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RIGIDITY
Any Grand Prix machine comes under a lot of various loads. The monocoque, for instance, experience forces from the front suspensions while the engine-transmission assembly accommodates the loading of the rear suspension. Meanwhile, the wings and floor have to cope with tremendous aerodynamic loads.
How do F1 engineers know the required levels of rigidity? Two sources of information can help get a good idea of how much load the upcoming chassis will have to sustain. On one side, there is the telemetry data collected on the previous car. On the other side, there are the FIA’s mandatory test loads necessary to pass the governing body’s homologation and deflection tests.
In order to calculate the required levels of rigidity, F1 engineers use Finite Element Analysis whereby a structure is divided into a finite number of elements before these are subjected to a series of loads. That way, teams can estimate the different levels of deformation across the entire part. It is customary to exaggerate the movements of the distorted parts in order to highlight the areas that crucially need strengthening.
