Sunday, March 27, 2016

Tech analysis: The key safety advances that saved Alonso's life

Fernando Alonso walking away from his accident at the Australian Grand Prix was a testament to the safety measures of modern Formula 1. Matt Somerfield and Giorgio Piola look at how F1 protects its drivers.

Formula 1's omnipresent pursuit of safety usually remains under the radar and it is only on occasions like we witnessed in Melbourne that it is bought into sharp focus just how far F1 has come in the field of protecting its drivers.
A huge amount of research and development goes into understanding how to dissipate the energy created when bodies collide.
Crashes like the one that befell Alonso on lap 17 may look spectacular but arguably even more fascinating are the various structures and mechanisms that played their part in making sure he could escape unharmed.
Rather than being as rigid and incompressible as possible, as was the case a couple of decades ago, structures of the car are now placed with the express intent of them decelerating a foreign body, absorbing the kinetic energy as the structure is crushed.
In order so that accidents can be controlled in a similar fashion, the FIA regulates the dimensions of many of the areas of the car, whilst several key structures must also undergo stringent load and crash tests.
The nosecone undergoes the most tests, not because it is more important but because it is also in a prime aerodynamic position, forcing teams to chase ever-demanding geometric shapes to save weight and improve aero whilst still passing the crash tests.
In order to maximise the global performance of the car within the current regulations, the teams are currently pursuing avenues which allow for the shortest nose possible, placing even more demand on them, as this means decelerating the car over a shorter distance.
Wheel tethers have been used by F1 teams since 2001, in an effort to reduce the chances of a wheel coming loose during an accident and impacting with the driver's head or threatening spectators and officials.
Following the tragic accident involving Henry Surtees, who was killed in a Formula 2 race when a competitor's wheel became detached and struck him on the head, the FIA updated the wheel tether requirement.
In 2011, the FIA revised the frequency of the tethers, as each wheel is now fitted with not one, but two tethers, each of which must have a minimum energy absorption of 6kJ.
During an accident, a wheel may be ejected at velocities in excess of 150km/h relative to the car, which corresponds to a linear kinetic energy of 17kJ for a 20kg wheel assembly, making it essential this energy be controlled.
The 2017 regulations will see further amendments, taking into account the change in the cars' width, increasing the minimum absorption to 8kJ.
At the heart of the car is the monocoque, made up predominantly of carbon fibre. First introduced by McLaren in partnership with Hercules in 1981, it subsequently went on to revolutionise the sport.
At first, there was scepticism from within the sport that the material and design were not up to the task but, before long, all of the teams were planning their own and out went the metal structures that had been used before.
The composite material is both lighter and stronger than anything that went before and it has since allowed teams to build complex structures that would otherwise be impossible with conventional methods and materials.

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