Aerodynamic Analysis of A Car PDF

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION
1.1 Introduction
The auto industry has seen a continual increase in the level of global competition. The growth in the complexity of vehicle design and content has led to expensive and time -consuming development processes. The large cost and long gestation implies very significant risk for the automaker. At the same time, it is clear that technology will play an ever increasing role as the basis of this global competition, requiring high quality products that are safe to use, and economical to design and manufacture. The climate has been favorable for the increasing use of Computer-Aided Engineering (CAE) tools for math-based analysis of candidate designs and product features. The objectives of math-based analysis include: 1. Shortening the product development process and reduce some hardware testing. 2. Developing high quality products through the evaluation of more design alternatives. Aerodynamic development of motor vehicles is expensive. Much capital must be invested in testing facilities such as wind tunnels and climatic tunnels. Secondly, considerable costs result from the work itself. Finally, the development time may be lengthened by aerodynamic work. The efforts to improve the aerodynamics of vehicles are witnessed by the large numbers of wind tunnels constructed specifically for this purpose. Nearly all major manufacturers have such facilities at their disposal or are currently building them. Generally, the demands upon the quality of a wind tunnel increase with the expectations placed upon the quality and reliability of the results. Similarly the development costs increase steeply with the quality of the intended results. The availability of a reliable numerical prediction method could greatly reduce design costs by reducing the amount of wind-tunnel testing required. Computational Fluid Dynamics, as one of the CAE tools, has been adopted to serve this role for an increasing number of applications. When one examines the
Aerodynamic analysis of a car using CFD
aerodynamic development of vehicles, there are many reasons why CFD is expected to play an even more important role in future years. Traditional aerodynamic development employs the use of partial-scale or full-scale clay models of the proposed vehicle configuration. To ensure geometric fidelity, these models include much of the vehicle's details. As a result, they are expensive to build and take considerable time to complete. Extensive use of large wind tunnels for testing them is expensive and requires planned scheduling. Furthermore, certain desired data may not be obtained from such models. For example, early assessment of the potential of a shape for aerodynamic noise cannot be determined very accurately due to the need for model construction. Finally in the process of detailed development of a model in a wind tunnel, very elaborate flow measurement techniques may be required so that diagnosis (e.g. for drag reduction) is possible. CFD, with its ability to display flow properties in great detail, offers this additional capability. Extensive research is going on in the field of automobile aerodynamics, especially of cars, and there is a clear indication of the ever increasing popularity of numerical techniques and CAE tools such as CFD to predict automobile characteristics in comparison to the typical wind tunnel test methods. With the rapid progress of computer hardware and software components, these simulation methods will become more predictable and accurate and will completely replace wind tunnel testing in future.
1.2 Problem definition and objectives

Problem definition: To perform the aerodynamic analysis of the rear part of different car bodies available on road . Objectives: 1. To prepare the solid model of the car body with proportionate dimensions using SOLID WORKS. 2. To find out the aerodynamic drag force and pressure distribution on the car body in case of front winds at the variable speeds using CFD(Computational Fluid Dynamics) software ANSYS-FLUENT.
3. To find out the Drag Coefficient of the car body and compare it with
theoretical prescribed values for good aerodynamic behavior.
1.3 Line of Action

