Crimson Racing Wiki

Left Front Wing End Plate

Subteam: AerodynamicsSubsystem: Front wingAssembly: Front WingCars: CR22, CR25, CR26I, CR26E

Purpose

Seals the low pressure region at the left end of the front wing and directs air outboard around the left front tire.

Function

Two features do the work: a half-tube at the lower edge preserves the low-pressure zone on the wing underside, and the endplate curve outwashes air away from the tire, cutting tire drag. The combination was worth FW CLA 1.34 with tire CDA 0.225, against 1.16 and 0.241 for a flat endplate.

Design Process

No part-specific design process is documented. The Front wing subsystem design process applies: 1. 2D CFD sweeps in ANSYS to place elements and set angle of attack cheaply. CR26E ran 153 two-element and 148 three-element sweeps for the rear wing on the same method. 2. Move promising 2D results into a 3D half-car model at 35 mph, chosen as a representative competition corner speed. 3. Iterate in the half-car model, tracking CLA, CDA, CoP and tire drag in an iteration tracker. 4. Run the best candidates in the performance map (PMAP) full-car model for yaw, roll and cornering. 5. Validate on track with constant-speed testing, tufting and Flo-Vis oil.

Manufacturing Process

Two-piece mold from CR26I onward, which allowed the fence to be included in the part and removed the previous multi-step layup that was needed for surface finish on the sandwich panel. From the design reports and one-pagers: Flat layup for inner endplates, infusion layup for outer endplates, waterjet for the inner endplates and mounting holes. CR26I moved to a two-piece mould so the fence is part of the moulded component.

Full Material List

CR22 base endplate schedule: 0-90 Textreme (76 gsm), +/-45 stitched (150 gsm), Nomex honeycomb core (0.125 in), +/-45 stitched (150 gsm), 0-90 Textreme (76 gsm). Gurneys and half-tubes: 0-90 twill (200 gsm), +/-45 stitched (150 gsm) x2, 0-90 twill (200 gsm).

Reoccuring issues

None recorded. This part has no entry in Knowledge_Transfer/Issue Logging/Fault Vault.xlsx, in either Issue Log.xlsx, in CR22/Issue Tracking/Shakedown 7-15-23.xlsx, or in any design review issue list found in CrimsonStorage or Box.

Still to document

Nothing in CrimsonStorage covers these yet.