Numerical analysis of the rear wing mount of a formula 1 type car for material selection

Abstract

In F1-type racing cars, there is a special type of mounting system for the rear wing and it is the main load-carrying component of the wings that transfer the aerodynamic force to the main structure. This type of mounting is called F1-type rear wing mounting. Wings are mounted on endplates and endplates are connected to the main load-carrying structure. In this analysis, an effort has been given to select proper material with lower weight for the endplates of a formula F1 student vehicle. Aerodynamic forces for longitudinal air flow are considered as the load on the wing and the endplate. Various materials including fiber-reinforced composites are considered for the endplate to identify the proper material for the endplate which would show minimum weight with acceptable deformation and stress. The thickness of the endplate is considered identical for all materials. Aerodynamic forces are also kept constant for all the systems made of different materials. The deformation, weight and equivalent stress of the simple endplates were analyzed. Results show that the Epoxy-Carbon Fiber Unidirectional 395 GPa composite appeared to be the suitable one in terms of weight, deformation and maximum equivalent stress. Using this material, the weight of the endplates can be reduced by 80.38% and 44.41% compared to the steel and aluminum endplates respectively.