Project Summary:

As members of UT's Longhorn Racing Electric team, we decided to focus on a mechanism that would pertain to potentially applying to our work outside the class.

Our 2023 Electric Formula Race Car, "Lady Luck"

Our engineering efforts were centered on harnessing the racing principle of minimizing drag. In particular, we engineered a Drag Reduction System (DRS) that empowers drivers to select between increased downforce or reduced drag based on their position along the track.

Our Final DRS Mechanism Design

Prior to the design phase, we conducted extensive research to identify configurations perfectly suited for our vehicle. Drawing from past car designs, online foil design resources, and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations, we successfully validated the optimized configurations for our model.

CFD of Wing Configuration

The mechanism consists of two consecutive four-bar linkages that can toggle airfoils between their configurations. Additionally, the airfoils were designed with a morphing wing model as well to increase the efficacy of the whole assembly. Our primary points of interest consisted of the leading and trailing edges of the foil to ensure we positioned the wing to maximize either downforce or drag reduction to the best of our ability. During the prototyping phase we were able to make a fully polycarbonate 3D printed cross-sectional model that successfully actuated under the constraints provided, so for our final model, we wanted to scale it up to a full wing model with a linkage on each end powered by 2 servos.

Side Profile of the Linkage and Foils

More thorough detail and photos can be found under the subject tabs below:

Subject Tab Links:

Initial Project Proposal

Background

Kinematic Analysis

Physical Prototype

Manufacturing and Final Product

Reflections

Summary Video (thumbnail doesn't show up but video works):

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