The 3-D model of a car body is generated in solid works. To ensure accuracy, the outline curves of the car body are traced from a blueprint image of side view. The co-ordinates of the curves are obtained by tracing the image on a graph paper. When the modeling is complete, the solid works file has been converted into .iges and then this .iges file is later on imported into gambit for further processing. In Gambit, surface mesh of the model and the domain surfaces is carried out. Further after assigning the boundary zones, the file from gambit is exported as a .msh file. This .msh file is imported in Tgrid for volume meshing. Finally the .msh file from Tgrid is imported in Fluent for analysis purpose. In fluent, after giving suitable boundary conditions, the problem is sent to the solver that carries out certain numerical calculations.
CHAPTER-2 LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Introduction to Aerodynamics of Vehicles and its Importance :
The performance, handling and comfort of an automobile are significantly affected by its aerodynamic properties. A low drag is a decisive prerequisite for good fuel economy. But the other aspects of vehicle aerodynamics are no less important for the quality of an automobile: side wind stability, wind noise, soiling of the body, the lights and the windows, cooling of the engine, the gear box and the brakes, and finally heating and ventilating of the passenger compartment all depend on the flow field around and through the vehicle.
The flow processes to which a moving vehicle is subjected fall into three categories: Flow of air around the vehicle; Flow of air through the body; Flow processes within the machinery.
Aerodynamic Drag: The aerodynamic drag D, as well as the other force components and moments, increases with the square of the vehicle speed V: D~V2 With a medium size European car, aerodynamic drag accounts for nearly 80 percent pf the total road resistance at 100 km/h. There is therefore much scope for improving economy by reducing aerodynamic drag. For this reason drag remains the focal point of vehicle aerodynamics, whether the objective is speed or fuel economy.
Drag acts against the cars thrust, and the balance of these forces determines whether you can accelerate quickly or not at all !! Friction acts with the drag to try to slow the car down.
Fig 1: Drag force acting on a vehicle
There are several factors that affect the drag of a vehicle. We can break this down into an equation, so we can see exactly how each factor plays its part. The equation for drag is:
Drag = (.5)x(density)x(speed)x(speed)x(area)x(drag coefficient)
There are a quite a few different terms there, so lets see how these affect the drag in different circumstances:
Density - The density of air is important. Lower density means lower drag.
Speed - Note that drag is affected by speed times itself i.e. speed square. This means that if we double the speed the drag goes up by four times. Three times the speed means nine times the drag, four times the speed means sixteen times the drag, etc.
Area - The frontal area of the car is considered.
Drag coefficient - This special number characterizes the aerodynamic design of the vehicle. It encompasses many physical features and can be reduced by good design of your car.
Lift : The pressure difference between the upper and lower sides of the vehicle produces a resultant force, at right angles to the direction of motion, which is called lift.
As a rule the lift is in upwind direction, i.e. it tends to lift the vehicle and therefore reduce effective wheel loads. It is coupled with a pitching moment, which differentially effects the wheel loads at the front and rear. Below 100km/h, lift and pitching moment have only a small-effect upon the vehicle, even in a cross-wind. They do change the attitude of the car in relation to the road and therefore slightly affect the aerodynamic drag.
The shape of the car must be such that the additional forces and moments remain so small that the directional stability is not greatly affected. First, the need to react to a cross-wind of varying intensity and direction is inconvenient, as the driver must continually apply steering corrections. Secondly, in very rare cases there is danger of total loss of control. This can only be countered by suitable aerodynamic design.
Soiling of the rear of the vehicle can be studied from the flow in the wake region. Dust or dirty water is whirled up by the wheels and, dust particles and water droplets distributed throughout the entire wake region by turbulent mixing, and deposited on
the rear of the vehicle. Since the flow pattern at the rear has a significant influence upon the aerodynamic drag, soiling at the rear cannot be considered in isolation. The fresh air fan which must be correspondingly larger, then provides a flow which is independent of the driving speed(though only when the exit vents in the body are located in the areas of ambient pressure as well.)
