FSAE 

A loosely chronological series on the process of introducing aerodynamics to the small but well-proven UTAS Motorsport FSAE team that we pushed up to 4th in Australasia and into the top 15% of teams worldwide within 3 years of being reborn. The posts cover everything from goals and scope to simulation tools and processes, to testing and validation for the 2024 season. You'll see how much can be done with very few resources, while still thinking beyond the rush of the 12-month design cycle. 

Targeting performance

Figuring out where the car will benefit from a bit of downward push

29/12/2023

Defining the scope

Keeping things realistic, with long term goals in mind

5/1/2024

Suspension design

Setting some requirements for suspension kinetics and kinematics

16/1/2024

CFD from the ground up

20 million sources of error

31/1/2024

Big skids

Slip angles from Wish, and finalising test cases

10/2/2024

Test equipment (part 1)

Kiel probe costs are extortionate

13/3/2024

CFD post-processing

Cool colours, and the process of selecting desired correlation data

19/4/2024

Test equipment (part 2)

Making Picasso proud

24/4/2024

It's off to track we go

Carrying out test plans and automating data extraction

13/5/2024

Making simulations better

Putting rake data to use

27/5/2024

Squishy tyres

When a cylinder doesn't quite cut it

5/6/2024

Surface design

Everything is a compromise

18/8/2024

DRS

Downforce Reduction System

26/10/2024

Stuctural considerations

Everything is a compromise composite

24/01/2024

Test equipment (part 3)

Simplifying, streamlining, and optimising our use of equipment and testing time

3/03/2025

Certainly not

The precise science of uncertainty

10/03/2025

Day(s) of reckoning

Downforce?

Apr 2025

5 year plan

A 12 15 month review, planning the next year, and a brief overview of FSAE-A 2024

Apr 2025

Wet and wild

Extending tests and predictions to cover rain and wind

Apr 2025