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Indycar Mandates New Aero Component
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The Verizon IndyCar Series has mandated the use of chassis-mounted wickers in the name of safety, and those devices will become a permanent fixture on all Dallara DW12 chassis starting this month. The “monocoque centerline wicker,” as they are called by the series, have been affixed to the top of the DW12 chassis and run from the base of the tub to the cockpit opening.
The wickers act in a similar principle to NASCAR’s roof flaps that spoil air going over the car when turned sideways or spinning. The series has elected to include them as an additional safety measure for when a car is in a serious state of yaw—at an extreme angle. With the centerline wicker added, air flowing across the curved chassis would be spoiled when hitting the wicker and should reduce the chances of lift being created to pull an Indy car off the ground.
“All the cars have them now, and they will have them for every race going forward,” said Tino Belli, IndyCar’s director of aerodynamic development. “The air accelerates rapidly over the car in a spin, and to help with stability in that situation, we sought a solution to decrease the likelihood of a car turning over. As soon as we were aware of that factor, we wanted to implement a safety measure which we’ve done with the centerline wicker.”
Belli says IndyCar contracted multiple computational fluid dynamic vendors to run simulations with the centerline wicker, and later tested the unit at a super speedway.
“The initial testing was all done in CFD because it’s hard to put a car at 90 degrees in a wind tunnel,” he noted. “We used multiple CFD vendors to check and calculate the findings, and the results from all parties in CFD were of a similar magnitude and made things better. The video people saw with Honda at Fontana was to check there were no adverse effects in gusts of wind, and the drivers reported they couldn’t feel its presence on the car.”
A similar, but much shorter wicker ran from the tip of the nose to cockpit on the previous Dallara IR07 and with the significant change in aerodynamics on the DW12, a taller wicker was required. In an interesting sidebar, representatives using the aero kit supplied by one manufacturer have been vocal in saying they’ve been forced to run the centerline wicker because of deficiencies exposed with the other aero kit. Belli refutes the claim.
“That’s incorrect,” he said. “Both cars, at 90 degrees of yaw, have an increased speed in which they would flip over without the centerline wicker on. Both of them were seeing the same increase from the DW12, and this wicker added because it takes that speed way, way out of what’s seen on the track. Some of these [required] introductions have been made with expected speed increases over the next few years. We’re looking to the future.”
The wickers act in a similar principle to NASCAR’s roof flaps that spoil air going over the car when turned sideways or spinning. The series has elected to include them as an additional safety measure for when a car is in a serious state of yaw—at an extreme angle. With the centerline wicker added, air flowing across the curved chassis would be spoiled when hitting the wicker and should reduce the chances of lift being created to pull an Indy car off the ground.
“All the cars have them now, and they will have them for every race going forward,” said Tino Belli, IndyCar’s director of aerodynamic development. “The air accelerates rapidly over the car in a spin, and to help with stability in that situation, we sought a solution to decrease the likelihood of a car turning over. As soon as we were aware of that factor, we wanted to implement a safety measure which we’ve done with the centerline wicker.”
Belli says IndyCar contracted multiple computational fluid dynamic vendors to run simulations with the centerline wicker, and later tested the unit at a super speedway.
“The initial testing was all done in CFD because it’s hard to put a car at 90 degrees in a wind tunnel,” he noted. “We used multiple CFD vendors to check and calculate the findings, and the results from all parties in CFD were of a similar magnitude and made things better. The video people saw with Honda at Fontana was to check there were no adverse effects in gusts of wind, and the drivers reported they couldn’t feel its presence on the car.”
A similar, but much shorter wicker ran from the tip of the nose to cockpit on the previous Dallara IR07 and with the significant change in aerodynamics on the DW12, a taller wicker was required. In an interesting sidebar, representatives using the aero kit supplied by one manufacturer have been vocal in saying they’ve been forced to run the centerline wicker because of deficiencies exposed with the other aero kit. Belli refutes the claim.
“That’s incorrect,” he said. “Both cars, at 90 degrees of yaw, have an increased speed in which they would flip over without the centerline wicker on. Both of them were seeing the same increase from the DW12, and this wicker added because it takes that speed way, way out of what’s seen on the track. Some of these [required] introductions have been made with expected speed increases over the next few years. We’re looking to the future.”
