[F1line] Acronyms Explained: DRS, the Art of the Overtake

[F1line] Acronyms Explained: DRS, the Art of the Overtake Jan 5, 2015 13:47:51 GMT -6 n7thGear™ and ting5106 like this

Quote

Post by Stig's US Cuz'n on Jan 5, 2015 13:47:51 GMT -6

DRS: The Drag Reduction System explained

Moveable aerodynamic components are nothing new, every time you sit on an airliner you see the wing flaps, ailerons moving around, and often as you come into land you can see the array of hydraulics employed to move them. The systems on a Formula 1 car work in essentially the same way. Hydraulic tubes, rods and actuators. But whilst on an Airbus A320 or even a modern UAV or fighter jet there is a huge amount of space to work in, on a grand prix car the opposite is true.

Red Bull Wing

The Drag Reduction System (DRS), is essentially an adjustable rear wing which can be used to facilitate overtaking.

DRS allows the driver of a following car to adjust the flap of his rear wing under certain circumstances. When two or more cars pass over timing loops in the surface of the track, if a following car is measured at less than one second behind a leading car it will be sent a signal that will allow its driver to deploy the car’s active rear wing. The flap is lifted up at the front and pivots about a point at the trailing edge of the wing, so that in the event of a failure, the flap will drop down into the default, high-downforce position. Since the timing loops will be sited after corners, drivers will only be able to deploy the active rear wing as a car goes down a particular nominated straight.

Use of the Drag Reduction System (DRS) overtaking aid (which alters the angle of the rear wing flap to reduce drag) is strictly controlled.

Drivers are free to activate the DRS as they wish within the designated DRS zones during practice and qualifying, but during the race they may only activate it when they are within one second of the car in front (indicated to him via a dashboard light) at the DRS detection point.

The DRS is disabled (resetting the rear wing flap to its original position) the first time the driver uses the brakes after activation.

In race conditions the DRS is available for use after two laps, but the race director may choose to suspend its use in poor weather conditions or if there are yellow flags in the DRS activation zone.
Open vs Closed

Simon McBeath conducted a basic CFD study of the Drag Reduction System in action. Here we compare the Drag Reduction System in open position (left) and closed (right). The results of the study appear on the graph below.

Downforce vs Drag

title

Post by Stig's US Cuz'n on Jan 5, 2015 13:47:51 GMT -6

HEADLINES

RALLY

FIA WTCC

INDYCAR UPDATES

Twitter FIA

DTM