RESEARCH ARTICLE | FEBRUARY 09 2018

Aerodynamic analysis of formula student car 

Mohammad Arief Dharmawan; Ubaidillah; Arga Ahmadi Nugraha; Agung Tri Wijayanta; Brian Aqif Naufal

AIP Conf. Proc. 1931, 030048 (2018)

https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5024107

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12 June 2024 16:24:25

 Aerodynamic Analysis of Formula Student Car
Mohammad Arief Dharmawan1,a), Ubaidillah1,2,b), Arga Ahmadi Nugraha1, Agung
Tri Wijayanta1, Brian Aqif Naufal3
1
Mechanical Engineering Department, Universitas Sebelas Maret, Surakarta, Jawa Tengah, Indonesia 57126,
Indonesia
2
National Center for Sustainable Transportation Technology (NCSTT), SHERA Project, USAID
3
Mechanical Engineering Education Department, Faculty of Teacher and Training, Universitas Sebelas Maret,
57126 Jebres, Surakarta, Indonesia

Corresponding author: b) [email protected]

a)
[email protected]

Abstract. Formula Society of Automotive Engineering (FSAE) is a contest between ungraduated students to create a high-
performance formula student car that completes the regulation. Body and the other aerodynamic devices are significant
because it affects the drag coefficient and the down force of the car. The drag coefficient is a measurement of the resistance
of an object in a fluid environment, a lower the drag coefficient means it will have a less drag force. Down force is a force

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that pushes an object to the ground, in the car more down force means more grip. The objective of the research was to study
the aerodynamic comparison between the race vehicle when attached to the wings and without it. These studies were done
in three dimensional (3D) computational fluid dynamic (CFD) simulation method using the Autodesk Flow Design
software. These simulations were done by conducted in 5 different velocities. The results of those simulations are by
attaching wings on race vehicle has drag coefficient 0.728 and without wings has drag coefficient 0.56. Wings attachment
will decrease the drag coefficient about 23 % and also the contour pressure and velocity were known at these simulations.

INTRODUCTION
In Formulas SAE contest, all undergraduate students are expected to be able to make a FSAE car with high
performance. One of crucial to achieving high performance is an aerodynamic factor from the FSAE car itself.
Moreover, most vital element in aerodynamic is downforce, lift, drag force and coefficient of drag. Down Force is
load from the air that pushes the upper of the car to make more grip on the ground, so to decrease the slips between
wheels and ground. Higher downforce means will be a more top aerodynamic performance of FSAE car. Downforce
is a negative lift. Lift is a load that will lift the car up because of the air that flows from in front of the vehicle at high
speed. Commonly the lift at formula car type occurs from the bottom of the car. This case will lift the vehicle and
make slip between the wheels and ground, also decrease the aerodynamic performance of the car itself.
Furthermore, one crucial aspect in aerodynamic is drag force. Drag Force is a load that pushes to opposite direction
of car velocity, so it will force the car to backward and decreases car velocity. From drag force also there is the drag
coefficient, which is a measurement of the resistance of an object in a fluid environment. It also could determine car
aerodynamic performance itself. To achieve high performance from the FSAE car, we should add an aerodynamic
device. The aerodynamic components consist of the front wing, rear wing, and diffuser. Additional aerodynamic
devices aim to decrease lift and drag force. However, drag force and lift are proportional to each other. Therefore, it
needs design as efficient as possible to reach the best result from the lift and drag force. To decrease the lift, we can
add a front wing to car design, but other than that, it also could increases drag force and lift by increasing the car
velocity. McKay and Gopalarathnam [1] conducted an analytical study to determine the effects of wing aerodynamics
on the performance of race cars and its influence on lap times on different kinds of tracks. In this case, downforce is
very useful to maintain balance of the car from air pressure, especially when the car wants to turn. With the result that

The 3rd International Conference on Industrial, Mechanical, Electrical, and Chemical Engineering
AIP Conf. Proc. 1931, 030048-1–030048-8; https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5024107
Published by AIP Publishing. 978-0-7354-1623-9/$30.00