The trend in the aerodynamic development of cars: Summarized below. Shows how drag decreases between 1920 and the mid 1970s. Owing to the lack of statistical data only a general tendency can be outlined. The reduction of the drag coefficient from .8 for cars in the 1920s to an average value of .45 for cars of the 1960s and 1970s occurred in two stages. In the first, the period between the two world wars, the cars were stretched and body details were rounded while maintaining significant characteristics such as projecting fenders and headlights. In addition to a lower drag coefficient of approximately .55, frontal areas were decreases, resulting in a considerable reduction of the total aerodynamic drag. The average drag coefficient began to drop in 1978. the range of data is still enormous. Even some contemporary cars have drag coefficients worse than .5, while the best, the opel omega, has Cd=0.28 With concept cars there is still room for further drag reductions. Drag figures of .14(GM Aero 2002) and .15, established in 1922, at last seems attainable. So that a drag coefficient of 0.30 is possible for without major and expensive technical compromise. In the long run 0.20 might be achieved with production cars.
The drag coefficient itself is split into three components: Skin friction drag Form or pressure drag Induced drag
The first two are particularly important for cars, while the third(induced drag) is only really important for wings, and hence aircraft in the main.
Skin friction drag(viscous drag):
Skin friction drag occurs due to the air having viscosity. When air is moving past an object then the air in direct contact with a surface is actually brought to a stop(relative to the surface). Air slightly off the surface moves slightly faster. If we go far enough from the surface then the air is moving at its full(or free stream) speed. The region just above the surface where the air is not moving at its full speed is known as the boundary layer. Skin friction drag is not dependent on the particular material that an object is made of, but it is affected by how rough the surface is. As you might expect, smoother surfaces are better than rough surfaces. Also, the amount of surface in contact with the air is a factor, so minimizing this is advantageous in reducing skin friction drag.
The entire skin friction drag is created within the boundary layer. Reflection on this situation tells us that the amount of skin friction will depend on three factors:
1. Velocity of the gas. 2. Viscosity of the gas. 3. Length of the surface over which the gas flows. This last point mean that more total drag will occur if gas flows for many feets over a long object than if the same gas flows a short distance over a shorter object. Therefore, we can say that:
Viscous drag=velocity x viscosity x distance
Viscous drag will have units of Newton, velocity will be in meter/second, and distance in meters.
In turbulent boundary layer flow, the friction drag is much higher than in the laminar case. This is because the turbulent mixing process leads to velocity profiles with much steeper velocity gradient at the wall than in laminar case.
Form or pressure drag: While skin friction drag is a function of the surface roughness and the length of vehicle in contact with the air, the form , or pressure drag, is dependent on the shape of the vehicle. It is therefore the main way in which designers can reduce aerodynamic drag. So what causes pressure drag?
The clue is in the name. Depending on the shape of a body moving through the air concentrations of high and low pressure can form, relative to the background(usually atmospheric) pressure. These can act to pull the body backwards i.e. causing drag. In general, the drag of a body may be written as D=Df + Dp; For blunt bodies the pressure drag is predominant. Generally, a sudden change of the drag coefficient of a vehicle as a function of its Reynolds number should be avoided. For this purpose, flow separation is fixed at certain points, for instance at the upper edge of the rear sloping window, up to this point the shape of the body should be designed so that the flow remains attached and the pressure rise is a large as possible for various free stream conditions. The resulting wake should be as small as possible to obtain low drag. The drag coefficients achieved by present by present day European cars range from .30 to .52(excluding sports and racing cars). In general the dependence of these drag coefficients on Reynolds number is very small and sudden changes do not occur. This demonstrates that the predominant part of the drag of these vehicles is the pressure drag. For some unconventional streamlined body shapes, drag coefficients have been measured in the region .15 to .27. for bodies of this type the portion of pressure drag is relatively small. These
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drag coefficients thus contain a large portion of friction drag and therefore depend noticeably on the Reynolds number.
Reducing skin friction To reduce skin friction a laminar flow airfoil should be selected. However, this will only be helpful if care is taken to keep the surface smooth. Generally this means using modern materials such as plastic or other moldable substances. Traditional aluminium bodies, held together with rivets, are unlikely to achieve much laminar flow, due to roughness of the surfaces. It should be kept in mind also that the laminar flow airfoil will not achieve laminar flow over its entire length; it simply achieves more laminar flow than a non laminar airfoil. Additionally, as we discussed in an earlier chapter, the laminar flow airfoil will achieve laminar flow only when operated within a narrow range of angles of attack.
Reducing pressure drag: The first step in reducing pressure drag is to make everything streamlined. It is also important to remove all non- streamlined shapes protruding from the vehicle body, and then streamline the rest.
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2.2 Real time examples showing how drag acts on different bodies:
a) Flow past a flat plate.
Resistance 100%
Fig 2 : Flow past a flat plate

The picture above shows the flow past a flat plate(like a door) placed sideways to the wind. Along the center of the plate the air actually comes to a stop(stagnation point) and this is known as the separation streamline. According to bernoullis theory, when air is slowed down its pressure increases, and vice versa. As the air comes to a stop along the centerline, this creates a high pressure region ahead of the plate pushing it backwards. Behind the plate the air is not able to follow the surface of the plate and so large eddies form, swirling around in a random fashion. This is known as separated flow and creates a low pressure region behind the plate. This acts like a vacuum cleaner, literally sucking the plate backwards. It is high pressure in the front of the plate and low pressure behind it that is the pressure drag.
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b) Flow around a cylinder
Fig 3 : Flow past a cylinder

Flow manages to follow the curve of the cylinder before it starts swirling around. The effect of this is that the low pressure behind the cylinder is not as low as behind the flat plate. The drag(i.e. the resistance) is about half that of the flat plate, so a big improvement. It is possible to even better though.
c) Flow around an aerofoil Below is a picture of an aerofoil. As seen below the streamlines are able to follow the curve of the upper and lower surfaces and join up towards the trailing edge. In this case there is still a high pressure region at the front, but the low pressure at the rear is much closer to atmospheric pressure. Hence the drag is around 20 times less than the flat plate, and 10 times less than the cylinder.
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Fig 4 : Flow past an aerofoil
d) Flow separation over a moving van. In the diagram given below a hypothetical flow diagram shows how the air particles in each streamline, within the boundary layer, should accelerate around the front of the van and slow around the back. This leads to the conclusion that an area of low pressure will form over the windshield. An area of high velocity and low pressure will exist along the top of the van.
Fig 5 : Hypothetical flow around a van
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The airflow should decelerate as it turns downward along the back of the van. This would cause the pressure to return to atmospheric pressure behind the van. The actual flow around the van is more like that shown in fig.6 The air particles in the boundary layer are unable to make the sharp change in direction and velocity required to negotiate the downward curve at the back of the van, especially in the presence of the adverse pressure gradient created by the low pressure along the roof. The result is flow separation. The air behind the van winds up moving faster than it ideally should. Bernoullis equation tells us that the higher velocity will be accompanied by a lower pressure. As a result, the pressure behind the van is much lower than atmospheric pressure and the air is tumbling in a pattern referred to as eddies.
Fig 6 : Actual flow around a van

It is mostly the low pressure behind the van which causes pressure drag(it also acts like a vacuum cleaner sucking up all the crap from the road, making the back of the van very dirty) In other words most pressure drag is due to low pressure behind the object, rather than high pressure ahead of the object.
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2.3 Flow phenomena related vehicles:

The various flow phenomena related to vehicles can be divided into two groups these are (a) the external flow around a vehicle, including all details of its surface, and (b) the internal flow through different systems such as carburetor, engine, exhaust system, cooling system as well as the flow through the passenger cabin itself. External flow: The external flow around a vehicle is shown in fig .In still air, the undisturbed velocity V is the speed of the car. Provided no flow separation takes place, the viscous effects in the fluid are restricted to a thin layer of a few millimeters thickness, called the boundary layer. Beyond this layer the flow is inviscid and its pressure is imposed on the boundary layer.
Fig 7 : External flow around a car

Within the boundary layer, the velocity decreases from the value of the in-viscid external flow at the outer edge of the boundary layer to zero at the wall, where the fluid fulfills a no-slip condition. When the flow separates at the rear part of the vehicle, the boundary layer is dispersed', and the flow is entirely governed by viscous effects. Such regions are quite significant compared with the characteristic length of the vehicle. At some distance from the vehicle, there exists no velocity difference between the free stream and the ground. Therefore in vehicle-fixed co-ordinates, the ground plane is a stream surface with constant
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velocity V and at this surface no boundary layer is present. This fact is very important for the simulation of flow around vehicles in wind tunnels. Mechanics of air flow: The flow around a vehicle is governed by two basic equations. The first equation is Law of Conservation of mass according to which: w.s=constant where, s denotes the local cross section of a small stream tube and w is the local velocity which is assumed to be constant across s. The second equation is Newton's Law of momentum conservation. If this law is applied to an in-viscid flow it turns out that inertia forces and pressure forces are balanced. The integration of the momentum equation along a streamline for incompressible flow leads to: g=p+ *w^2/ 2 Above equation is Bernoulli's equation, which relates the pressure p and velocity w along a streamline(p is static pressure, total pressure). In In-viscid flow ,the sum of static and dynamic pressure is constant along a streamline. Bernoulli's equation indicates low pressure in regions of high local velocities and vice versa. If the floe comes to rest, w=0,a so called 'stagnation point', as on the nose of the vehicle(fig),the static pressure there will be equal to the total pressure, and this is the highest possible pressure in the flow field. *w^2/2 is dynamic pressure, and g is
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Fig 8 : Simplified three dimensional flow around a vehicle

