Laser doppler anemometry measurements in the near-wake of an isolated formula one wheel
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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