※圖文編輯/譯: Bmw Spy Info
Renault 和 McLaren的間諜案才落幕不久， FIA一直以來大力推動的消減成本方案又有了新的計劃: 限制空氣力學的測試 ~ 特別是風洞的使用率。從2007賽季開始，一連串限制措施譬如輪胎及引擎凍結計劃並沒有明顯縮減單圈速度，重點就出在空氣力學，所以大家早就預期FIA會拿這個東西開刀了。不過這項措施對於車隊及車迷到底有何影響呢?
風洞的成長！
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以前風洞設備只見於研究機構及商業用途，為了確保能夠使用無虞，F1車隊逐漸開始在1990年代建造屬於自己的風動設備。這些風洞的運作幾乎是全天候的，部份車隊甚至還有兩座在運作。然而，維持風洞的運作須要龐大的財力及物力，譬如BMW Sauber的新風洞就花了5千5百萬美元 (約18億台幣)，而所有人員及電力花費卻佔了經費絕大的比例，同時，可模擬空氣效應及探討零件可行性的CFD，車隊還得花費鉅資購入超級電腦，或是那些能夠支援叢級運算的工作站電腦！雖然和真正的風洞比起來，CFD花費相對有限，但仍是車隊的一大筆開銷。不同於車身架構的優化這麼顯而易見，空氣力學對車輛影響不容易從外觀看出，且往往只發生在很細微的地方，這套新限制錯施會在2008年開賽前的一月進行討論。這項突如其來的限制，對車隊影響絕對顯而易見。就算新車在空氣方面的概念已經定型，仍得花費數月時間去修改細部外觀設計，故這套措施如在第一場比賽前就開跑，大概會有不少車隊會斷手斷腳八。
↓CFD路經分析圖
新規定會造成何種衝擊?
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目前擁有兩座風洞的車隊共有McLaren, Williams, Honda 和 Toyota 四隊，假設果真實施那其中一座就得養蚊子了。 比較慘的是HONDA和TOYOTA，它們最近才快要完成的第二座風洞就算轉成商業用途大概也回收不了那些開發費用。然而，這項禁令也有些爭議，譬如Honda 和 Red Bull 如何讓 Super Aguri 和 Toro Rosso共用同一座風洞? Honda 和 Red Bull 有因為兩座風洞的數據資料而得到任何好處嗎?原本風洞是24小時運作，一天三班，一班8小時，現在改成一天最多8小時，如此將大幅降低空力部門的人數，夜間測試也將取消。測試時數減少，當然也意味著性能可能只能達到原本的1/3，甚至1/6 (有兩座風洞者)。
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新規定裡的運作細節，大致與現況符合，因為大多數車隊實際上只使用3/5的比例模型及50公尺/秒的風速進行測試，所以不會有任一車隊必須修改他們風洞設備。不過，全比例模型的禁用影響層面就大的多，全比模型通常是用來模擬車輛在跑道上的真實情況，譬如威廉士每六個星期就要花一個禮拜的時間進行全比模型實驗，這項禁令的確會對研發人員造成困擾。
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除此之外，新規則也規定只有五天的時間可拿來做直線風洞實驗，以往車隊都拿這各測試在比賽間進行實驗，因為它不會浪費測試里程數。除了限制風洞，FIA非常清楚和測試用等比模型同樣重要的CFD分析系統--很不巧地，去年BMW和雷諾才剛不約而同的研發資源導入CFD而已，現在FIA將會限制CFD人員數量及軟硬體的使用，因為CFD最大的瓶頸就是電腦的運算速度。不單單如此，FIA還打算進一步限制裝備測試、設計與製造、懸吊與煞車、液壓系統、車體、重量分配、賽道測試以及比賽時的工作人員數量。
↓CFD靜態風壓分布圖
↓進行CFD分析之前，需將3D模型轉換成無數細小的mesh網格；電腦會對每個網格進行演算，因此網格切的越細結果可能會越精確，但也會增加運算時間；CFD重點除了運算結果之外，更重要是可以幫助研發人員"了解"流體變化背後暗藏的原因，據此加以改良或解決
誰能獲的好處呢?
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實際上這樣做確實能夠降低研發成本，這也是FIA努力的方向。反觀車迷們，這項改變其實也沒有太大的差別拉，因為如同車體的改良，空力套件的演化是細微而不顯著的，至少短期間要藉此拉近各隊實力並不太容易，何況2009版的新空力規則即將實施。真要說對誰有好處，面對2009新一輪的規定，那些經費較不充裕的車隊可能有機會來拉近與上游車隊間的速度，畢竟2009的規則大家目前起跑線是均等的。
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Analysis: FIA's new limits on aero testing
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/64325
Although it was the latest developments from the Renault and McLaren spy cases that grabbed the headlines after last week's two-day FIA World Motor Sport Council meeting in Monaco, something much more significant for the future of Formula One was agreed on in that meeting.
In the latest effort of the FIA's long crusade to reduce costs in the sport, the governing body announced radical plans to severely limit aerodynamic testing - and in particular all teams' use of wind tunnel facilities.
