Spoilers, Inverted Wings, Ground Effects: Which Will Make Down Force Efficiently?

Overview

Objectives/Goals To find the most efficient way of producing downforcein a car by altering aerodynamics. Methods/Materials Using a wind tunnel I tested car bodies I designed & carved out of foam. One body was made that could be modified to accomodate spoilers, inverted wings,and ground effects. Each version was tested multiple times for drag and down force. The results were graphed and put into a ratio of down force to drag. The car with the highest ratio (the steepest positively line) is the most efficient. Results My hypothesis that ground effects would be the most efficient was disproved. Instead spoilers were found to be the most efficient at generating down force in a car body. Conclusions/Discussion I made my hypothesis based on the fact that ground effects adds little if any extra drag. I thought that the small amount of drag would make it efficient. I did not think spoilers would be efficient because they generate quite a bit of drag. They were the best though because they produced enough down force to counter act the drag. My tests went well and the only thing that I would do differently if I did it again would be to equip my wind tunnel with an anemometer so I could use Reynold's number. If I continued this project I would test spoiler angle, placement of spoilers and wings, hieght of car, and combinations of spoilers, inverted wings, and ground effects.

Awards (1)

• Third Place

Competition history

• CSEF 2008 Aerodynamics/ Hydrodynamics (Junior Division Only) · Entry J0115

Resources

• CSEF project summary ↗

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