AERODYNAMIC ANAL
Saman Kumar (210909116)
Pranshu Gadepalli (210909112)
INTRODUCTION
FSAE stands for Formula SAE (Society of Automotive Engineering).
Formula SAE is a student engineering design competition organized by
the Society of Automotive Engineers. In this competition, university
teams from around the world design, build, and race small, formula-style
cars. The goal is to create a high-performance vehicle that excels in
various dynamic events like acceleration, handling, and endurance, while
also being cost-effective and manufacturable.
FSAE challenges students to apply engineering principles in real-world
conditions, focusing on areas such as aerodynamics, powertrain,
suspension, and electronics. The competition not only tests the car's
performance but also emphasizes teamwork, project management, and
problem-solving skills, making it a valuable experience for future
engineers.
IMPORTANCE OF AERODYNAMICS IN VEHICLE
Aerodynamics is crucial for vehicle performance as it reduces drag,
allowing higher speeds and better fuel efficiency. It also increases
downforce, improving tire grip and stability during high-speed cornering.
Proper airflow management enhances stability by minimizing turbulence
and lift, ensuring control at high speeds. Aerodynamics also aids in
cooling components like the engine and brakes, preventing overheating.
Lastly, reducing drag enhances fuel efficiency, making aerodynamics
essential in both racing and everyday vehicle design.
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PROBLEM IDENTIFICATION
Flow Problem: Aerodynamic flow around the body of a Formula SAE
car.
Objective: Understanding the impact of airflow on vehicle
performance, including drag, lift, and downforce.
Necessity: Improved aerodynamics can enhance the car’s stability,
speed, and fuel efficiency. It helps reduce drag while increasing
downforce for better handling, especially in high-speed racing
scenarios.
KEY VARIABLES
Velocity: Speed of airflow towards the car. This is the velocity at which
the car is travelling at.
Pressure: Distribution of pressure on different parts of the car's surface
(front wing, rear wing, underbody).
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Temperature: Since pressure and density of air is directly related to
temperature, change in ambient temperature will change to overall
airflow around the car but in simulation temperature change is
generally neglected as it does not change much at ground altitude.
Drag Coefficient (Cd): A measure of how streamlined the car is. It is
largely dependent on the shape of the car. It is used to calculate the
drag force on the car.
Lift Coefficient (Cl): Measures the lift produced by aerodynamic forces.
It is used to calculate the downforce produced on the car. The force
that pushes an object down when moving through the air, created by
high pressure pushing down from above and low pressure below.
Downforce is proportional to the square of airspeed when the lift
coefficient is constant.
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USE OF CFD IN AERODYNAMICS
ANALYSIS
CFD is the method used in computational aerodynamic analysis for the
purpose of airflow simulation. The following are the key applications:
1. Flow Visualization
CFD provides a great deal of information on the different patterns of
aerodynamic flow around the vehicle, their degree of turbulence or
smoothness, which areas are separated, and which are held.
Moreover, engineers can understand how the pressure is distributed, how
fast the flows are going, and where there could be issues in terms of
performance.
2. Numerical Estimation of Drag and Downforce
Some of the inertial forces, like drag and downforce, can be calculated
using the CFD to a reasonably high degree of accuracy, thereby assisting
the designer in sculpting the vehicle aerodynamically to achieve minimal
drag whilst providing satisfactory controllability of the vehicle.
It allows testing of various designs with computer software, thus
improving the design without the need for expensive and time-consuming
physical models.
3. Design Optimization
CFD assists in the modification of aero devices such as wings, diffusers,
and spoilers to minimize drag and maximize downforce equal to what is
required by the device. Testing is rapid thereby causing quicker design
revolutions.
4. Cost and Time Efficiency
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This implants the need for costly wind tunnel testing since they can
create realistic sets virtually for the engineers to work on.
This is normally less complex and less time-consuming and cheaper,
when they have to look at various driving conditions and driving speeds,
for example.
5. Thermal Management
In addition, CDF is useful in changing the direction of the airflow to the
most critical components which include the engine and brakes for proper
cooling management via the
airflow design
pattern.
CFD
SIMULATION SETUP
GEOMETRY PREPARATION
The car's geometry was simplified by removing minor details such as
bolts and the steering wheel, as they have minimal effect on
aerodynamics. A bluff body of the car was prepared for the analysis. A
fluid domain was created by subtracting the CAD model from a large
cuboidal volume acting as a wind tunnel. Symmetry was assumed along
the centerline of the vehicle, and only half of the vehicle was included in
the analysis due to computational constraints.
Wind Tunnel Dimensions:
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Height: 3 m
Length: 8 m
Width: 1.5 m
MESHING
A hexahedral mesh was chosen for the analysis due to its structured
nature. This mesh setup provides a detailed capture of flow behavior
around the car. The following parameters were used for the mesh:
Base Size: 0.1 m
Minimum Surface Size: 0.0015 m
Surface Growth Rate: 1.3
Number of Prism Layers: 4
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Prism Layer Stretching: 1.2
Total Prism Layer Thickness: 0.02 m
Wall y+: 60 (wall functions used for boundary layer resolution)
Volume Growth Rate: 1.5
To accurately capture the flow around the vehicle, a finer mesh was
created around the car using a custom body of influence. In this region,
the base size of the mesh was reduced to 0.025 m.
SIMULATION SETUP
A steady-state simulation was conducted using the Realizable k-ε model,
which is known for accurately predicting turbulent flows in a variety of
applications.
Boundary Conditions:
Inlet: Velocity inlet (40 km/h)
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Outlet: Pressure outlet
Symmetry Plane: Applied to the blue wall in the fluid domain
No-Slip Walls: All other walls
Wheels: Local rotation rate was applied based on vehicle velocity
The simulation was set to stop once the force acting on the vehicle
converged, indicating negligible changes in force per iteration.
RESULT
Velocity Contours: The velocity contours around the vehicle were
analyzed for a speed of 40 km/h. These contours show how airflow
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behaves around the car's body, highlighting regions of flow separation
and high-speed zones.
Pressure Contours: Pressure distributions on the vehicle's surface were
studied to determine the regions of high and low pressure. This
information is crucial for understanding how the design impacts the drag
and lift forces acting on the car.
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Velocity Streamlines: Streamlines were visualized to observe the path
of the airflow over the vehicle. These lines give insights into flow
recirculation areas and potential design improvements for reducing drag.
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Downforce: Downforce values were calculated at various vehicle
speeds. These values help assess the vehicle's stability and grip on the
track at different velocities.
Velocity (km/h) Downforce (N)
40 79.252
50 124
60 182
70 241.733
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80 316
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CONCLUSION
Thus, aerodynamic analysis is very useful to understand the interaction
with the air surrounding the car. Downforce and drag characteristics
derived using velocity and pressure contours are valuable to improve
them in designing for the car better.
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