Making CF GT4 wing risers
08-30-2024, 12:19 PM
#1
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Thread Starter
Making CF GT4 wing risers
Long-time lurker and part-time poster here! My engineering buddy (981 GT4 owner) and I have gotten the carbon fiber bug (I know, I know), but I wanted to see if we can manufacture something out of CF that we haven't seen done before.
On a random track day, we talked about potential improvements to the car, even though we both realized that the most significant and cheapest improvement happens in the driver's seat.
Andraz (my super bright buddy) was already eyeing wing risers for his GT4, and his recent aero work on another friend's Hillclimb monster (a completely custom-made 700+hp AWD Renault Clio E1) got him thinking.
The hillclimb monster
He determined a few improvements to the car that have already resulted in better aero distribution and more down-force, subsequently improving the handling.
Naturally, that race car has a much more substantial aero package, resulting in higher down-force values.
Here is a quick glimpse of the Clio E1 in action:
Work on that car revealed that combining proper CFD analysis with the improved rigidity, strength, and light weight of CF risers might yield some real aero improvements.
So, where are we now?
We scanned the wing and the OE risers (and weighed them to establish a benchmark for our composite part) and reverse-engineered the lot. Additionally, we bought an exact digital representation of the 981 GT4 in the form of facet bodies that also needed to be reverse-engineered into a parametric 3D model/body. The reverse engineering aspect took quite a lot of work
All of the above was a painstaking process, but we knew that if we wanted to get no-BS concrete results that match what AP said (approx. 1000N of down-force at maximum speed → video from 7:50 foward) we had to do it.
Many hours later, we finalized the GT4's parametric model and the reverse-engineered wing and risers and ran the first few CFD runs.
Once we had completed the first simulation runs, we established an excellent 3D mesh of the whole car, which would provide stable and realistic results.
More simulations are currently underway, with different height and angle-of-attack configurations.
What’s next
Design-wise, we're probably going with the 3RS design, but since we are working with CF, we might get away with some more organic shapes. That said, we're not sure how appealing that would be for potential owners. The designs will also undergo FEA simulations to establish an optimal volume/weight—strength ratio.
Then, it's time for some 3D-printed molds and the first prototypes. We're currently experimenting with another test product—chopped carbon coasters—to find the perfect recipe of resin and CF that's easy to manipulate when we have more complex shapes.
As you may have guessed, we will use the compression molding method and in-house-designed tooling for serial production, such as CNC-milled aluminium molds.
Oh, there will also be a "blood sacrifice," all in the name of science 😀 The OE Riser and our CF one will be subjected to an ISO 7438 bend test to obtain the flexural strength and the occurring deformations/fracture points.
We do have some ideas for making them even stronger, but I'll share more details when we start with the first prototypes.
That's it for now; thanks for reading, and we'd love to hear your thoughts!
Jure & Andraz
On a random track day, we talked about potential improvements to the car, even though we both realized that the most significant and cheapest improvement happens in the driver's seat.
Andraz (my super bright buddy) was already eyeing wing risers for his GT4, and his recent aero work on another friend's Hillclimb monster (a completely custom-made 700+hp AWD Renault Clio E1) got him thinking.
The hillclimb monster
He determined a few improvements to the car that have already resulted in better aero distribution and more down-force, subsequently improving the handling.
Naturally, that race car has a much more substantial aero package, resulting in higher down-force values.
Here is a quick glimpse of the Clio E1 in action:
Work on that car revealed that combining proper CFD analysis with the improved rigidity, strength, and light weight of CF risers might yield some real aero improvements.
So, where are we now?
We scanned the wing and the OE risers (and weighed them to establish a benchmark for our composite part) and reverse-engineered the lot. Additionally, we bought an exact digital representation of the 981 GT4 in the form of facet bodies that also needed to be reverse-engineered into a parametric 3D model/body. The reverse engineering aspect took quite a lot of work
All of the above was a painstaking process, but we knew that if we wanted to get no-BS concrete results that match what AP said (approx. 1000N of down-force at maximum speed → video from 7:50 foward) we had to do it.
Many hours later, we finalized the GT4's parametric model and the reverse-engineered wing and risers and ran the first few CFD runs.
Once we had completed the first simulation runs, we established an excellent 3D mesh of the whole car, which would provide stable and realistic results.
More simulations are currently underway, with different height and angle-of-attack configurations.
What’s next
Design-wise, we're probably going with the 3RS design, but since we are working with CF, we might get away with some more organic shapes. That said, we're not sure how appealing that would be for potential owners. The designs will also undergo FEA simulations to establish an optimal volume/weight—strength ratio.
Then, it's time for some 3D-printed molds and the first prototypes. We're currently experimenting with another test product—chopped carbon coasters—to find the perfect recipe of resin and CF that's easy to manipulate when we have more complex shapes.
As you may have guessed, we will use the compression molding method and in-house-designed tooling for serial production, such as CNC-milled aluminium molds.
Oh, there will also be a "blood sacrifice," all in the name of science 😀 The OE Riser and our CF one will be subjected to an ISO 7438 bend test to obtain the flexural strength and the occurring deformations/fracture points.
We do have some ideas for making them even stronger, but I'll share more details when we start with the first prototypes.
That's it for now; thanks for reading, and we'd love to hear your thoughts!
Jure & Andraz
Last edited by Jure; 09-01-2024 at 05:57 AM. Reason: Invalid link format
09-12-2024, 12:53 AM
#3
very interested to see progress and updates.
09-12-2024, 05:51 AM
#4
Rennlist Member
Thread Starter