Anteater Formula Racing - Drag Reduction System

Background

Anteater Formula Racing is a FSAE team at UCI that is dedicated to designing, building, and competing with an open-wheel, internal-combustion race car inspired by Formula 1 and IndyCar racing. The DRS project team is working closely with the Aerodynamics, Human Interface, and Electronics subteams within Anteater Formula Racing to design, test, and implement a drag reduction system on the existing rear wing of the vehicle, in order to improve race times and performance.

Goal and Objectives

The objective of Team DRS is to integrate a drag reduction system on the rear wing of the car in order to improve race times. By changing the position of the top two airfoils, the drag coefficient will be modified to adapt to the racing environment. The actuation of the system will have an automatic component, controlled by vehicle speed, and can also be activated manually by the driver. Additionally, the system shall be lightweight, easily integrable with the current rear wing system, and comply with official FSAE rules and regulations.

The team objectives are to measure and model the drag reduction, as well as to create a proof of concept model by the Winter Design Review (3/14/2025).

Preliminary Design:

The attached document below represents our preliminary design. The drag reduction system will be activated by a pneumatic piston, which in turn is connected to the wing element via a linkage system. Ansys was used to perform CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics). The two-dimensional simulations ran on the system at a speed of 30mph, yielded a 15.33% of drag reduction when the DRS is activated.

Team Contacts: