
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Re: McLaren MP4-31 Honda

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3jawchuck wrote:
godlameroso wrote:
Alonso Fan wrote:I was under the impression the metal had been added to increase strength. The areas where the metal has been added are some of the weakest points of the wing structurally. The metal parts were present at the gp before testing too

Not sure if they were used in the race though
Carbon fiber is stronger than steel.
Carbon fibres themselves are generally stronger than most metals, but that's only a uniaxial property right? Carbon fibre composites can be somewhat isotropic, but in that case surely they wouldn't be as strong as the carbon fibre itself in any single direction? Perhaps the choice of material is related to the nature of the loading expected, perhaps its related to fracture? For which a metal could be a better choice. However, joining carbon fibre composite to metals is tricky. Must be a very good reason for it.
A single layer of a carbon fiber composite will have uniaxial or more likely biaxial properties if it's a normal cross weave. That's why a lot of thought goes into the stacking orientation of each layer. I'm sure they know which loadings to expect so making a certain composite isotropic would seem like unnecessary excess weaves.

And here you can see the mechanical properties of a 0/90 weave in a tensile test at different orientations: http://www.performance-composites.com/c ... ties_2.asp

The carbon fiber composite is clearly no where close to being as strong as steel, but it's the fact that it is so light that makes it an attractive material.

Edit: After looking at that picture closely the metal is in no way being used as a structural support.
Last edited by SameSame on 16 Jul 2016, 11:04, edited 1 time in total.

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Drica
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Re: McLaren MP4-31 Honda

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zac510 wrote:I was considering whether the standard (central) wing part is perhaps one-piece moulded to the nosecone, but I can't find in the regulations whether the central wing section needs to be detached for the FIA crash test (ie the nose test is nose-only).

If it is now one piece then these metallic parts could be the joints where they actually change the wing profiles.
Central part of the front wing is not moulded from the nosecone. Nosecone has two bolts where you can attach the front wing.

Just_a_fan
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SameSame wrote: The carbon fiber composite is clearly no where close to being as strong as steel, but it's the fact that it is so light that makes it an attractive material.
Composite's excellent specific strength/modulus are the key. Sure, steel is much stronger but, per kg, Carbon composite blows it out of the water. In an environment where performance is inversely proportional to weight, that's the big benefit.

Indeed, steel, aluminium and titanium all have similar specific strengths leading, I understand, Williams' Patrick Head to say "titanium is just for people who can't design properly in aluminium" :lol:
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SameSame
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Re: McLaren MP4-31 Honda

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Just_a_fan wrote:
SameSame wrote: The carbon fiber composite is clearly no where close to being as strong as steel, but it's the fact that it is so light that makes it an attractive material.
Composite's excellent specific strength/modulus are the key. Sure, steel is much stronger but, per kg, Carbon composite blows it out of the water. In an environment where performance is inversely proportional to weight, that's the big benefit.

Indeed, steel, aluminium and titanium all have similar specific strengths leading, I understand, Williams' Patrick Head to say "titanium is just for people who can't design properly in aluminium" :lol:
Hmmm this is where terminology becomes a bit finicky, I don't think there exists such a thing as specific modulus but I know exactly what you are trying to say and I fully agree with that. Pound for pound it truly is amazing provided it is loaded in the intended direction(s).

Hahaha I can imagine that being very true :mrgreen: