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KERS at Indy?
The new specs for engines are moving right along, and it sounds as though we'll have at least a couple new engine manufacturers for the next gen car, but what about the gearbox? If the new engine puts out more power, there will likely have to be a redesign of the current gearbox. Part of a new gearbox solution could be a kinetic energy recovery systems (KERS) that could temporarily store energy in either a battery or in a flywheel, and then put that stored power out through the gearbox when accelerating. F1 is moving to such a system next year, as is Puegot in Le Mans, so why not us?
What got me thinking on this was a recent summary article, KERS in F1 - the basics, which discusses the different types of KERS designs and which teams are using which design. Interesting read.
What got me thinking on this was a recent summary article, KERS in F1 - the basics, which discusses the different types of KERS designs and which teams are using which design. Interesting read.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Gilbert K. Arnold on -
Verrrry Interesting.... (to paraphrase Arte Johnon). Admittedly the article doesn't get into the nitty-gritty on how the various systems work. I for one would like to see a little more of the engineering data, but then again I'm a geek. Ir would be intriguing to see how this technology would work in Indy Cars.Looks like I'm going to have to spring for a subscription to RCE. $129/year... ouch
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Permalink Reply by xorpheous on -
Yeah, the article is very cursory in its treatment, which stinks. :( There are some good, more detailed, articles that you can get online, but they're scarce.
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Permalink Reply by Gilbert K. Arnold on
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Hey Xorpheous: Did you see the article in RaceCar Engineering about the KERS system developed by BMW (I think it was). Most interesting. 180,000 rpm contra-rotating flywheels! Yikes!!!
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Permalink Reply by xorpheous on
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No, I hadn't seen that article yet. The holidays and now the beginning of classes has been kicking my butt. :( I am happy to see someone finally using contra-rotating flywheels! That seems like the most logical type of system. I'll checkout the article tonight.
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Permalink Reply by Gilbert K. Arnold on
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Hey Xorpheous: Did you ever get a look at that article? Just wondering.
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