Race-Car Lap-Time Simulation with Advanced Aerodynamic Performance Model
Lap time simulation has long been used to simulate race-car performance on a given circuit. It is useful for determining the optimal set-up for a given circuit; it can also be used to balance different design parameters during the concept design stage. However, most lap-time simulations use single-value lift and drag coefficient to model the aerodynamic performance of a race car. It is not difficult to realize that the aerodynamic performance of a race-car depends on many things, such as the yaw angle and ride-height. In my undergraduate final-year project, I studied the variations of lift coefficient with respect to the yaw angle and ride heights. In the second semester of my graduate study, I was finally able to develop a lap-time simulation code with MATLAB that also incorporates these data. There are a few findings from this project: (1) The lap-time variation due to the aerodynamic performance variation is not negligible; (2) Aerodynamic performance maps ...