Front wing - Vortex generators

[proutyc]

Was it just my eyes playing tricks on me or did the Red Bulls have a large number of vortex generators under the front wing?

[wesley123]

These are strakes, due to the proximity of the front wing to the ground it can work pretty similair to a diffuser, hence the strakes

[proutyc]

Thanks

There looked like there was more than a dozen of them. I'll watch the race tonight and find the bit where I saw it again. Just wondered whether anyone else noticed them or not.

May have been in practise though.

Maybe I'm losing it

[Formula None]

Strakes & rake
Make no mistake
Separate the pros
From the fakes



AFAIK this is a common feature on the FWs these days.

[n_anirudh]

2009 Ferrari...they straighten the airflow and also generate a vortex

[ringo]

Those may not generate a vortex. The pressure and speed is almost equal on both sides.
Those are just straighteners.

Vortex generation is not necessarily good. It's only used in cases where there is no better option to improve flow.
Avoiding vortex generation is the goal in most cases.

[hardingfv32]

A serious question: What needs straightening so soon? The air flow has just made its first contact with the car?

Would this not be similar to the vertical dividers found in the diffuse, helping to keep flow attached to the back side of the wing?

Brian

[n_anirudh]

To prevent "upwash"...the flow tends to be more spanwise as we go away from the car centreline and these straightners keep the flow 2D

[proutyc]

Sorry I understand the strakes but I was convinced I saw vertox generators on Vettels front underside of the wing. Problem is I think it was now in practise and I've deleted my TV coverage from the practise sessions.

Just wondering whether anyone else may have noticed or did I just make it up. (I'm thinking the later now)

[ringo]

A serious question: What needs straightening so soon? The air flow has just made its first contact with the car?

Would this not be similar to the vertical dividers found in the diffuse, helping to keep flow attached to the back side of the wing?

Brian

It wont have a problem staying attached to the front wing, as it's very low cambaer compared to the rear.
These strakes prevent diagonal flow under the wing. If the flow goes diagonally, when it comes over the top edge, it will be misaligned with the flow over the top.
This will create vortices and will be bad for anything behind it, and to the outisde of it.
You want parallel flow between top and bottom for better efficiency.

[Pierce89]

A serious question: What needs straightening so soon? The air flow has just made its first contact with the car?

Would this not be similar to the vertical dividers found in the diffuse, helping to keep flow attached to the back side of the wing?

Brian

It wont have a problem staying attached to the front wing, as it's very low cambaer compared to the rear.
These strakes prevent diagonal flow under the wing. If the flow goes diagonally, when it comes over the top edge, it will be misaligned with the flow over the top.
This will create vortices and will be bad for anything behind it, and to the outisde of it.
You want parallel flow between top and bottom for better efficiency.

Agrred 100%. I was going to say the same thing until I scrolled down and saw your comment.

[shelly]

as Tombazis said in a recent interview, one of the most imortant feature of current fornt wings is that they emit vortices. Exploitation,control and intercation downstram of these vortices is very important.

In this picture I have represented main vortices from rbr front wing.
Colour red for clockwise rotatinfg vortices wheen seen from front, blue color for counterclokwise.

Most vortices are tip vortices from wing, winglet, flap. Semicircular shapes are made on endplates and fornt mainplane to house voritces and guide their expansion.

[wesley123]

shelly, what exactly makes you think the cascade end plates generate vortices? Sure due to the wing there is an pressure difference at it's trailing edge, but I doubt it over the whole wing.

Also I believe the small flap on the main cascade generates a vortex on its main tip, as well as reducing pressure differnce from in and outside the end plate, in the cascade region creating a smaller vortex, of course by the wing's trailing edge this vortex is really strong.

The R addition creates an vortex too, possibly clockwise? sure this has effect of the tip vortex generated by vortex number 4

[shelly]

wesley: which is the vortex frome the cascade you are uncertain about? Number 6 or 7?

3 is maybe ill-represented, it is the tip vortex from the flap that is emitted from above tha endplate (ferrari has for example a small triangle here to exploit it).
In my view 1,2,3 and 4 are the strongest vortices; 5 comes from the transition from the mandated central section to the flapped one, and till now we have seen only recently rbr with an anh to huse that.

I agree that a vortex from the r-winglet could interact with 4, but I think that if it si released from the inside r-winglet tip it should rotate counter clockwise in this picture(loaded top surface pushing air towards the inside, sucked bootm surface attracting air to the outside).

[PNSD]

Vortex generation is not necessarily good. It's only used in cases where there is no better option to improve flow.
Avoiding vortex generation is the goal in most cases.

This case really applies to aircraft where drag is fuel, and fuel is money.

VG's are a very simple way of exploiting airflow and with racecars, they are more often than not intentional and by design.