Unit-3

Aerodynamics

Basics
Aerodynamics makes major impact on modern cars, aero forces cause
roll, pitch and yaw. These impact fuel economy, NVH and handling.
Vehicle aerodynamics includes three interacting flow fields:
flow past vehicle body
flow past vehicle components (wheels, heat exchanger, brakes,
windshield),
flow in passenger compartment
Bernoulli equation says that static and dyn pressure of air is constant as
it approaches vehicle.
As flow turns to follow the hood the pressure must go below ambient and
velocity must increase.
In absence of friction the air would flow over the roof and down back side
of the vehicle, exchanging pressure and velocity as it happens in front.

Forces

Adaptation of results of airplane and

airship development: streamlining

Coefficient of drag with various

bumpers

Basic ways to reduce drag

The most significant drag reduction can be achieved by rounding up
the vertical and upper horizontal leading edges on the front face.
Roof rack, mud flaps, spoiler, side mirrors, antenna, wipers on
windshield.
Relatively small amendments can result considerable drag
reduction.
The drag reduction of front spoiler is large if its use is combined
with rounded leading edges.

Use of front spoiler

Streamline
It is a design with a form that presents very little
resistance to a flow of air or water, increasing speed and
ease of movement.

Boundary Layer
It is a layer of more or less stationary fluid (such as water
or air) immediately surrounding an immersed moving
object.

Wind Tunnel Testing

Wind tunnel testing is required in the early stage of vehicle
development.
Basically wind tunnel testing is done for Aircrafts, there are
different types of wind tunnels used for testing.
Same procedure used for aircrafts is adopted to automotive
testing.
Wind tunnel testing only simulates the road conditions, and
considerable deviation can still be expected from actual road
tests.
The varying ambient conditions also can be accurately simulated
in a wind tunnel.
Special tests for fuel consumption can be conducted in a
dynamometer wind tunnel.

Types of wind tunnels

Wind Tunnel can be classified on the basis of
construction asa. Open Loop
b. Closed Loop
Open Loop: In an open loop wind tunnel, there is an
intake and an exhaust. Power needed to drive the windtunnel is high because of the loss of energy in the outflowing air. The open circuit wind tunnel is the simplest
and most affordable to build.
Low cost, less deflections.

 There are two basic types of open circuit tunnels.

(a)Suck down
Suck down tunnels are typically more susceptible to low
frequency unsteadiness in the return flow than blowers,
though some claims have been made that intake swirl is less
problematic in these tunnels because it does not pass through
the fan before entering the test section

(b) Blower
Blower tunnels are the most flexible because the fan is at the
inlet of the tunnel, so the test section can be easily
interchanged or modified with seriously disrupting flow.

Closed type

 As the name implies, closed circuit tunnels (also called closed

return) form an enclosed loop in which exhaust flow is directly
returned to the tunnel inlet.
In a closed loop wind tunnel, the air is recalculated to improve
efficiency for high speed testing.
They must be carefully designed in order to maximize uniformity
in the return flow.
These tunnels are powered by axial fan(s) upstream of the test
section and sometime include multistage compressors, which are
often necessary to create trans-sonic and supersonic air speeds.
Closed circuit wind-tunnels recirculation the air and thus normally
need less power to achieve a given low speed, and, above all,
facilitate the achievement of well controlled low conditions in the
test section.
The present, and most low-speed tunnels used for research, are

Types of wind tunnel sections

 Open: allows the streamline above the car to curve

naturally.
Slotted walls: allows the streamlines around the car to
expand to a certain extent.
Streamlined walls: the walls follow the natural curves of
the streamlines
Adaptive walls: same as streamlined walls but can be
used for any geometry/wind condition

Planning a wind tunnel test :

Type of tunnel
Size and power requirements
Simulated environment
Nozzle (contraction ratio) velocity
Heat Exchanger and sun load
Collector

Gottingen tunnel is a closed return, and open test section type tunnel.

It is possible to match the cross-section

Streamline matching
of
the working section to the isobars around
the car.

Adaptive Walls

Ground Effect Simulation System

Continued
This low-drag car was based on the mechanics of a
production car having a Cd = 0.35.
The analysis of its flow field showed that most of the
drag was generated by the car underbody and by the
wheels and wheel-housing areas.

Turbulence generation system

Most of the time, vehicles are moving on the road in the
presence of turbulent flows.
This turbulence is due to two main sources:
ambient wind, often in the presence of roadside obstacles,
other vehicles moving on the road, ahead or at the side,
a combination of the two above-mentioned factors.

