[mercpet] [F1line]FRIC Ban Forced Mercedes changes 2015

[mercpet] [F1line]FRIC Ban Forced Mercedes changes 2015 Feb 12, 2015 15:05:06 GMT -6

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Post by n7thGear™ on Feb 12, 2015 15:05:06 GMT -6

FRIC ban forced Mercedes changes for F1 2015
Mercedes' executive director Paddy Lowe says the mid-season ban of the FRIC suspension forced the team to 'take a fresh look' when designing the new W06.

Last season around July 2014, sources within the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) leaked the letter that was sent to all the Formula One teams concerning the ban on the use of Front and Rear Interconnected Suspension or FRIC.

What is FRIC?

Basically it is a system that keeps the cars’ ride heights as stable as possible, using hydraulics and craft. One of the most important reason it is used is that it can help to generate more underbody downforce as it gives a degree of control over how the car changes attitude at speed when downforce is increasing. Technically it is only supposed to work to keep the front and rear ride heights as similar as possible through the corners. TECHNICALLY. One team (definitely not Mercedes AMG Petronas) accused another (probably Mercedes AMG Petronas) of advancing the system to also work left to right. According to Charlie Whiting, FIA race director, the system’s primary use was now aerodynamic, which made the whole system illegal for everyone!

According to the letter, the installation of the said system is in violation of Article 3.15 of F1’s technical regulations. This particular provision declares the use of moveable aerodynamic devices, other than the driver adjustable bodywork, as illegal.

In the letter penned by Charlie Whitting, the race director of FIA, said that anyone caught to be in violation of the FRIC ban would risk exclusion in the race results. Thus, strict compliance was required from every team.

The only problem with that decision was that it called for the immediate implementation of the ban in the next race in Germany. While some teams such as Red Bull and McLaren were reported to be relaxed about it, and Force India didn't really care about it since they were not using the system, several sports analysts speculated that it might have a significant effect to the momentum of Mercedes AMG Petronas, since the team relied on it for balancing.

Despite the predictions of pundits, it was unlikely that the momentum of Mercedes would be affected by the FRIC ban because the system only formed a minor component of the W05.

Sauber C33

Sauber C33

FRIC (Front and Rear interconnected) suspension was outlawed ahead of the German Grand Prix – round 10 of the season – last year, a move that affected teams but didn't prompt a significant change in the order of hierarchy, with Mercedes maintaining its dominant advantage to the end of 2014.

FRIC ban forced Mercedes changes for F1 2015

FRIC ban forced mercedes changes for f1 2016 w06 n7thGEar motorsport news F1 WEC

Nonetheless, Lowe admits the 'out of the blue' banning caught Mercedes by surprise and having built the all-conquering W05 around the system, it was forced to make important changes to its design philosophy for 2015 with the W06.

“FRIC was banned in the middle of last year, out of the blue really, so we had to react as best we could around it,” Lowe said. “The 2014 car was based around FRIC and it was central to the suspension concept. So with FRIC illegal in 2015 we took a fresh look for the 2015 car which has been a big topic but there was plenty of time to react to it between Hockenheim and now.

“This car does have some changes under the skin in terms of suspension and optimised weight but we have tried to recover the advantages we had with the FRIC system but without the front to rear inter-linkage which was ruled out.”

Let's look at some of the more tech details hiding under the beautiful livery of the W06

It may not have set the fastest time yet in testing in Jerez, but the new Mercedes W06 has certainly covered the most laps, hitting 1,500km after just two and a half days running.

There is a lot of confidence in this car, from a team which is clearly working on improving reliability and has yet to push the performance development.

Technical adviser Dominic Harlow, formerly chief operations engineer at Force India and Williams, runs the rule over the car which will defend the constructors’ and drivers’ titles this year.

Dominic writes: Rather like the Red Bull cars from RB5 to 9 the Mercedes carries some lineage from its predecessor. The short nose and narrow front wing pillars appear to be more about minimizing the effect of this part of the car than exploiting it and it seems that the team has again come up with one of the most efficient nose solutions in passing the front impact test.

Mercedes have chosen not to use a blown front axle and instead have adopted the Williams style scoopless front brake duct and use the additional aerodynamic real estate that this liberates for winglets and turning vanes inside the front tyre. It’s a distinct difference in philosophy compared to trying to influence front wing and tire wake and other downstream structures via flow from the front axle outboard.

