This study analyzes the performance of the Energy Recovery System (ERS) of a Formula One car (F1) based on the qualification performance of 19 drivers for the first calendar race of the 2019 FIA Formula One World Championship®. In this study, the race circuit analysed was split into different sectors to examine the energy transfer between the Motor Generator Unit-Kinetic (MGU-K) and the Energy Storage (ES) systems. Positive Kinetic Energy (PKE) concept was used for estimating the energy deployment potential of the ERS along with numerical simulations for estimating the energy recovering potential. This investigation highlights the strategies used by different drivers and the effect of driver to driver variation on their ERS performance during qualification. The methodology demonstrated in this study is able to identify the correlation between the unique driving style of individual drivers and the ERS strategies used by the teams for maximizing the performance of their car. The findings of this study illustrate that Power Unit (PU) manufacturers can take advantage in certain sectors, therefore, sector-wise optimization can be used by teams for optimising the ERS performance as this would in-turn maximize the car’s performance.
Bopaiah, KaranSamuel, Stephen
School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics
Year of publication: 2021Date of RADAR deposit: 2021-02-04
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