Mercedes using SGI
The Team McLaren Mercedes MP4-20 Formula One cars are designed, developed and manufactured at the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking, England. The team’s engineers are continually challenged to shave all important fractions of seconds from the lap times of the MP4-20’s, one area where this improvement can be gained is through the constant development of aerodynamics.
Team McLaren Mercedes use CFD to simulate the flow over their Formula One racing cars primarily in order to develop the shape of the car. One objective is to create downforce. This helps in providing enhanced grip, predominantly during cornering (braking, turn-in and exit) when the driver relies on grip to carry as much speed as possible through the corner.
Another major objective is to minimise the drag of the airflow around the car to maximise top-end speed. CFD can also help the understanding and insight into the behaviour of the car in yaw (cross-wind, cornering), steer (with the front wheels turned) and roll (ride-height variations).
“SGI enables us to develop design solutions using CFD simulations, with the aim of providing improved performance on the track,” said Jonathan Neale, Managing Director, McLaren Racing. “In obtaining the integrated SGI Altix and Prism solution we will be able to deliver fast and more accurate CFD simulations.”