This flow is a considerable simplification of the three dimensional flow around a vehicle. At the lower surface of the vehicle, the pressure is higher than the free stream pressure, but for very small ground distances, even suction may be present. At the upper surface, high pressures are observed in the region of the bonnet and windscreen, where as high suction(negative pressure) is found at the cabin roof. Negative pressure means high local velocity at cabin roof. On the rear part of the vehicle's upper surface a steep pressure rise occurs, and it is the region where considerable differences exist between the real flow of a viscous fluid and the inviscid flow. The pressure level on the upper side of the vehicle is much lower than on the lower side. This means that a net upward lift force acts on the vehicle.
Effects of viscosity and Boundary Layer Development The occurence of drag in two dimensional incompressible flows can be explained by the viscous effects. The flow in a boundary layer along a thin plate is shown in fig. The corresponding external flow has parallel stream lines and constant velocity V and pressure p. The viscous flow within the boundary layer fulfills the no-slip boundary condition along the wall. in the front part of the plate the boundary layer flow is steady and(almost) parallel to the wall. This state of the flow is called laminar.
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The thickness of the boundary layer increases downstream. With increasing distance x, the boundary layer thickness increases. The laminar state of the boundary layer flow is stable against disturbances for certain conditions only. At a distance X=Xtr from the leading edge of the plate ,a transition to the so-called turbulent state of the boundary layer takes place. The transition between the two states of the boundary layer flow of largely governed by the value of the Reynolds w number. For the flat plate transition occurs around. Rextr=5*10^5 But this value applies only for negligible pressure gradient in the external flow. In case with a pressure gradient, a pressure decrease in the flow direction leads to a stabilization of the boundary layer, whereas an adverse pressure gradient cause an earlier transition to the turbulent state. In general, for medium Reynold's numbers transition from laminar to turbulent occurs in the region of minimum pressure, and with increasing reynold's number the transition point moves upstream.
Separation Laminar and turbulent boundary layer flows depend strongly on the pressure distribution which is imposed by the external flow. For a pressure increase in flow direction the boundary layer flow is retarded, especially near the wall and even reversed flow may occur. This behavior is shown schematically in fig. It can be seen that, between forward and reverse flow, a dividing streamline leaves the wall. This phenomenon is called separation.
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Fig 9 : Laminar and turbulent boundary layer

There are two components of drag; friction drag and pressure drag. If a velocity gradient du/dy is present in a viscous fluid at the wall, due to molecular friction a shear stress w acts everywhere on the surface of a body. The integration of the corresponding force components in the free stream direction leads to the friction drag. Integrating the force components in the free stream direction, resulting from the pressure distribution, gives the pressure drag. For blunt bodies the pressure drag is predominant. in turbulent boundary layer flow, the friction drag is much higher than in the laminar case. This is because the turbulent mixing process leads to velocity profiles with much steeper velocity gradient at the wall than in laminar case. The drag of bodies with finite thickness mainly consists of friction drag which is small in all cases in which no flow separation occurs. This can be achieved by slender shapes on the rear of the body which produce only a weak pressure rise in the flow direction. Shapes of this kind are aero foils and streamlined bodies. Blunt bodies, such as circular cylinder, a sphere or a flat plate normal to the flow, show quite different drag characteristics. On the rear part of such bodies in in-viscid external flow, extremely steep pressure gradients occur which lead to flow separation. The pressure distribution is therefore considerably altered when compared with the theoretical case of in-viscid flow. as an e.g, fig shows the pressure distribution for a
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circular cylinder. In front part the distribution is similar to that in in-viscid flow, where as on the rear the flow separation leads to considerable suction.
Fig 10 : Pressure distribution and stream line pattern for a circular cylinder at different Reynolds number (a) inviscid flow (b) sub-critical flow, boundary layer laminar (c) supercritical flow, boundary layer turbulent
The pressure distribution is therefore asymmetrical with respect to the y-axis. Friction drag also results from the wall shear stresses, but for blunt bodies the pressure drag is predominant. In general, the drag of a body may written as D=Df + Dp generally, a sudden change of the drag coefficient of a vehicle as a function of its Reynolds number should be avoided .for this purpose, flow separation is fixed at certain points, for instance at the upper edge of the rear sloping window, up to this point the shape of the body should be designed so that the flow remains attached and the pressure rise is as large as possible for various stream conditions. The resulting wake should be as small as possible to obtain low drag. The drag coefficients achieved by present day European cars range from .30 to .52(excluding
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sports and racing cars).In general, the dependence of these drag coefficients on Reynolds number is very small and sudden changes do not occur. This
demonstrates that the predominant part of the drag of these vehicles is the pressure drag. For some unconventional 'streamlined' body shapes, drag coefficients have been measured in the region .15 to .27.For bodies of this type the portion of pressure drag is relatively small. These drag coefficients thus contain a large proportion of friction drag and therefore they depend noticeably on the Reynolds number. The flow separation that lead to a pressure drag can be divided into two different types .as shown in fig, the separation line may be located perpendicular to the flow direction .
Fig 11 : Flow separation on a bluff body

