Offices: The Netherlands Leeghwaterstraat 21 2628 CA Delft Tel.: +31 15 278 2907 Germany Weenermoorer Str. 193 26826 Weener Tel.: +49 4953 922 969 Consultancy for Heat Transfer and Fluid Dynamics CFD makes fluid dynamics visible. We solve every Flow problem. The Formula Student project is the European spin-off of the Formula SAE  competition in the USA where over 100 universities compete in this exciting  project. The Formula Student Race in Birmingham is very similar to the one in  America, and many universities try to compete at both races. In the Formula  Student Project engineering students have to design, build and race a formula style  race car. A team of judges not only assess the designs and technical specifications  of each car but also look into the individual team  presentations, design philosophy  and cost predictions.  Besides the static inspections the students have to demonstrate the potential of  their car in several dynamic events. The dynamic events include a brake test, a  figure eight, an acceleration test, an auto-cross and as the grand finale the  endurance event in which students drive  their cars for 20 laps on a demanding  circuit.  An essential part of any car is its engine.  For the combustion of fuel air is supplied  by an air intake. To limit the total air flow to the engine and thus its  power  a ring of a certain maximum diameter, prescribed by the rules of the  competition, has to be set in the air intake. This ring is called the restrictor.  As the cross-section of the connection to the air filter and the inlet manifold  of the engine is much larger than the restrictor, the air intake has an axis-  symmetrical converging and  diverging part.  In particular in the diverging part of the air intake a variety of aerodynamic  phenomena like flow separation and shock waves may occur, which can  reduce the engine performance significantly. To prevent any of these  detrimental effects FlowMotion has been consulted on the design of the air  intake. Since it is very difficult to perform accurate velocity measurements  inside a 40 mm tube, FlowMotion has resorted to flow simulations to  optimize the shape of the air intake.  The overall simple geometry of the intake has allowed for the assessment of a  large variety of shapes in a short time, which has finally resulted in a minimization of the aerodynamic drag and  therefore in a maximization of the mass flow rate for the entire range of driving situations during the race. In the final  standings of the European competition on 3 July 2002 the Delft Formula Student team has reached an impressive 16th  place in a field of 40 cars.  Student Races Optimization of the “Restrictor” of a race car engine Formular Student Team www.dutracing.nl restrictor flow velocity