It follows on with effective limits on tyre testing and engine development having been introduced from the start of the 2007 season. And with the importance of aerodynamics lying somewhere between that of tyres and engine power in improving lap times, such a limitation in aerodynamic research has been expected for some time.
So what does this mean for the teams and the fans?
The growth of wind tunnel use
Teams started to build their own wind tunnels in the 1990s in order to guarantee access to such facilities, which had previously only been part of either research organisations or aerospace businesses.
The use of wind tunnels has grown significantly with teams typically running them 24 hours a day and seven days per week. And even that has not been enough for some teams, with a few even commissioning second wind tunnels.
The costs for building and operating wind tunnels are significant. BMW Sauber's new wind tunnel cost a reported $55m (USD), but then on top of that you have to add the costs of staff and electricity. Added up, it can absorb a huge proportion of a team's revenue.
Equally, the increasing feasibility for parts to be designed entirely in CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) has led teams to invest in super computers or large clusters of high powered workstations.
While CFD programmes have smaller capital and operating costs compared to wind tunnels, they are still a huge drain on a team's finances.
This expansion in aerodynamic testing has not produced highly visible changes to the cars, rather a finer optimisation of the existing bodywork. It is this expenditure on detail, which the fans do not see or appreciate, that the FIA is acting to reduce.
The rules announced in draft form on Friday take a number of steps to limit what the teams can do with their facilities. The regulations are due to be discussed with the teams at a meeting in January, before being put into regulations from the start of 2008.
And with such an imminent imposition of the rules, the teams are going to find out very quickly just what a difference the lack of access to a wind tunnel will make.
Even though the general aero concept of a team's car has been fixed for several months already, resolving the detail and then the exhaustive mapping of the new car's shape is still a task completed in the last few months before the start of the season. This process could well handicap teams if it is introduced before the first race.
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What differences will the new rules make?
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The main rule is to limit the number and utilisation of teams' current tunnels. By demanding just one per team, several teams with two tunnels (McLaren, Williams, Honda and Toyota for example) will be left with a redundant facility.
For those teams (Honda and Toyota) who have only recently commissioned their second tunnels, it is likely that the huge investment made by the manufacturer is not going to be recouped by making them commercial facilities.
However, there are some obvious questions raised by limiting teams to the use of just one tunnel. Will those outfits that are operating what are effectively customer cars (Super Aguri and Toro Rosso for now) be able to run their own tunnel in addition to the main car supplier? And would Honda or Red Bull Racing therefore effectively benefit from having the data from two wind tunnels?
Tunnels can now only be used for one eight hour shift per day, whereas teams currently run three shifts to fully utilise the tunnel 24 hours per day. This will reduce the head count required in the aero department, plus the unpopular night shifts.
The impact of this is that will reduce a team's potential capacity for aerodynamic improvement to one third of current levels - or even one sixth for those teams who have been running two facilities.
In setting out the specification of the tunnel, the rules are broadly in line with current facilities. Most teams are already operating 60 percent models in unpressurised tunnels with air speed running at 50 metres per second. Thus no team will have to downgrade their tunnel or models to meet the new rules.
However, the banning of teams on using full scale models could affect everyone. Most teams do test their full sized cars in the wind tunnel, because this helps with the all important correlation of the model to real life. Williams, for example, run the full size car one week out of every six in their tunnel. Therefore, this specific rule will be a handicap for every team.
In addition to this, the proposals will limit to just five days the amount of dedicated aerodynamic track testing teams often carry out at straight-line facilities. Teams often carry out this form of testing, as it doesn't eat into the limited mileage they can accumulate between races.
In addition to the wind tunnel restrictions, the FIA realise that the teams' CFD programmes are becoming as important as the scale model testing. It was no coincidence that two of the biggest teams announced over the last 12 months that they were not going to invest in a second tunnel, but instead focus on major CFD initiatives in preference to a second tunnel.
BMW have had their second super computer, Albert II, running for one year now. Renault, meanwhile, are building an extension to their factory to house the enlarged CFD team headed by Dino Toso.
The new proposals will eventually be detailed to specify how many staff and what hardware the teams can use to run their CFD programmes. This will be as limiting as the wind tunnel restriction, because the major bottle neck in CFD is the computer processing time to resolve the model.
Finally, the announcement mentions planned restrictions on other types of testing and technologies. Such as rig testing, design and manufacturing, suspension and brakes, hydraulic systems, bodywork, weight distribution, circuit testing, and the number of personnel at races.
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Who stands to benefit, then?
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The net result of these changes will be a major reduction in costs to the teams, something that the FIA has pushed hard to do for more than five years now.
To the casual fan, the restrictions will be invisible. As mentioned before, the subtlety of aerodynamic design is such that no one will detect the slow down in evolution of a car's bodywork. Equally the rules will have little impact on equalising the field in the short term, or on overtaking - which the planned 2009-aerodynamic overhaul is setting out to achieve.
But with a limit on what the teams can test in advance of those far reaching 2009 aero rules, it seems that the lesser funded teams may have a an equal chance of getting their solution right - and that could just close up the field.
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