Active Aerodynamics Through Active Body Control: Modelling and Static Simulator Validation

Active aerodynamics is a growing field in the race car and high-performance vehicles segments, since each situation on the track may require different aero forces to achieve the best vehicle dynamics performance. This paper presents an active aerodynamics control system developed through the active control of the body trim. By interchanging four different setups on the suspension heights with a fuzzy logic control, relevant advantage is obtained in terms of lap time reduction. Two systems, a PID and a Feedforward logic, are studied to implement the control strategy and important differences are found in the stability of tire-ground forces benefiting the latter. Furthermore, the system was validated in a Driver-In-the-Loop (DIL) static simulator with a more realistic road conditions and important insights in terms of subjective evaluation.