Citation:
Saddington AJ, Knowles RD, Knowles K (2007). Laser Doppler anemometry measurements in the near-wake of an isolated Formula One wheel. Experiments in Fluids, Volume 42, Issue 5, May 2007, Article number 671
Abstract:
An experimental investigation was conducted to identify the main structures in
the near wake of an isolated Formula One wheel rotating in ground contact. A 50
percent-scale isolated wheel assembly, geometrically similar to the
configuration mounted on a Formula One racing car, was tested in a closed-return
three-quarter open-jet wind tunnel. The test Reynolds number, based on wheel
diameter was 6.8 × 105. Using laser doppler anemometry, three velocity
components were measured with a total of 1966 data points across four planes and
within one diameter downstream of the wheel axis. Based on analysis of these
data, the main characteristics of the near-wake of an isolated wheel rotating in
ground contact are presented. A revised model of the trailing vortex system
induced in the wake of such a wheel is proposed, which clarifies the
contradictory ones published in the literature to date