Mercedes AMG F1 W03

[prince]

I am trying to highlight some concerns that i have in understanding the working of w-duct.
1. With the kind of place and shape the holes are in rear wing, i feel the air that enters those holes would be of very small pressure.
2. Refer to the blue arrows in the picture, this would be the direction of high pressure air that travels towards the flap when the flap opens at straight lines.
3. I don't think there is a possibility of air entering in the crosswords direction with high pressure as the red arrows show.
4. For high pressure air (blue arrows) to enter those holes, there should be some kind of a receptor design (refer yellow shape, not as big as in the picture, its imaginary), which is not the case.

So, i strongly feel that the air that enters the holes wouldn't have such a high pressure that it goes all the way to the front wing. We are talking about atmost 1 mile distance (in qualifying, even lesser at race) where the flap would remain open. For the pressure to build up in the pipes and to create any action towards front wing, it would atleast should take few seconds, by this time, the flap would be closed as the car would have travelled that distance.

So, I strongly feel that there would be some other logic to get the front wing stalled (if that is the case).

[Coefficient]

I am trying to highlight some concerns that i have in understanding the working of w-duct.
1. With the kind of place and shape the holes are in rear wing, i feel the air that enters those holes would be of very small pressure.
2. Refer to the blue arrows in the picture, this would be the direction of high pressure air that travels towards the flap when the flap opens at straight lines.
3. I don't think there is a possibility of air entering in the crosswords direction with high pressure as the red arrows show.
4. For high pressure air (blue arrows) to enter those holes, there should be some kind of a receptor design (refer yellow shape, not as big as in the picture, its imaginary), which is not the case.

So, i strongly feel that the air that enters the holes wouldn't have such a high pressure that it goes all the way to the front wing. We are talking about atmost 1 mile distance (in qualifying, even lesser at race) where the flap would remain open. For the pressure to build up in the pipes and to create any action towards front wing, it would atleast should take few seconds, by this time, the flap would be closed as the car would have travelled that distance.

So, I strongly feel that there would be some other logic to get the front wing stalled (if that is the case).

I think most rear wings these days tend to be designed to spread the flow from the centre out towards the endplates which is why we see vortices on the trailing edge of the end plates in damp conditions. The airflow finds the apertures in the end plates quite easily as such. Also, the device sucks the air into the holes when activated to compound the effect. The suction is a natural side effect of high speed air passing under the front wing and creating suction that acts upon the F duct slots underneath the front wing thus pulling air through the system.

[A13EX_f]

Its quite cold in China, why would they need this?

possibly the air being channelled from the rear wing is combined with the air from this vent and fed to the front wing, i'm no aerodynamic expert so i may be wrong and don't quite know how it could be achieved without any moving parts, but I don't see the air from the rear wing travelling through all that pipework having a massive amount of pressure or enough volume to have a big effect on the front wing on it's own.

[lillschumi]

I believe all the nonsense about W03 not able to put heat into the tires i BS. If they couldn´t get heat into the tires they wouldn´t be able to produce a pole lap.

If they have a heating issue then it´s overheating. My bucks still is that it has to do with fuel load. When the car is loaded performance goes down the drain.

Would be good if some guy with knowledge can start speculate what is the problem, my money is CoG and fueltank.

[Maelstrom]

I believe all the nonsense about W03 not able to put heat into the tires i BS. If they couldn´t get heat into the tires they wouldn´t be able to produce a pole lap.

If they have a heating issue then it´s overheating. My bucks still is that it has to do with fuel load. When the car is loaded performance goes down the drain.

Would be good if some guy with knowledge can start speculate what is the problem, my money is CoG and fueltank.

You've dismissed what Brawn himself has said on a very loose assumption. How can you say that for sure?

[motobaleno]

Mercedes has tyre wear issues to get on top of, and when they do they'll be a front running team.

old story isn'it?

[hardingfv32]

Its quite cold in China, why would they need this?

....but I don't see the air from the rear wing travelling through all that pipework having a massive amount of pressure or enough volume to have a big effect on the front wing on it's own.

1) Yes, you could question the effectiveness of the system. Maybe that is why no one has copied the idea.

2) The cover, with the taped up duct, could just be part of the assembly/cover that carriers the Friday only Pitot stalk/tube.

Brian

[hardingfv32]

Note the size of the axles. Seems odd with all the aero concerns in this aera.

Brian

[Ferraripilot]

Not really. It simply appears they machined the outer area of the half shafts in front of the brake duct wing area so to maximize flow potential to those wings. Good idea IMO

[Ferraripilot]

From what I saw of the heavy fuel load runs on similar tires to other teams, W03 appeared quicker than RB8 but a tenth or so slower than Mp4-27.

[jason.parker.86]

Why is Rosberg constantly putting his hand down here in the cockpit? A bit like McLaren's used to for their F-Duct?

[wesley123]

Changing brake balance by the lever located there

[hardingfv32]

Isn't brake balance the only mechanical adjustment left for the driver to do while on track.

Brian

[PaulB]

Isn't brake balance the only mechanical adjustment left you the driver to do while on track.

Brian

Yep it is. Except steering.

[hardingfv32]

I am trying to highlight some concerns that i have in understanding the working of w-duct.
1. With the kind of place and shape the holes are in rear wing, i feel the air that enters those holes would be of very small pressure.
2. Refer to the blue arrows in the picture, this would be the direction of high pressure air that travels towards the flap when the flap opens at straight lines.
3. I don't think there is a possibility of air entering in the crosswords direction with high pressure as the red arrows show.
4. For high pressure air (blue arrows) to enter those holes, there should be some kind of a receptor design (refer yellow shape, not as big as in the picture, its imaginary), which is not the case.

The hole in the wing end plate looks like a 'rear' facing NACA duct. This would imply that flow is being removed from the system at the rear wing. I have a study that puts the pressure at a +0.15 psi on the inside surface of the endplate where the hole is. This is for a two element wing or in this case with the flap closed. The pressure will be lower with the flap open.

The pressure under the front wing will be n the order of -0.10 psi.

I wonder why they are blowing a secondary flap instead of the main element.

Brian