Yep 26-02-2010 20:27

The Ferrari Formula 1 team has designed a new wheel nut for its car, which will reduce the duration of pit stops, reports the Spanish newspaper El Pais. After the abolition of refueling, the importance of the speed of wheel replacement has seriously increased.

In previous years, the time that mechanics spent changing tires did not matter much, since refueling the car took much longer. However, in the 2010 season, refueling will be prohibited, and the duration of a pit stop will depend only on the speed of wheel changes.

Before the advent of refueling, the duration of pit stops for different teams ranged from four to six seconds, and often decided the outcome of the race. The McLaren team had one of the fastest teams to change tires, while the Williams drivers more than once lost due to the mechanics being too slow.

However, Frank Williams recently stated that during winter training his mechanics were able to change the wheels on the car in just three seconds. The Ferrari team responded to this new development- a cone-shaped wheel nut, thanks to which the Scuderia hopes to significantly reduce the duration of a pit stop.

The shape of the nut allows you to quickly install the impact wrench on it. In addition, once screwed in, it locks automatically, whereas previously this had to be done by a mechanic. “We worked during the winter to speed up the tire change process,” said Ferrari designer Nicholas Tombazis. “Until now, the importance of this element has been relative, but this year there have been changes and we have tried to reduce pit stop times.”
http://news.infocar.com.ua/v_ferrari_razrabotali_novuyu_gayku_39236.html

Maxim V 26-02-2010 21:48

quote: Why don’t they make one like in the formula?

The wrench will turn out to be at least 100, and how can you turn the nut like that?
And services will have to purchase impact wrenches with monstrous attachments.
What about the hub design? And on the drive wheels? What about a hub with adjustable bearings?
In short, the game is not worth the candle.

theorist 26-02-2010 22:13

In the old days there was such a thing serial cars, was supposedly called the “Whitworth hub”.

Doctor77 26-02-2010 22:26

There is no need to ordinary car. Technologically it is more complicated, and reducing the time for replacement is not fundamental.

mr.Anderson 27-02-2010 12:07

What, on a regular car there is a pit stop for a while? There were and are cars with such a mount, Corvettes, Shelbys, so why? 4-5 bolts are more reliable for a long drive, and the car completed the race for 50 laps, 2-3 sets of tires and a hub in a landfill, is it necessary?

Dmitry Anatolyevich 27-02-2010 01:11

quote: Originally posted by Yep:

Why don’t they make one like in the formula?

The other day I watched a program about F1, so this nut costs about 10 kilobucks, “locksmith Uncle Vova” will turn two of these out of titanium for a bottle, no one has access to the F1 purchasing department?))))))

theorist 27-02-2010 01:17

There are no more fools left to sell for a bottle, but it’s an interesting idea. There was information that some effective managers purchased Chinese bearings for F1. With predictable results.

Nerd 27-02-2010 04:05

Citroen-Goddess DS had a fastening with 1 nut.

Yep 27-02-2010 05:12

and in general the wheel could be mounted on some kind of mount

Steelyard 27-02-2010 16:03

quote: Originally posted by Dmitry Anatolyevich:

the other day I watched a program about F1, so this nut costs about 10 kilobucks, “locksmith Uncle Vova” will turn two of these out of titanium for a bottle, no one has access to the F1 purchasing department?))))))

I once held a nut, not a nut, but a hub for a titanium chisel in my hands; The price, although not a bottle, is not 10 kilobucks, and Kamaz’s scientific and technical center is not “Uncle Vova,” and the customer is not F1. In general, if you wish, dreams come true.

Methanol 27-02-2010 23:19

unreliable, the nuts were either simply a friction lock or a stopper, if you don’t tighten the first one enough, or the stopper will fly off and may unscrew, there are conical splines on the drive ones, or smooth cones on the steering ones

IN formula 1 there are no small actions or affairs. When it comes to winning on the track, the team will give it their all and invest an incredible amount of money.

This year, due to the last 18, will be the most phenomenal, since this year the cars will not be refueled. That is, the tank will be filled not as before, but exactly as much as the car needs to get to the finish line.

This year, the only reason to go to the mechanics will be nothing more than changing the tires, since the tires in Formula 1 are very rapid wear. When a racer goes to the mechanics, he loses time, since his rivals will not wait for him to change the tires. Therefore, mechanics work at the highest possible speed.