Forces and measurements

Conditions for testing:
Base wind tunnel, i.e., say a low-turbulence flow and a flow
velocity corresponding to the car velocity.
Wind tunnel+turbulence generation system, at Vwtt = Vcar, i.e.,
turbulent flow and flow velocity corresponding to the car
velocity (to check the effect of the increased turbulence only).
Wind tunnel+turbulence generation system, at Vwtt > Vcar, i.e.,
turbulent flow and flow velocity corresponding to the car
velocity+the ambient wind velocity. This condition is that
similar to the actual road condition.

Measuring
Pressure probe to survey the flow around the car.
Its main feature is the capability of measuring the local total
and static pressures, and the three components of the
velocity, whatever is the direction of the local flow.
The probe is permanently installed on the main traversing
gear, and under computer control, measures the flow
characteristics along any planar surface around the car,
including the car underbody.
Laser doppler velocimetry
A special fiber-link 3-D LDV system is available in the wind
tunnel to measure velocities and turbulence, with no physical
interference with the flow.

Laser doppler velocimetry

It is mainly used for measurements:

close to the car surface, in the boundary layer,
close to rotating parts (radiator fans, wheels) or inside the
rotating wheel disk openings to measure the disk cooling flow,
within the engine bay, where the flow is more difficult to
measure

PIV (particle image velocimeter)

PIV is a recent technique that is capable of providing
quantitative velocity information, instantaneously, at a
large number of points.
This feature gives the possibility to identify the flow
structures and, to some extent, their evolution in the
time.
The first of this problem is the setup time. It is usually
quite long, not acceptable in an automotive wind
tunnel, where the available time is always limited.

Flow visualisation method

Air flow pattern around the vehicles and inside the
vehicle is basically responsible for all aerodynamics
characteristics. There are certain techniques for
visualisation of flow those are:
Smoke method
Tuft method
Oil coating method

Optimization Techniques of Min drag

1. Optimization:
Optimization can be effectively applied to a pillar shape and the
rear edges.
A pillar takes the form of vortices, optimisation here reduces the
energy expended in the vortices and so reduces drag. The main
body affecting parameters are
1. Hood Line
2. A pillar
3. C Pillar
A degree of boot tailing is incorporated, this can be reduce 20%
of Drag.

Design of Low Drag: A-D pillar shape

By having a slight convex profile from the A-pillar to Dpillar shape reduction can be achieved by using a wind
screen in comporting towards the A-pillar. This
eliminates flow separation.

Perfectly smooth profile from the wind screen to D-pillar

edges would be compromised to some extent at the
junctions of glass and surrounding frames.

Spoiler
25% of max drag reduction can be achieved.
The rear spoilers which is attached either to the rear of
the roof or to the rear upper edge of the rear wings, has
the effect on rear deck.
Raise in pressure will raise down force which helps
vehicle to be in stable position.
These will also help to stabilize vortices generated at
the end of the vehicle.

Air Dam
Good air dram reduces ground clearance and limits the
volume of air passing under the body.
Thus reducing the pressure of the air stream under the
car body.

This greatly reduces vortices and induced drag.

Race Car Aerodynamics

Aerodynamic Design Modifications for Race Cars
15.2.1 Rear Wing
15.2.2 Front Wing
15.2.3 Ground Effect

Race cars designed to achieve top speeds.

Drag reduction was paramount.
Maneuverability and stability, secondary.
Fuel consumption, aesthetics not important.

High top speeds leads to +ve lift

Inverted wings to generate ve lift
Opels RAK1, and RAK 2 first to deploy side wings

 Wing dimensions are also important :

Wings with greater surface produce more lift

Wings with higher aspect ratio induce less air resistance

Lift increases with angle of attack.
Flow separation at large angles of attack drops lift
Multi-dimensional flaps increase chamber of the airfoil
Produces maximum lift coefficient

In finite, 3-D wings, vortices appear at wing tips

Vortices reduce wing efficiency and increase drag
Lowest drag can be achieved with elliptical wings

Rear Wing
Jim Halls Chaparral 2E in 1966, was the first race car with a rear
wing.
Wings were initially mounted high on the rear end to operate in
undisturbed flow.
They are also mounted on pivots to change angle of attack.
High mounted wings broke easily during races, and were banned by
the FIA.
Modern rear wings produce 30-35% of the total down force on the car.
Typically two sets of airfoils are connected by wing endplates
Angle of attack is determined by racing authorities.
Higher ve lift is required for stability on tracks with numerous turns.

 Lower airfoil reduces total ve lift produced by the airfoil

assembly
The end plates join the upper and lower wings.
They also reduce the 3-D effect of the finite wing by
reducing air leakage around the tip.
This also reduces formation of trailing vortices.