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car will grip the ground. Furthermore, airflow from the front wing will be directed to sideboard which is used to be a
cooling system to machine device, such as radiators.
Landinez [2] conducted aerodynamic study design of formula student. The diffuser is an essential part of the car
because the fluid that is going quickly below the bottom of the car has to slow down. This situation generates a drag
that might restrict a vehicle movement. It is why some race cars provide a smooth the diffuser is to maintain the airflow
at the bottom the race car. The smooth diffuser will keep the flow becomes laminar. Pritchard and Leygian [3]
investigated that based on Bernoulli’s Law, airflow velocity at the bottom of the car will higher than the upside of the
car. Therefore, the air pressure on the upside of the vehicle will higher than the bottom of the vehicle. This occurrence
will increase the downforce of FSAE car and prevent lift. Based on Landinez’s work [2], to reduce the drag and
increase the downforce, the design of diffuser is formed like a nozzle. It will smooth the air inlet and delay the growth
of the boundary layer, also increase the speed of the air and generate a low pressure at the exit. Finally, the race car
will have more grip on the ground.
Rear Wing also one of crucial parts of the aerodynamic device. Devaiah and Umesh [4] stated that this device
contributes approximately a third of the car’s total downforce. It is because the rear wing is used to prevent the lift
from the machine and turbulent flow from the release flow from the diffuser. The rear wing is constructed by three
airfoils connected to 2 end-points. The airfoils are divided to be two sides. First is upside airfoils, which is contain
two airfoils, it is to produce more downforce. The other one is the lower airfoil, which comprises only one airfoil to
produce downforce too. Verhun et al. [5] conducted on study Aerodynamic Modification of CFR Formula SAE Race
Car. The airfoil has own track because to produce trade-off between downforce and drag. Patel et al. [6], investigated
the influences between airfoil and angle of attack. When the angle increases, the higher downforce, the higher drag
will be obtained. Therefore, the design process should be carefully conducted to reach the right angle.
This model design will be simulated before creating the FSAE race car body to know the aerodynamic
performance. Selig and Maughmert [7] suggested a technique for the selection of the different parameters of an airfoil
such as an airfoil maximum thickness ratio, pitching moment, part of the ve1oclty distribution, or boundary layer
development. So, at this simulation, we will simulate into five different velocities and also in 2 model designs.

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METHODOLOGY
Geometric modeling of the Formula SAE race car was done using the software tool Autodesk Fusion 360. This
simulation will be applied in five different speeds of 60, 80, 100, 120 and 140 km/h in Autodesk Flow Design which
was used as a solver of aerodynamic simulation. Figure 1 shows the simulation of Bengawan FSAE Car.

FIGURE 1. Simulation using Autodesk Flow Design in Bengawan FSAE car

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 The first step is the geometric model of the Bengawan FSAE excludes both front and rear wings as shown in Figure
2. The design will be simplified without including some parts, such as machine, steering, and chain. This design also
includes a front wheel and rear wing. Figure 2 shows the geometric model of the Bengawan FSAE car without wings
in isometric view. This model aims to compare how aerodynamic aspects of this car without front wings and rear
wings.

FIGURE 2. FSAE Car model without Aerodynamic device attachment in isometric view

The next step is attaching the front and rear wings to the Bengawan FSAE car model. The baseline model with the
wings attachment as depicted in Figure 3 is analyzed for five different speeds of 60, 80, 100, 120 and 140 km/h. This
treatment is carried out to study the amount of drag force in the car with just the wings attached. Moreover, this step
is beneficial for finding how much the performance improvement compared to the initial model without any

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aerodynamic device.

FIGURE 3. FSAE Car model with Aerodynamic device attachment in isometric view

Front Wing Model

The front wing is designed with three pairs of airfoils and three pairs of endplates, which divide it to be four
sections, First is two inside and two outside as shown in Figure 4. This design will be applied to separate airflow to 2
directions, which are to make streamline flow to the side pod and the other one to create streamline flow around the
front wheels and to the upper body side. Airfoils at this design to create drag and downforce as well as possible.

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 FIGURE 4. Front wing with seven airfoils and six end plates model in isometric view

Diffuser Model
The diffuser as detailed in Figure 5 is a piece of bodywork used to continue airing flow from frontward to the
bottom of the car. This design aims to decrease turbulent flow in the bottom of the vehicle so that created to streamline
flow to decrease negative lift. The velocity at the bottom side is higher than the upside one, so that, based on
Bernoulli’s law the pressure on the upside is higher than at the bottom side. This case will increase downforce of the
car. The base can be designed like a nozzle to reduce the drag, increase the downforce, smooth the air inlet and delay

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the growth of the boundary layer. It also increases the speed of the air and generating a low pressure at the exit, that
means more grip. In this design, at the rear, the double diffuser sketch is used. It is used to maintain laminar flow to
prevent the lift.

FIGURE 5. Diffuser model in isometric view

Rear Wing Model

In this design, streamline flow from the front will be continued to upside of the car than to backward hits the rear
wing (see Figure 6). This case will make straightforward to make downforce. The rear wing is a crucial part because
to prevent the lift from the rear diffuser, rear suspension machine vibration. So it could make rear wheels more gripping
to the ground. The rear wing is designed with three airfoils and two end plates. Two airfoils are placed on the upside,

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and the one is placed in the downside, and the airfoils will be flanked two endplates. This model is applied to get high
downforce.

FIGURE 6. Rear Wing Model with three airfoils and two end plates in isometric view

RESULT AND DISCUSSION

The results of this simulation will generate 2 result simulation. Firstly, simulation result related to the vehicle
without aerodynamic component attachment and, secondly, considering aerodynamic accessory. These situations will
be simulated at five different velocities such as 60, 80, 100, 120 and 140 km/h and also in the steady-state flow.