What is changing wheels on formula 1

Somewhere around 15 years ago, all the work of mechanics took no more than 15 seconds. Of these, 7-9 seconds were needed for the car to stop. The record time for mechanics was 6 seconds. If the pilot came in to refuel, then the mechanics might not be in much of a hurry, since refueling is a long process.

Formula viewers are in for some truly exciting stops this season. One team managed to change tires in less than 2 seconds. It's quite difficult! because it is very exhausting.

What do you need to change wheels in 2 seconds?

The most important thing is to change technology wheel mounts. In ordinary life car wheel They are attached to the axle with about 4-6 nuts to hold the wheel more tightly. While the formula uses 1 nut for 1 wheel. If any service center tells you that they need to use all 16 nuts for fastening, otherwise the wheels will fall off, you can safely tell them the formula where only 1 nut is attached to each wheel.

To remove this single nut, use a wrench, and not, as we are used to, a wrench. But that's not all. We can imagine that everything is perfect from a technological point of view, but what about people?

If one person did all this work in the formula, it would take a lot of time.

Even if there is 1 person on 1 wheel, it still will not give a result of 2 seconds. In fact, at formula tournaments there are 3 people standing next to each wheel and each of them is responsible for their own. The first one unscrews the nut, the second one takes the wheel, and the third one is already standing and holding the new wheel.

It turns out that our mechanics need to be taught how to do all this in 2 seconds!

First of all, you need to train them to play as a team, when the first one has not yet had time to unscrew it, the second one should already be reaching for the wheel, and the third one should already be bringing the new wheel to the car at this time. Each one must be positioned correctly so that it does not interfere with the other. There are 3 people near 1 wheel, but there are 4 wheels.

Employees Red Bull Racing reached their height at the Olympic sports center called Bisham Abbey, about half a million pounds were spent on this training, but team manager Christian Horner did not regret spending such a colossal amount of money. When the team learned that there would be no more refueling, it selected the best of the best and trained them all winter, every day for an incredible number of hours. But this training was not in vain; they reached their 2 seconds. The mechanics have always been known for their dispassionate stop, but this time the team decided to take a scientific approach. If you constantly watch how people work and rearrange them, you can ultimately achieve significant results. But as they say, not every team will be ready to spend that amount of money on preparing the team. And as they say, not everyone needs this.

Why do Formula 1 still use small diameter wheels? What benefits would a transition to low profile tires? What parts does a wheel hub consist of, and how is it possible to secure the wheel with a single nut? Marussia F1 technical consultant Pat Symonds answered these and other questions in the latest issue of British F1 Racing...

Pat Symonds: "Thirteen-inch wheels and tires with high profile today they look somewhat old-fashioned, but this design was established back in the eighties of the last century, when teams began to experiment with wheels of larger diameter, and the FIA ​​decided to introduce restrictions, considering such research a waste of money. Later, the teams themselves refused to make any adjustments, since this would require a revision of almost the entire design of the car.

The small diameter of the wheels, on the one hand, complicates the work on the machine, on the other hand, in a number of aspects it makes it easier. With such a high sidewall, almost 50% of the damping effect comes directly from the tires, which makes the suspension geometry not as important as it would be with low-profile tires, for which the extreme stiffness of the sidewalls requires precise placement of the tires on the track surface and, therefore, a more sophisticated design suspension arms. Again, a larger wheel diameter would make placement easier brake mechanisms, and teams would have the opportunity to use larger brakes and with large resource– however, in this case the FIA ​​would have to first fix this possibility in the technical regulations.

What are the benefits of upgrading to larger wheels with low profile tires, you ask? Larger wheels would not only give cars more modern look: These would make it much easier for the engineers to place the wheel hubs there. In addition, this would seriously affect the operating principle of the tires and the efficiency of their heating.

Racers often talk about the need to get their tires up to speed. temperature regime. You might think that we are talking about the thermal energy released as the tire rubs against the track surface. This is partly true, but in this case Only the outer surface of the tire heats up. However, rubber is a fairly good conductor of heat, and it gradually spreads to the tire carcass, which must also be heated to the required temperature.

But heating of the carcass itself is achieved to a greater extent due to the deformation of the tire. Squash players know that to make the ball more pliable, you need to hit it several times, thereby increasing its temperature. This works in a similar way with tires: deformation occurs, firstly, as a result of the wheel rolling along the road, when the lower part of the tire forms the so-called contact patch; and secondly, due to the bending of the tire sidewalls when cornering. If the tires were low profile, they would deform much less and heat up less, which would require a completely different line of compounds - however, this is not so difficult to achieve.

Low profile tires are less demanding on pressure. This is explained by two factors: firstly, a more rigid frame needs less air support, and secondly, the volume of air itself is smaller, and with a change in temperature the pressure does not change so significantly. Thus, low profile tires would be easier to use without any warm-up than the current high profile tires.

From tires let's move on to wheel hubs. The hub consists of an axle and bearings inserted into a special housing. The rules require that the body be made of relatively common aluminum alloys that can maintain strength and rigidity at high temperatures.

In previous years, hub housings were constructed first from magnesium alloys, which, however, did not have the best rigidity, then steel, and even later machined titanium and more expensive lithium-aluminum and other sophisticated alloys. The current restrictions on the use of such materials are one of the measures aimed at preventing rising costs in Formula 1.

In the “bearings – axle” connection, the axle itself, made of titanium or high-strength alloy steel, rotates. A splined cone is attached to the axis, to which a carbon fiber brake disk- through this cone braking force transmitted to the axle. At the end of the axle there is a special thread onto which it is screwed wheel nut. The wheels are driven through special pins, which can either be attached to the axle and fit into special holes in the wheel, or vice versa - attached to the wheel itself and fit into the holes in the axle.

The wheel mounting system is very sophisticated. When the pit stop time is just over two seconds, everything must work flawlessly, and the design must not allow you to make even the slightest mistakes. This means that the wheel should seat on the axle immediately, and the wheel nut should tighten the first time. One of the latest trends is to attach the nut directly to the wheel, since in this case there is a greater likelihood of correct installation and less risk of thread stripping.

The thread itself has a diameter of 75 mm and is carefully processed for better fastening. Modern wheel nuts are not hexagonal, but have a toothed shape: when fastened, these teeth are inserted into special grooves in the impact wrench.

Finally, the wheel mounting system includes special devices, preventing the wheel from sliding off the axle if the nut is lost. As we have already seen, they do not always work as required.

Can we say that the wheel is the only area of ​​the car whose design is not determined by the requirements of aerodynamics? Not really. Along with rigidity, which remains a key design parameter, the issue of airflow management in this area remains extremely important. The wishbones, linkages and pushrods are positioned to allow aerodynamicists to accommodate all those numerous flaps we often see on brake ducts.

The flow inside the wheel is also important, since not only the cooling of the mechanisms, but also the redistribution of heat depends on it. Sometimes you need to use hot air, coming from the brakes, for heating rims and, as a result, tires. Well, if the rubber, on the contrary, overheats, a flow of cold air can be supplied to the discs. Overall, the path taken by the flow through the wheel can have a significant effect on the aerodynamic efficiency of the entire area.

Several years ago, before the ban came into force, all cars were equipped with fixed hub caps, which allowed the air to exit the wheel in the optimal place. Nowadays, such technologies are again relevant - in particular, Red Bull Racing and Williams have spent a lot of effort on optimizing flow in this area.

People often ask if Formula 1 uses the same wheel bearings as road cars. The answer is no. In road cars, bearings must correspond to the parameters of mass-produced models of axles and bushings. They are also required to travel up to 160 thousand kilometers without repairs, and, moreover, their cost should be moderate. Formula 1 cars use larger diameter bearings to give the entire structure maximum rigidity.

In this case, friction should be minimal: for these purposes, instead of steel balls, ceramic ones are used in the bearing. The balls are separated by special spacers installed in such a way that the bearings have sufficient preload, but do not show play when high temperatures. Each bearing costs £1,300, and there are eight of them on the car!

Finally, what materials are wheels made from? Made of magnesium alloy providing sufficient rigidity at high temperatures. Teams would prefer to use carbon fiber to reduce unsprung weight, increase rigidity and reduce inertia, but the rules do not allow them to do this."

