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Archive

Brake-by-wire

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Since the post-1993 ban on active technologies, the FIA has been reluctant to allow more forms of electronically controlled systems. Yet for Formula One, in 2014 it decided to allow a brake-by-wire system. Rather than this being a performance-based rule change, the decision was to account for the greater degree of energy recovery available through the rear axle without upsetting the brake balance. When the energy recovery system (ERS) is in harvesting mode, there’s a drag applied...

Tyre temperature sensors

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Now that there is a single tyre supplier in Formula One, there is no longer a tyre war. Teams cannot produce their own tyres or request customisation of the compound or construction. Yet tyres are one of the biggest performance factors that the teams are able to influence. Tyres are of course critical to lap time in Formula One, and with the recent trend for high-degeneration tyres, this importance is growing.  Sauber’s Willem Toet in his Lanchester lecture to the Royal...

Chemical power

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The Australian Grand Prix of 2014 brought with it a watershed moment. Not, as you might think, for the introduction of the 90º, 1.6 litre V6 engines or the eight-speed sequential gearbox. I wouldn’t say the event was even pivotal to the introduction of kinetic energy recovery because, as I’m sure you are aware, that was first introduced in 2009, deleted for 2010 and then reinstated a year later. No, the race was notable in my opinion for a change in thinking towards the...

Crash tests

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Although it is not often remembered these days, 1985 marked a seminal moment in the advancement of driver safety in Formula One. It was the year that saw the introduction of a mandatory frontal crash test for cars, and followed on the heels of a number of other safety advances in the preceding years, not least the introduction of a compulsory reinforced survival cell around the driver in 1981. Since that first round of testing, the crash tests a chassis must pass before it is accepted for...

Rapid prototyping

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The development of rapid prototyping (RP) methods as a manufacturing technique has been fascinating to witness. There are several strands to this: many RP techniques simply produce a facsimile of a component or assembly but which have no functional use, as the materials are very low in strength, stiffness and ductility. The materials in this category include paper and some polymers. There are other polymer materials that are well suited to the production of ‘unstressed’...
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