The U shaped cutout also inhibits vortices by reducing

upflow from the rear wheels

Modern Rear Wings

1 : end plates
2, 3 : upper and
lower airfoils
4 : U shaped cutout

Front Wing
Front wing produces 1/3rd of the ve lift.
Being upfront, it also guides the oncoming flow towards the car and the
rear.
The front wing should reduce turbulence, as it reduces efficiency of
the rear wing.
Lotus 49B deployed the first front wings in Formula 1 circuit.
This was succeeded by the elliptical wing in the same year.
By mounting the wing far ahead of the body, Ferrari avoided wing-body
interaction.
Multi-element wings were deployed by McLaren in 1984.
Angle of attack on the second wing was adjustable.
This allowed the load on the front wing to be modified to balance the
car.

 In 1990 Tyrell raised the nose of its to increase airflow under the nose.
This design avoids wing-body interaction.
The front wing operates in undisturbed flow.
This also increases the wing effective area.
In 1998, width of the Formula 1 car was reduced.
Consequently, front wings overlapped the front wheels.
This created turbulence in front of the wheels.
Aerodynamic efficiency of the wing decreased.
Instead of reducing wing span, designers use wing tips to deflect air
flow around the wheels.

Modern Front Wing

1&2 : Two element
airfoil
3 : Curved area under
the nose
4 : End plates
5 : Nose of the car

Ground Effect
Lotus T78 and T79 were the first race cars to deploy the
ground effect on the Formula 1 circuit.
The underbody was designed like an inverted wing.
The nozzle shaped under part lowered the pressure under
the car, reducing lift.
Side-pods were deployed to seal the gap between the
bottom of the side-pods and the ground.
This produced 2-D flow and reduced the drag, while
increasing ve lift.
Skirts were also provided, which increased cornering speeds.
However, due to safety reasons, they were banned after
1983.

 The cars attitude relative to the ground determines the flow

volume underneath the vehicle.
Very small ground clearance produces +ve lift.
This is because there is no airflow between the ground and the vehicle.

Higher airflows produce under-body pressures, and hence lower

lift.
Further increase in ground clearance lowers the flow velocity,
and increases the lift due to higher bottom pressure.
A diffuser at the rear can also increase ve lift.
The diffuser is designed to decelerate air flow from the nozzle
part without separating it from the tunnel walls.
Flow separation would produce stalled conditions, which reduces ve lift
and increases drag.

Ground Effects

Underbody Pressure

12

Suction Peak Occurs Near the Diffuser Entrance

Can be used to Control the Vehicle Center of Pressure

Lift vs Ground Clearance

Typical Static Pressure Coefficient Distribution

Drag Reduction by Changes to Front Body Shape

Influence of backlight angle on drag coefficient

Vehicle Body Engineering

Aerodynamics

High tail, low drag design

Bluff Body
Abluff bodycan be defined as a body that, as a result of its
shape, has separated flow over a substantial part of its
surface. Any body which when kept in fluid flow, the fluid
does not touch the whole boundary of the object. An
important feature of a bluff body flow is that there is a very
strong interaction between the viscous and inviscid regions.
Cylinders and spheresare consideredbluff
bodiesbecause at large Reynolds numbers the drag is
dominated by the pressure losses in the wake.
when the drag is dominated by africtional component, the
body is called a streamlined body; whereas in the case of
dominantpressure drag, the body is called abluff body.

Wake, Vortex and separation point

The wake becomes unstable with the increase
of the Reynolds number

Effect of Vortex Generators on Flow Separation

VG

Separation Region

Separation Region

With VG

Without VG

Effect on Bluff Bodies

With VG

Without VG

VGs Cause Drag, but Reduce Pressure Drag by

Delaying Flow Separation from Occurring
Reducing the Magnitude of the Separation Region
Increases the Static Pressure of Separation Region

Higher Velocities Closer to Car,

Resulting in a Smaller Wake Behind Vehicle

Pressure distribution on vehicle

Yaw angle and Cd

Influence of cooling system on drag

Local air flows

Effect of cooling system on Drag:
The simple streamlined flow will have low pressure
drag, with much of drag coming from surface
friction.
By allowing air through it the wetted surface area
is increased increasing Drag.
Drag is produced by creating separation point and
turbulent flow.
Figure 2 shows the bluff shapes and obstructions
caused to air flow tending Cd.
At low speeds drag is less as it doesn't affect
laminar flow but at high speeds boundary layer is
created increasing Reynolds number, which
creates separation points.

Drag on Radiator
The drag on radiator core is due to surface friction drag, which is
directly proportional to the local dynamic pressure.
Unducted radiators are free flying cooling system used in old
vehicles.
The air flow through radiator starts with free stream conditions of
pressure and speed and returns at low speed with same pressure.
Lets take Bernoulli equation:

The above expressions shows that if the upstream and

downstream pressures are equal, then speed at outlet must be
less than inlet, therefore stream tube must be bigger in order to
pass same quantity of air.

Ducted Radiators

Lift due to cooling flows

Ways to reduce lift