This paper will address the engineering performance differentiators for an F1 car and highlight the difference aerodynamics can make to that performance. It will also consider some basic aerodynamic challenges and the main tools used for aerodynamic exploration by teams.

Hypersonic laminar flow past a compression corner has been numerically investigated using time-accurate computational fluid dynamics (CFD) approach. Two flow conditions were considered relevant to high and low enthalpy conditions with a total specific enthalpy of 19MJ/kg and 2·8MJ/kg. The Mach number and unit Reynolds number per metre were 7·5, 9·1 and 3·10 × 105 and 32·2 × 105 respectively. These free stream conditions provided attached, incipiently separated and fully separated flows for ramp angles between θw = 5° to 24°. A grid independence study has been carried out to estimate the sensitivity of heat flux and skin friction in the strong interaction regions of the flow. The investigation was carried out assuming the flow to be laminar throughout and high temperature effects such as thermal and chemical nonequilibrium are studied using Park’s two temperature model with finite rate chemistry. A critical comparison has been made with existing steady state computational and experimental data and the study has highlighted the importance of high temperature effects on the flow separation and reattachment.

Great attention is focused on the development of both remotely controlled and unmanned flying vehicles. As a matter of fact, the design of such vehicles is a topical direction of development for modern aeronautics. Among such promising flying vehicles, micro- and mini-UAVs play a leading role. The present paper proposes a method to validate the inclusion of the relevant modelling elements in a comprehensive simulation tool reproducing some of the flight phases of a mini-UAV. The energy balance budget and the dynamic response of the aircraft during the automatic flight are investigated, assessing the impact of autopilot configuration, such as altitude-airspeed holding modes and suggesting a setting guideline for flight mode selection compatible with the features of commercial autopilots.

This paper is concerned with the development of a failure initiation and progressive failure analysis (PFA) method for advanced composite structures. The present PFA model is capable of predicting interactive out-of-plane and in-plane failure modes observed in fiber reinforced composite laminates including interlaminar behavior and matrix microdamage at the mesoscale. A probability analysis tool is coupled with the PFA to account for uncertainty in modelling parameters caused by material variability and manufacturing inconsistencies. The progressive damage response of a laminated composite panel with an initial delamination is studied and used to demonstrate the PFA modelling framework that is presented here.

The blended wing-body configuration holds a major structural design challenge at the centre-body where the structure must support both wing bending loads and internal cabin pressure. A membrane approach is proposed which decouples the loads to allow their resistance by two independent structures: an inner membrane for cabin pressure and an outer structure to resist wing loads. A columned multi-bubble fuselage is proposed for the inner membrane structure, which are multispherical configuration to efficiently withstand the pressure loads. Considering this configuration, the carry-through structure can be designed and optimised. Finite element results show a significant reduction of stress level in this design over that for a conventional multi-bubble fuselage. Up to 30% weight reduction is achieved for a military cargo application that requires an extensive area with no structural interruption. For the outer carry-through structure, the topology and shape optimisations of finite element models were performed on the given design domain. The results from the shape and topology optimisations were complementary demonstrating a consistent design approach. The optimisation theory is briefly presented along with the results.