Author: Nicolás Gómez Osorio, UPMRacing, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid

This year at Silverstone, where we are the only car with a full aerodynamic package even though some teams have ground effect plates we studied in CFD the three items in our car: the back and front wings and the ground effect plate with a keel. Our goal was to reach up to -1 value in the CL, indeed we reach almost -1.5.

First, we started our simulation having the basic forms our body work and after we gathered some info like lift and drag coefficients, and the forces in the car at 55km/h we started to introduce item by item and comparing the results.

Author: Alex Bell, Leeds Formula Student Race Team

Cost control and reduction is an important element in the Formula Student Team challenge – and for motor manufacturing in general - and at Leeds a small part of this has been achieved through the development of a bespoke caliper that has been designed and manufactured in-house. For the Formula Student Team at Leeds this has proven to be the most cost effective solution for the design of the foundation brake.

The Leeds Team comprises a mix of third and fourth year undergraduate students, drawn from the Mechanical and Automotive Engineering programmes and supported, in part, through long established brake system research in the School of Mechanical Engineering.  In the most recent UK Government Research Assessment Exercise the School achieved an impressive 75% of research activity rated internationally excellent or world leading. This strong research base is supporting the exploration of novel design solutions and provides team members with valuable broad based product engineering experience from which to draw upon.

The current Leeds car, F12, utilises three fixed four pot calipers, two acting on the front wheels and one inboard rear caliper acting on the differential unit. A fixed caliper and floating disc form the heart of the foundation brake assembly. Together they minimise the likelihood of any problems linked to insufficient pad retraction in the off brake condition.