Front-wing in yaw

Armchair aerodynamicists might be interested in a 2015 paper, 'Aerodynamic characteristics of a wing-and-flap in ground effect and yaw'. 

The quartet of authors from Cranfield University analyse a simple raised-nose and front-wing assembly, consisting of a main-plane and a pair of flaps, equipped with rectangular endplates. On each side of the wing, three vortices are created: an upper endplate vortex, a lower endplate vortex, and a vortex at the inboard edge of the flap. (The latter is essentially a weaker version of the Y250 which plays such an important role in contemporary F1 aerodynamics). 

The authors assess their front-wing in yaw, using both CFD and the wind-tunnel, and make the following observations:

1) In yaw, vortices generated by a lateral movement of air in the same direction as the free-stream, increase in strength, whereas those which form due to air moving in the opposite direction are weakened.

2) The leeward side of the wing generates more downforce than the windward side. This is due to an increase in pressure on the leeward pressure surface and a decrease in suction on the windward suction surface. The stagnation pressure is increased on the inner side of the leeward endplate, and the windward endplate partially blocks the flow from entering the region below the wing.

3) A region of flow separation occurs on the windward flap suction surface.

4) Trailing edge separation occurs in the central region of the wing. This is explained by the following: (i) The aluminium wing surface was milled in the longitudinal direction, hence there is increased surface roughness, due to the material grain, for air flowing spanwise across the surface; (ii) There is a reduction in the mass flow-rate underneath the wing; (iii) The effective chord-length has increased in yaw.

5) The vortices follow the free-stream direction. Hence, for example, the windward flap-edge vortex is drawn further towards the centreline when the wing is in yaw.

One comment of my own concerns the following statement:

"The yaw rate for a racing car can be high, up to 50°/sec, but is only significant aerodynamically during quick change of direction events, such as initial turn-in to the corner. The yaw angle, however, is felt throughout the corner and is usually in the vicinity of 3-5°. Although the yaw angle changes throughout the corner the yaw rate is not sufficiently high, other than for the initial turn-in event, to warrant any more than quasi-static analysis."

This is true, but it's vital to point out that the stability of a car in the dynamic corner-entry condition determines how much speed a driver can take into a corner. If the car is unstable at the point of corner-entry, the downforce available in a quasi-static state of yaw will be not consistently accessible. 

Aerodynamicists have an understandable tendency to weight conditions by their 'residency time'. i.e., the fraction of the grip-limited portion of a lap occupied by that condition. The fact that the high yaw-rate corner-entry condition lasts for only a fraction of a second is deceptive. Minimum corner speed depends not only on the downforce available in a quasi-static state of yaw, but whether the driver can control the transition from the straight-ahead condition to the quasi-static state of yaw.