Their project is to categorise the aero profile of their two Lamborghini Huracan GT racing cars, which compete in the newly established and internationally-compatible South African National GT Championship.
Scuderia Scribante have a long-established footprint in South African motorsport across several categories, and they are Gqeberha’s proud representatives in an impressive field of supercar entrants. The two sleek Lamborghini’s are prepared locally at Scuderia Scribante’s motorsport workshops and are raced by brothers Aldo and Silvio of the well-known Scribante family.
The project will see the AEDG student team members initially scan in the Lamborghini GT cars, followed by geometric conversion and then progressive aerodynamic simulations to initially benchmark the aero profile of each vehicle for comparative purposes. One of the vehicles being the latest EVO configuration, while the other is still in standard layout.
As the project progresses, it is hoped that the knowledge gained will result in on-track performance gains which the Scuderia Scribante team can utilise to enhance their competitiveness in the national series.
“Scuderia Scribante are excited to collaborate with all the parties involved in the project. With the close racing we compete in, every tenth of a second can make a difference. By understanding the vehicles’ aerodynamics in detail and possibly improving on it, could just give us the upper hand.” Said Scuderia Scribante Motorsport Manager, Byron Teengs.
The project also showcases a wonderful cross-disciplinary and cross-sector collaboration between multiple entities and the private sector. Besides the AEDG & Scuderia Scribante, expert composite manufacturers CustomWorks through owner Arno Seyfert, have a long and established relationship with Mandela University projects and various motor sport outputs over the years. They will work hand-in-hand with the group to ensure that the aero profiles are compatible and calibrated to the real-world composite components fitted to the cars.
Further, Mandela University’s engagement entity, eNtSA, has facilitated the use of their state-of-the art MetroScan3D Scanning equipment to scan the two vehicles into a full-size electronic format in preparation of the simulation and analysis programme. This is an important aspect of generating real-world data for the project. The first scanning session occurred successfully on Friday, 30 July.
Due to the nature of aerodynamic analyses of this type and the computational demands faced, the project has also received support from software giant Altair in the use of their world-class analysis platforms, and the team will be experimenting with their latest LBM-based CFD platform UltraFluidX. This will facilitate faster and more accurate outcomes than standard NSM procedures traditionally utilised in fluid studies.
Altair SA and High Performance Computing (HPC) expert, Ernst Burger, has also facilitated the use of the Centre for High Performance Computers’ (CHPC) impressive Lengau supercomputer in Cape Town to ease the computational burden required.
The Lengau supercluster is the most powerful supercomputer on the African continent and is the best possible option in respect of dealing with the GPU-heavy demands of these types of simulations. “The combination of Altair’s simulation software and CHPC’s computer resources in effect provide the project with unlimited wind tunnel time and very fast answers to questions about aero performance. It will be very exciting to see how the AEDG rapidly tests new concepts for the aero package of the vehicles“ said Ernst.
AEDG Project Lead, Jode Fourie, currently completing his BEngTech Honours qualification, will include his findings as part of his upcoming Honours Design Project. He will co-ordinate things from the AEDG side and is very excited about the potential of the project, hoping to take the knowledge gained forward into a full-blown Masters in 2022. “I've always been a petrolhead, and so it is extremely exciting for me to be part of this project. This project provides me with a unique opportunity to learn more about the cutting-edge engineering behind high performance vehicles and acquire rare engineering skills whilst pursuing my passion” said Jode.The Project is anticipated to progress through 2021, continuing into 2022 and is projected to tie-in with on-track testing with the Scuderia Scribante team as well.
(Left to right) Jode Fourie, Zaahid Imran, Mohammed Lookmanjee, Arno Seyfert, Wian van Aswegen, Byron Teengs and Roy Taylor.
