Lotus Rear Wing Upright Industrial Group Project

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In partnership with the Lotus Engineering department based in Hethel UK, an industrial group project has been completed to redesign the current rear wing upright fitted on the Elise Cup 250 model. The task at hand was to decide which performance aspects to improve upon using modern CAE tools available at the time. The decision was made to develop four upright iterations: An aerodynamically optimised part created using CAD and CFD; An improved component through light-weighting made using CAD, FEA, and Topology; A part for which the cost is reduced using alternative manufacturing methods; A compromised upright model which incorporates features from all previous iterations. The all-in-one iteration ended up being 12.1% lighter, 68.2% cheaper to manufacture, and equally efficient from an aerodynamic point of view. All aspects established at the beginning of the project have been improved upon using modern CAE tools, with compromises having to be made but overall the primary objective has been met while keeping the rear wing upright within the design specification stated by the lotus Engineering department.