Kinetic energies involved in racing facility design

摘要

The various forms of professional and amateur motor sports all require barriers, fences and deceleration/run-off areas for driver and spectator safety. We examine the translational and rotational kinetic energies involved for various types of race vehicles, and present some comparisons to typical energies encountered in everyday situations. Stopping distance versus deceleration rates are also calculated, and some simplified trajectory analyses are performed for parts potentially launched during racing accidents.