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Racing towards reality.
The world of Formula 1 racing is not known for its relevance to anything particularly serious, apart from being very good at spending unbelievable amounts of money in order to drive around in circles very fast.
It’s a wonderful spectacle, with millions of fans, huge excitement and the best drivers in the world, but not exactly helping to solve global crises.
But that may be about to change if the chief designer of the radical new Virgin Racing Formula 1 car has his way.
Nick Wirth is the brains behind the completely digitally designed VR-01 racing car, sponsored by the flamboyant boss of Virgin Everything, Richard Branson.
Designing a Formula 1 car completely and utterly in the digital domain is a world first, using the super-nerdy technology of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD).
In a total break from the previous use of ultra-expensive wind tunnels to test the all-important aerodynamics that are vital to a Formula 1 car’s performance and speed, Wirth has chosen to use CFD technology to design and conduct test simulations of his new car before it has ever turned a wheel or a scale model ever been constructed.
‘We did it because it's cheaper and faster,’ claimed Wirth.
‘If there was unlimited money, I'd just employ loads of people.
‘The point is that you can get more accurate aerodynamic answers for a given amount of money using this technology than any other thing.
‘You can try more endplates, more rear wings and other things then the same money gets you in wind tunnel testing or full-scale testing.’
Wirth and other CFD advocates claim that CFD helps designers achieve shorter design cycles, cost savings, meets environmental regulations, ensures industry compliance and allows rapid prototyping by greatly compressing the design and development cycle.
For the uninitiated, CFD software allows designers to simulate flows of gases and liquids, heat and mass transfer, moving bodies, multiphase physics, chemical reaction, fluid-structure interaction and acoustics through highly advanced computer modelling.
Using CFD software, a ‘virtual’ prototype of a system or device can be built, which designers and engineers can then test with real-world physics and chemistry data, thereby predicting the performance of the design.
Formula 1 designers are renowned for their ingenuity and eagerness to seize anything that might give them an edge over their competitors, but even in this rarefied atmosphere, there are some who think Wirth’s designs are bound to fail, or at least cause major problems.
But Wirth disagrees, and what’s more, he sees a much bigger picture, claiming that the Formula 1 car’s design technology could be the stepping stone to much bigger, more responsible things – like using CFD to help the environment.
‘Formula 1 is not the real world,’ he asserts.
‘We're really determined to showcase this technology on a global stage and then use it in much more useful ways for mankind.’
Wirth plans to use his CFD skills to do things like modelling climate change, working out the impact of global warming on the ice caps, ocean levels and currents, temperature dynamics and more.
It’s an interesting development from a designer in a field not normally noted for being interested in anything other than high octane pursuits, but Wirth says that like any serious parent, he has concerns for the state of the planet his children will inherit, and he intends to try to help.
If the sleek looks of the new Virgin Racing car are anything to go by, he may be off to a great start.
(Images courtesy of www.virginracing.com )
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It’s a wonderful spectacle, with millions of fans, huge excitement and the best drivers in the world, but not exactly helping to solve global crises.
But that may be about to change if the chief designer of the radical new Virgin Racing Formula 1 car has his way.
Nick Wirth is the brains behind the completely digitally designed VR-01 racing car, sponsored by the flamboyant boss of Virgin Everything, Richard Branson.
Designing a Formula 1 car completely and utterly in the digital domain is a world first, using the super-nerdy technology of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD).
In a total break from the previous use of ultra-expensive wind tunnels to test the all-important aerodynamics that are vital to a Formula 1 car’s performance and speed, Wirth has chosen to use CFD technology to design and conduct test simulations of his new car before it has ever turned a wheel or a scale model ever been constructed.
‘We did it because it's cheaper and faster,’ claimed Wirth.
‘If there was unlimited money, I'd just employ loads of people.
‘The point is that you can get more accurate aerodynamic answers for a given amount of money using this technology than any other thing.
‘You can try more endplates, more rear wings and other things then the same money gets you in wind tunnel testing or full-scale testing.’
Wirth and other CFD advocates claim that CFD helps designers achieve shorter design cycles, cost savings, meets environmental regulations, ensures industry compliance and allows rapid prototyping by greatly compressing the design and development cycle.
For the uninitiated, CFD software allows designers to simulate flows of gases and liquids, heat and mass transfer, moving bodies, multiphase physics, chemical reaction, fluid-structure interaction and acoustics through highly advanced computer modelling.
Using CFD software, a ‘virtual’ prototype of a system or device can be built, which designers and engineers can then test with real-world physics and chemistry data, thereby predicting the performance of the design.
Formula 1 designers are renowned for their ingenuity and eagerness to seize anything that might give them an edge over their competitors, but even in this rarefied atmosphere, there are some who think Wirth’s designs are bound to fail, or at least cause major problems.
But Wirth disagrees, and what’s more, he sees a much bigger picture, claiming that the Formula 1 car’s design technology could be the stepping stone to much bigger, more responsible things – like using CFD to help the environment.
‘Formula 1 is not the real world,’ he asserts.
‘We're really determined to showcase this technology on a global stage and then use it in much more useful ways for mankind.’
Wirth plans to use his CFD skills to do things like modelling climate change, working out the impact of global warming on the ice caps, ocean levels and currents, temperature dynamics and more.
It’s an interesting development from a designer in a field not normally noted for being interested in anything other than high octane pursuits, but Wirth says that like any serious parent, he has concerns for the state of the planet his children will inherit, and he intends to try to help.
If the sleek looks of the new Virgin Racing car are anything to go by, he may be off to a great start.
(Images courtesy of www.virginracing.com )
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