New Rules Freshen the Air around M15

With the introduction of new rules for 2015, Monash Motorsport’s Aerodynamics section has returned to a ground up design philosophy for this year’s aero package.

The new rules for 2015 have dictated a significant downsize for packaging space of aerodynamic devices. The rear wing is now being restricted to only 1.2m above the ground, fitting within the inside of the rear tires and is only allowed to extend to 250mm behind the rear wheels. Compared to the 2014 FSAE rules, where a height restriction was not given, wings could be as wide as the widest part of the tires, (front or rear) and 300mm behind the rear wheels, these new rules are quite restrictive in packaging space and present a huge challenge for MMS.

We are using ANSYS CFX software which has been kindly provided by LEAP Australia, to design the M15 aerodynamics package. Our early simulations suggest that the new rules have decreased our aerodynamic performance by roughly 25-30%.

The team’s focus this year has been on finer integration between the entire aerodynamic package. With the restrictions set in place, the overall performance of the package is now very sensitive, particularly when altering the parameters of the front wing. This has led to a front wing design that has been heavily focused at improving flow downstream of it.

Another major focus this design period has been improving the flow to our radiator and intercooler as we are moving to a larger single cylinder engine, whilst also increasing down force.

At the moment we have completed well over 100 different design iterations and, with a little more than a month left of the aero design period, we plan on reaching more than 200 tested designs.