In theory, Formula 1 tires are not so plump - translated into the language familiar to tire sellers and buyers, the size of the front slicks will be 270/55 R13, and the rear ones - 325/45 R13. For comparison - in the price list for road tires Pirelli P Zero (extremely popular among supercar owners) can be found in quite a few variants with a 40-45 profile. But there is one nuance: we measure the profile as a percentage of the “thickness” of the tire to its width, and we see the millimeters separating the surface of the tire from the edge of the rim. And in this indicator the difference is noticeable. For example, the “thickness” of the same Pirelli P Zero with dimensions 225/45 R17 will be about 100 mm, and rear tires for Formula 1 - 165 mm. That is, the diameter racing tire will be greater by only 4%, and its “thickness” will be immediately by 65%.

Wheels with a diameter of 13 inches also do not rhyme very well with the status of the most prestigious and most expensive racing in the world - after all, automakers now wear such shoes and budget model will not be allowed on the road (unless some Ravon R2, formerly known as Daewoo Matiz). Moreover, in the field of tires, Formula 1 has long been no longer a decree for other tournaments and racing categories: that sports prototypes in endurance racing, that electric cars in the Formula E tournament, that the formidable carbon Audi and Mercedes in the DTM championship - everyone rides on 18-inch wheels with thin tires. Why is it that in royal racing they still cling to tiny wheels and “chubby” tires?

Last summer, Pirelli, currently the monopoly supplier of tires for Formula 1, experimentally developed a “thin” tire for an 18-inch diameter wheel. During testing, it turned out to be nine seconds per lap slower than the usual “chubby” tire.

There are many possible answers to this question. Some say it’s all about greed: the “thicker” the tire, the bigger size logo can be placed on the sidewall - so against switching to low profile tires tire manufacturers act. Others argue that the International Automobile Federation in this way indirectly restrains the growth of speeds: they say, the lower rim- the more compact the brakes should be, the less effective they are and the less motivation the car creators have to make them exceptionally fast. Both of these versions are typically folk. Motorsport officials do not have to take such tricky routes - if they want to limit the effectiveness of the brakes, they can simply set their maximum sizes or prohibit the use of certain solutions and materials. As for the size of the logo, Paul Hambry, head of Pirelli racing programs, mentioned this aspect of the problem rather jokingly - and did this during the presentation of... experimental low profile tires for Formula 1.

More astute people remind us that even in a championship where pit stops last less than two seconds, you cannot simply bolt on wheels that are radically different in size from the current ones to modern Formula 1 cars. To begin with, if the wheel diameter increases to 18 inches, a set of wheels will weigh almost 35 kg more than it does now (such calculations were published by one of the tire companies some time ago). What will increase not only unsprung masses- what the creators fast cars in general, they try to avoid, but also the load on the gearbox. Plus, we must not forget that tires, in a sense, are an element of the car’s suspension. Especially “chubby” tires, which are much more active than low-profile tires with a rigid sidewall, are involved in absorbing the impulse when hitting a bump and distributing centrifugal force in a turn (in both cases playing the role of a spring). “If you just swap one set of wheels for another, the cars will simply end up wagging their tails like drift cars,” suggested Hirode Hamashima, who headed the Bridgestone brand’s formula program, at one time. “The difference in the level of grip on the track will be more than significant.”

From time to time, Formula 1 teams create virtual cars - a kind of fantasy on how racing cars will look like in twenty years (pictured is the MP4-X project of the McLaren team). It is noteworthy that all these racing cars of the future are shod in big ones wheel disks with low profile tires...

On the one hand, it’s stupid to scare Formula 1 designers with engineering challenges: let them sufficient quantity money and resources - and in six months, even on square wheels, the car will go faster than last Friday. But the fact of the matter is that in modern Formula 1 they try to save money and resources whenever possible. But there is still somewhere to spend it: the transition to hybrid power plants will be announced, then the height of the nose cone will be limited - just have time to turn around. Under these conditions, few designers will like to make major changes to the suspension design, which will necessarily entail the need to “finish” the aerodynamics, upgrade the brakes, and so on and so forth. In a word, there are no fateful reasons that completely exclude the abandonment of “puffy” tires in the foreseeable future. And this issue is not raised seriously, because even without it, both the Formula 1 teams and the tire supply company as a whole have something to do and where to spend the available money.

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