With the return to a more decisive use of ground effect in 2022, Formula 1 has rediscovered porpoising, an aerodynamic instability phenomenon which in the first part of the season caused the cars to bounce violently on the straight. One of the factors that trigger the physical phenomenon is the excessive proximity of certain components to the ground, such as the front wing and the outer edge of the bottom. The deformation of the aerodynamic components was therefore identified as a potential trigger, so much so that at the beginning of the year the teams pushed for an increase in the minimum weight to be used to install tie rods to support the bottom. Interviewed by the editorial staff of Race car engineeringAlpine’s technical director Matt Harman confirmed that the bending of aerodynamic and structural components contributes to triggering the phenomenon: “The fact that in some cars this causes porpoising was part of the discussion. It is understood that for most cars there is no set-up option to eliminate the phenomenon of aerodynamic rebound, which therefore must be approached from a structural and aerodynamic point of view”.
Harman then explained how Alpine has worked to stiffen the most critical components to reduce the car’s sensitivity to porpoising: “During the A522’s first outings on the track, we decided to focus on the stiffness of some specific areas. We’ve come to a point now where We understand the stiffness of which parts can cause porpoising issues and how to make the machine work optimally to stay away from it”. An example of what the technical director said is the updates to the underbody of the A522 introduced at Austin, when part of the outer rim was reinforced with metal material to keep it off the ground.
However, structural stiffening leads to an increase in weight, which, however, as recently explained by Mike Elliott, Mercedes technical director, is outclassed in terms of lap time by the advantages of more effective aerodynamics. For areas less sensitive to porpoising it is also possible to operate in the opposite direction, lightening the components: “I think we have now understood porpoising and we will continue to develop the local stiffness there, it is necessary to be as performing as possible. For the areas where we can be less rigid, we will study them to lighten them”concluded Harman.
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