Development and Validation of a Wind-Tunnel-Based Lap Time Estimator Built on Pointwise Aero-Time Equivalence

This thesis presents the development and validation of a tool for real-time lap performance estimation during wind-tunnel test sessions. Building on a previous sector-based approach, the work introduces a pointwise aero-time equivalence, formulated through sensitivities defined along the circuit, to provide a more accurate quantification of the impact of relevant aerodynamic parameters in terms of lap-time variation. Lateral loads and moments are also accounted for in the updated framework, allowing their contribution to be included in the performance assessment. Aimed at supporting aerodynamic development, the proposed methodology provides an integrated evaluation of different vehicle configurations between consecutive wind-tunnel runs. The revised software architecture further extends the tool’s capabilities, notably through improved data- conditioning procedures and support for the analysis of multiple circuits within a single execution. Its low computational cost enables such evaluations to be performed within the tight time constraints of the testing environment, offering a substantially faster alternative to conventional vehicle-dynamics lap time simulation. A vehicle-dynamics lap time simulator and the original version of the software were used as references for the validation activity. The comparison assessed both the predictive accuracy of the estimates and the computational efficiency of the tool, in terms of execution time. The overall objective was to determine the suitability of the proposed approach as a decision-support instrument within the wind-tunnel testing workflow.