The large conjoined Front Lower Wishbone is again a feature of the W06 and also incorporates the track rod at the lower edge leaving Williams as one of the few teams now with a separate front track rod.

Rather like Red Bull did in 2014 Mercedes are pushing the boundaries of the nose camera once again. The view for FOM’s coverage will probably be great, but the curved mounting permits some flow manipulation that a more straight forward attachment of the camera housing within the prescribed incidence range might not. Ferrari have also taken this approach, but interestingly didn’t launch with the Jerez nose on the car.

The Mercedes is not the highest rake car on the grid as can be seen from the images. There is a contrast in the aeromap between this car and say the Red Bull.

At the rear the central area above and below the Rear Impact Structure and the rear wing pillars appear to be quite a powerful part of the car’s aerodynamics and the last vestiges of exhaust blowing are obviously not ignored either. True to the spirit of efficiency inherent in F1 now once all the energy possible has been recovered from the waste exhaust by the MGU-H, teams are still trying to eek out a little more benefit in creating downforce.

The airbox meanwhile has also been further developed, evolving into a design that provides less hindrance to airflow onto the rear wing. The airbox channel bends down earlier. Just like with most other 2015 cars, the inlet is now divided into two parts, one to feed the turbo with another to provide cooling air to oil radiators or electrical components.

A low cooling exit through the rear suspension is a common solution on many cars, but Mercedes also features what looks like a kind of flap on the exit that could be to aid extraction.

Mercedes Petronas W06 F1

Invisible to the eye are of course the enhancements that Mercedes have made to its already excellent power unit. Rumoured to be worth up to 50 additional horses compared to last year's engine, the design team of Andy Cowel in Brixworth likely kept the split turbine and turbo while integrating variable inlet trumpets for increased efficiency.

Merceds AMG Powertrain power unit PU106A hyprid F1 motorsport news forumula 1 n7thGear

Merceds AMG Powertrain power unit PU106A hyprid F1 motorsport news forumula 1 n7thGear

Developed by Mercedes AMG High Performance Powertrains in Brixworth, Northamptonshire, the PU106A Hybrid was designed to achieve the same power output as its V8 predecessors — around 750 horsepower — while using one-third less fuel.

With a thermal efficiency of more than 40 per cent (compared to the 29 per cent previous F1 engines typically achieved), the PU106A has been hailed by some as the most efficient gasoline powertrain ever built. In October, it was awarded the Royal Automobile Club’s Dewar Trophy for outstanding British technical achievement.

The engine was developed in response to changes to the F1 regulations, which came into force at the beginning of the 2014 season. Rather than limiting engine capacity, the new rules for the first time restricted the amount of fuel that the cars could consume. Teams that had previously used around 150kg of fuel each race were now limited to 100kg.

This was a huge culture change for F1, said Andy Cowell, managing director of Mercedes AMG High Performance Powertrains. It shifted the focus away from developing engines that could reach astonishingly high revolutions per minute but had little relevance to modern road cars, to squeezing every last drop of power from each kilogram of fuel.

The regulations also opened up development of new technologies within F1, by introducing turbochargers and systems to recover waste energy.

So, as an example... the PU106A includes a turbocharger in which a turbine wheel recovers waste energy in the exhaust and uses it to power a compressor. This then increases the pressure of the air going into the combustion chamber in order to boost power.

Connected to this is a another device called the Motor Generator Unit — Heat, which recovers any excess waste energy harvested by the turbine in the exhaust and not needed to power the compressor. The energy can then be stored in the battery, or used to increase the speed of the turbocharger to prevent what is known as ‘turbo lag’. This is when low pressure in the exhaust slows the turbine, creating a delay between the driver pressing their foot down on the accelerator and receiving the desired power boost.

‘The beauty of the MGU-H is that the motor provides speed control for the turbocharger, which means you don’t need many of the tuning features that you see on a more conventional turbocharger,’ said Cowell. ‘So it’s a very neat feature.’

Harnessing the waste energy in the exhaust in this way was a significant challenge, said John Wood, chairman of the RAC’s Dewar Trophy technical committee. ‘This was a big step forward,’ he added.

The sidepods appear to have slimmed slightly, so have the sidepod air inlets. The hot air exits at the back of the car are largely the same, but can be expected to change in one of the next tests. The same goes for the rear and front wings, with in particular the rear wing being the same as the version ran last year during the Abu Dhabi young driver test after the end of the 2014 season.

