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 are obtained for four Formula SAE tracks and compared against each other;

(3) Longitudinal load transfer can have an effect on the acceleration performance. Eliminating load transfer on a real-wheel-drive race car will underestimate its acceleration performance and hence overpredicts the drag penalty.


I will include more details of the study, but here's a visualization of the simulation around a FSG Endurance track.



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