Radiator inlets

I was looking at the Virgin car and something really hit me. Look at how small the radiator inlets are on the car and how high up they are.

What's interesting is that McLaren also has small inlets while Ferrari has the largest.

I wouldn't draw any conclusions from this but I thought it was interesting the strong differences in design between the small inlets vs the larger.
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I'm just guessing here, but the higher up they are, I would think the more air would flow into them. That would account for needing tighter openings I presume. However, don't forget, the sizes of the inlets will change with the various venues.

Mark

 

Hmmm - Interesting.

However, I'm not so sure they're very different size-wise - Virgin & Mac's are wider, but they're also shallower than Ferrari's - I reckon overall they're pretty darn close (?)

Cheers,
Ian

 

I found it interesting looking at the photos because the McLaren looks quite like the Virgin that Nick computer designed - the Virgin looks more aerodynamically designed over the Ferrari, which in looking at the photos presented, looks like significantly more mass having to be pushed forward. (the Virgin just looks to have a better air flow pattern)

Carol

 

BTW, and I could very definitely be wrong here, but IIRC the technical regs mandate a minimum size for the radiator inlets (?)

 

It depends on the cooling requirements. Eg. McLaren have moved the oil cooler and some electronics to the back of the car, so the sidepod inlets can be smaller. The upper vent in their air intake cools those components, air exits in the small hole above the diffuser. If the Ferrari engines still run as hot as in 09, the cooling requirements for them will be incrementally higher as compared to the others.

 

I wonder when Sir Branson gets a call from a Woking copy shop...

 

probably not until he get's his Virgin tele system totally functioning after the issues with the internet launch!!

Carol

 

Small or large really does not matter as the true efficiency/performance is a matter of what is not seen ie the inner design.

 

yeah, but one thing we can tell from the inlet size is what the air velocity will be over the radiator. smaller inlet = lower velocity

 

?

 

actually, larger inlets cause more drag.

 

Yes but this is desired. A diffuser shape is desired ahead of the heat exchanger. This means a small opening diverging as it approaches the radiator. This will lower velocity and increase pressure. Behind the heat exchanger it will be a nozzle shape as the air is accelerated and the pressure returns to atmospheric. Hence why fans should be mounted behind radiators (although there are no fans in F1) as they increase velocity while keeping a constant pressure.

On a more related note to the OP, the areas are deceptive. The openings seen on the Virgin and Merc sidepods are more rectangular while the Ferrari is more of a square shape. The size of opening isn't strictly engine cooling requirements as oil coolers are mounted in the sidepod as well.

 

Thanks for the explanation. I didn't mean to imply that lower velocity was better or worse. I would think it's tuned (in part) to accommodate the size and packaging of the radiator.

 

The inlets and their housings are part on an integrated aero package and should be seen in terms of how air moves around them as well as through them.

 

Sure, the velocity is just that. It is only velocity without knowing a team's radiators it's just a small piece of the puzzle. Depending on core density and thickness there is a different desired velocity at the start of the radiator. Without delving too much into heat transfer (thermal boundary layers should converge at the end of the fins), for a given velocity, density etc. and radiator material there is an ideal fin spacing for maximum cooling.

So going the other way, if the radiator is known, there's a target velocity for the air moving over it. The car doesn't move at a constant speed so the car's average speed is usually the target for maximum effectiveness.

Indeed, it is all a give and take between the different systems.

 

+1 [Nicely explained IMHO]

I would think that in this niche application, it's just short of the cars maximum..... Splitting hairs, I know

+1,000

 

+1 indeed, sidepods are becoming airfoil shaped and manage air to the rear