IndyCar's windscreen passes successful maiden test
- Published on 10 Feb 2018 16:03
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- By: Fergal Walsh
IndyCar's alternative to cockpit protection has proved a success on its first test. The glass windscreen, which is made from the same material as an F-18 fighter jet, was trialled this week. Formula 1 will introduce cockpit protection this season in the form of the controversial Halo.
Cockpit protection has been a major talking point in motorsport during the last number of years, fuelled by the deaths of F1's Jules Bianchi and IndyCar's Justin Wilson.
Four-time IndyCar champion Scott Dixon spoke positively about the device following the test: "I think it's definitely a milestone as far as moving forward and moving in the right direction for some more safety initiatives, and we all know the reasons why," he said.
However, he did admit that the lack of airflow made things in the cockpit quite warm. But IndyCar director of engineering and safety Jeff Horton was also pleased with the results: "When a guy like Scott gets out, a veteran of ours, and says there's no deal breakers, a couple of small things to look at, what better could you ask for," he said.
The device is made from a material called Opticore, and is four-tenths of an inch thick and rises at a 25-degree angle. IndyCar officials are eyeing an introduction of the windscreen in 2019, but understand that more testing needs to be done before a decision is made.
"It's a little bit different looking through something that's so thick but I thought it would have messed with my distortion a lot more but there was nothing like that," Dixon added. "There was no problem with reflection. The weirdest thing was just how quiet it is. You have no buffeting. The car feels very smooth."
A ballistics test is up next for the windscreen, in which researchers will look at how much force the screen can take. Horton admits that he is excited to see the next phase of tests, and believes there will be ways to rectify a negative result from them.
"It's like any project," Horton said. "Whether we're developing foam for the car and stuff or whatever, it's always exciting to do the test and have it a success. And trust me, we've had many non-successful things and we just go figure out the solution and keep working."
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Replies (11)
Login to replyHepp
Posts: 200
I would suggest 2 ducts in the body, 6" left and right of center, leading into the cockpit side of the wind screen. Much like a road car's forced-air defroster. This could be engineered to negate any aerodynamic advantage the added forward surface may provide.
Much better looking than F1's attempts.
calle.itw
Posts: 8,527
Agreed, but F1 considered and rejected this idea, citing that things like poor visibility from debris and poor aero left it inefficient compared to the halo.
Pauli
Posts: 140
F1 tried similar designs but they didn't manage to find balance between visibility and strength. Good visibility designs didn't survive required forces. While stronger designs had visibility issues.
But I don't know if they used similar material to Opticore. I'm a bit surprised that they didn't manage to find the balance because fighter jets have good cockpit visibility and I would assume they have similar or higher strength requirements. Of course fighter jets have shape provided strength advantage because structure continues over pilot to chassis (compared to open top in F1 designs).
FatMike
Posts: 153
The visibility issues that F1 was hampered with during their attempts were also because the base was much narrower. U can see the Indy version being much more integrated like a fighter jet. The F1 attempt was no more than a transparent deflector shield. The more narrow it is...the bigger the ocular distortion of the glass.
Indy 1- 0 F1
2GRX7
Posts: 108
FYI: F1 tested a polycarbonate screen produced by Italian manufacturer Isoclima, whereas Opticor is an advanced Acrylic laminate. Acrylic tends to have much better clarity than poly in these circumstances (bending) as it can be polished/smoothed to remove distortion.
Hepp
Posts: 200
@CALLE.ITW, F1 did not do enough research, IMHO, to make such a decision as they did. I think they just rushed into it, and as usual, fix it later. (thanks Mr. Toad)
Barron
Posts: 625
On the contrary, the FIA spent thousands of hours testing the halo and other devices..
Rindtchamp
Posts: 304
This is so much nicer than the ghastly halo.
Major Tom
Posts: 152
Hopefully the halo will be the last gasp of the Ecclestone era - typical as it was, of the under resourced, knee-jerk problem solving Bennie loved so much. Thankfully the new management take proper research and thoughtful decision making seriously. I hope and expect that 'Halo mark 2' to be coming shortly and will be a huge improvement.
calle.itw
Posts: 8,527
I very much agree. I havent really thought about it before, but now that you say it, the Halo is very much a typical Bernie+Todt move. I pretty much expect the Halo concept to be edited, though it will probably be done before 2019 rather than mid-2018.
RacetoWin
Posts: 95
if safety is F1 is now going to be at a peak level, can we please fix the tracks like spain to the old layout before the changes to sector 3??
spain was a great track before it was hacked up.