Further to the back, the sidepods now feature a horizontal vane of their entire width, a development from last year's car and a feature commonly seen on other cars as well. Along with the vortex generators fitted atop the sidepods, these items all attempt to optimize airflow onto the rear suspension and diffuser.

"We have been working hard on all areas of the Power Unit to increase the conversion efficiency of every single system", Cowell said.

"The focus in this respect has been on combustion efficiency and frictional losses – be they in core parts of the ICE or the ancillary aspects of both ICE and ERS. Development of fuel and lubricants has been critical to this process and we have continued working well with PETRONAS in this respect. There is very significant scope for change under the regulations and significant opportunities to make performance gains, so we have left no stone unturned in our quest for performance – and I am sure that exactly the same is true of our competitors."

F1 motorsport news n7thGear Mercedes Petronas W06

W05 vs W06

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MERCEDES AMG PETRONAS F1 W06 Hybrid Technical Specification
Chassis
Monocoque: Moulded carbon fibre and honeycomb composite structure
Bodywork: Carbon fibre composite including engine cover, sidepods, floor, nose, front wing and rear wing
Cockpit: Removable driver's seat made of anatomically formed carbon composite, Sabelt six-point driver safety harness, HANS system
Safety Structures: Cockpit survival cell incorporating impact resistant construction and penetration panels, front impact structure, prescribed side impact structures, integrated rear impact structure, front and rear roll structures
Front Suspension: Carbon fibre wishbone and pushrod activated torsion springs and rockers
Rear Suspension: Carbon fibre wishbone and pullrod activated torsion springs and rockers
Wheels: Advanti forged magnesium
Tyres: Pirelli
Brake System: Carbon / carbon discs and pads with rear brake-by-wire
Brake Calipers: Brembo
Steering: Power assisted rack and pinion
Steering Wheel: Carbon-fibre construction
Electronics: FIA standard ECU and FIA homologated electronic and electrical system
Instrumentation: McLaren Electronic Systems (MES)
Fuel System: ATL Kevlar-reinforced rubber bladder
Lubricants & Fluids: PETRONAS Tutela
Transmission
Gearbox: Eight-speed forward, one reverse unit with carbon fibre maincase
Gear Selection: Sequential, semi-automatic, hydraulic activation
Clutch: Carbon plate
Dimensions
Overall Length: 5000mm
Overall Width: 1800mm
Overall Height: 950mm
Overall Weight: 702kg
Mercedes-Benz PU106B Hybrid Technical Specification
Power Unit Specification
Type: Mercedes-Benz PU106B Hybrid
Minimum Weight: 145 kg
Power Unit Perimeter: Internal Combustion Engine (ICE)
Motor Generator Unit - Kinetic (MGU-K)
Motor Generator Unit - Heat (MGU-H)
Turbocharger (TC)
Energy Store (ES)
Control Electronics (CE)
Power Unit Allocation: Four Power Units per driver per season
Internal Combustion Engine (ICE)
Capacity: 1.6 litres
Cylinders: Six
Bank Angle: 90
No of Valves: 24
Max rpm ICE: 15,000 rpm
Max Fuel Flow Rate: 100 kg/hour (above 10,500 rpm)
Fuel Injection: High-pressure direct injection (max 500 bar, one injector/cylinder)
Pressure Charging: Single-stage compressor and exhaust turbine on a common shaft
Max rpm Exhaust Turbine: 125,000 rpm
Energy Recovery System (ERS)
Architecture: Integrated Hybrid energy recovery via electrical Motor Generator Units
Energy Store: Lithium-Ion battery solution, between 20 and 25 kg
Max energy storage/lap: 4 MJ
Max rpm MGU-K: 50,000 rpm
Max power MGU-K: 120 kW (161 hp)
Max energy recovery/lap MGU-K: 2 MJ
Max energy deployment/lap MGU-K: 4 MJ (33.3 s at full power)
Max rpm MGU-H: 125,000 rpm
Max power MGU-H: Unlimited
Max energy recovery/lap MGU-H: Unlimited
Max energy deployment/lap MGU-H: Unlimited
Fuel & Lubricants
Fuel: PETRONAS Primax
Lubricants: PETRONAS Syntium

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Post by n7thGear™ on Feb 12, 2015 15:05:06 GMT -6

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