Tire wake management for an open-wheel Formula SAE race car

The world of Formula SAE closely follows the trends of various areas of engineering, where aerodynamics has become progressively more important and more complex than ever before. This thesis aims to investigate the aerodynamic phenomenon of wake and its consequences. In particular, the focus will be on the recirculating flow shedding from rotating tires of an open-wheel vehicle and its manipulation, essential to achieve better performance of aerodynamic components. Over the course of the document, the applied case of the RGe-07 (the electric Formula SAE race car from the University of Padua, which competed in Formula Student international competitions during the academic year 2023/2024), and some practical solutions to the wake problem will be illustrated. All the components have been designed using the Catia v5 software and have gone through a numerical analysis phase based on Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations on Star CCM+, which represent the working condition of the aerodynamic components of the car during an on-track competition.