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Solver and Parameter
Autodesk Flow Design is used to simulate aerodynamic analysis. The parameters and boundary condition setting
that used in this simulation are listed in Table 1. Meanwhile, the other settings that have to be specified for the
simulation are boundary condition listed in Table 2. Moreover, the aerodynamic results of FSAE car are tabulated in
Table 3.
TABLE 1. Solver and Parameters
Solver Setting
Velocity Absolute
Flow Steady
Steady 3d – Pressure Based
TABLE 2. Parts and Boundary Condition
Parts Boundary Condition
Car body and side pod Stationary wall, no slip
Front wing Stationary wall, no slip
Rear wing Stationary wall, no slip
Seat Stationary wall, no slip
Head Restraint Stationary wall, no slip
Wheels Stationary wall, no slip
Arm Stationary wall, no slip
Frame Stationary wall, no slip
Suspension Stationary wall, no slip

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 TABLE 3. Comparison result of Bengawan FSAE car with Aerodynamic Device attachment in different velocities
Cd Velocity (km/h) Drag Force (N)
0.72 60 115.842
0.73 80 204.504
0.73 100 323.017
0.73 120 464.175
0.73 140 600.134

Figure 7 is the graph based on Table 3, as we know that the drag force will increases by increasing velocity. At
140 km/ h, it could be known that the drag force is 600. 134 N. Also at this condition, the value of Cd is 0.73.

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FIGURE 7. Drag Force vs. Velocity Graph of Bengawan FSAE car with aerodynamic attachment

TABLE 4. Comparison result of Bengawan FSAE car without Aerodynamic Device attachment in different
velocities
Cd Velocity (km/h) Drag Force (N)
0.55 60 156.399
0.55 80 225.638
0.56 100 335.955
0.56 120 448.924
0.57 140 624.401
Figure 8 shows the graph based on Table 4, as we know that the results of the drag force are higher than by
attaching the aerodynamic devices at 80 km/h. It proves that by attaching the aerodynamic device could decreases
the drag coefficient and also drag force. At this condition, Cd is 0.56

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 FIGURE 8. Drag Force vs. Velocity Graph of Bengawan FSAE car with aerodynamic attachment

Figure 9 shows the contour of pressure from Bengawan FSAE Car simulations using Autodesk Flow Design along
the center plan in the x-direction. High-pressure points can be observed located on the nose, head restraints, and driver
seat. The high pressure in head restraint and the driver seat because of there is no driver model to be simulated. So the
airflow will hit the head restraint and driver seat directly

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FIGURE 9. Pressure Contour of Bengawan FSAE car model

.
Figure 10 (a) shows the velocity contour from Bengawan FSAE car simulation result along the center plan in the
x-direction. This Figure shows the stagnation point of the car and shows low velocity at blue region and Figure 10 (b)
shows the direction of the center plan in the x-direction. This effect is corresponding to model design that makes
streamlining flow at upside and below the car; then turbulent flow rear of the car.

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 (a) (b)

FIGURE 10. Velocity Contour of Bengawan FSAE car model

CONCLUSION
The race car body simulation above has proved that aerodynamic device attachment was the essential to improve
aerodynamic performance. For the vehicle without wings, it has average drag coefficient 0.728 while vehicle with
aerodynamic device attachment has average drag coefficient 0.56. Using aerodynamic accessory decreased drag
coefficient about 23 % and also made streamline flow on the upside, and under the car as well as caused turbulent
flow at the rear vehicle. So based on this experiment the best model to be applied at Bengawan FSAE car is by
aerodynamic accessory attachment.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

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Authors would like to thank Ristekdikti, UNS Global Challenge, and UNS International Office for giving authors
financial support. Authors also acknowledge SHERA Project, USAID for the financial support.

REFERENCES
1. N. J. McKay and A. Gopalarathnam, Motorsport Engineering Conference & Exhibition. pp. 1-10 (2002).
2. D. G. Landinez. “Aerodynamic Design of Formula Student Car,”. B. Eng Thesis, University Carlos III of Madrid,
2013.
3. P. Pritchard and J. Leylegian. Introduction to Fluid Mechanics (John Willey & Sons, United States, 2011), pp.
470-473.
4. B. N. Devaiah and S. Umesh, SASTECH Journal. 12, pp. 72-79 (2013).
5. B. Verhun, T. Height and T. Mahank, “Aerodynamic Modification of CFR Formula SAE Race Car,” Proceedings
of ASEE North Central Section Conference. Saginaw Valley State University (American Society for Engineering
Education, Saginaw University, US, 2015), pp. 1-10.
6. K. S. Patel, S. B. Patel, U. B. Patel and Prof. A. P. Ahuja, International Journal of Engineering Research. 5013,
pp. 154-158 (2014)
7. M. S. Selig and M. D. Maughmert, AIAA Journal, 30 (1992).

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