In this case, vortices are generated the axes of which are also perpendicular to the outer flow. Thus the velocity components parallel to the vortex axes are very small. A symmetrical flow in the separated region as shown in fig exists only for small Reynolds numbers. For larger Reynolds numbers, periodic vortex shedding occurs and flow in the separated region is basically unsteady. The kinetic energy of the vortex field is rapidly dissipated by turbulent mixing and irreversibly converted into frictional heat. This leads to a considerable total pressure loss in the region behind the body and the corresponding deficit in kinetic energy is equal to the work which is necessary to overcome the pressure drag. Behind the body a wake is formed in
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which time averaged, relatively uniform suction and very low flow velocities are present. The other type of flow separation is characterized by a separation line with respect to the oncoming flow, see fig .In this case, vortices are shed, the axes of which are roughly parallel to the separation line. A considerable velocity component, parallel to the separation line and therefore in direction of the vortex axes, is present. Thus, a well ordered, steady three dimensional flow separation is found.
Fig 12 : Flow separation on a body with oblique blunt base ( separation line at an angle to the flow direction)
On the rearward surface of the body this separated flow induces suction which leads to a pressure drag. On the inclined base of the body the flow is attached in the vicinity of the vortices the pressure distribution is characterized by suction peaks. The flow field of the concentrated vortices, however, contains a lot of kinetic energy which corresponds to the work necessary to overcome the pressure drag. Fig 13 shows the three dimensional flow separation at the rear of a vehicle.
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Fig 13 : Three dimensional flow separation at rear of the vehicle

On the drag problem of a body, it might be mentioned finally that the shape of a body in front of the largest crass-section has only minor influence on the total drag. The main contribution to the drag force originate from the rear part of the body .It is not important to find a proper shape to divide the oncoming flow but it is very important to design a rear body surface which brings the divided streamlines smoothly together. Optimum shapes are 'streamlined' bodies having a very slender rear part.
Overall Forces and Moments In addition to the drag discussed so far, other forces and moments occur on vehicles which are shown schematically in fig14.In symmetrical flow (=0) the drag D is accompanied by a lift force L Furthermore, a pitching moment M, with respect to the lateral axis(y-axis) is present. The three components L,D and M completely determine the vector of the resulting air force.
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Fig 14 : Forces and Moments acting on a vehicle (c.g.-centre of gravity)

In cross wind conditions (#0) an asymmetrical flow field is present around the vehicle. In this case, in addition to the forces and moments mentioned so far, a side force Y is observed. Furthermore, there occur a rolling moment R with respect to the longitudinal axis (x-axis) and a yawing moment N with respect to the vertical axis (zaxis). Thus six components L,D,M and Y,R,N determine the vector of the total force.
Expressions for these are given below (1) D=.5*Cd**A*V2 (2) L=.5*Cl**A*V2 (3) Y=.5*Cy**A*V2 (4) M=.5*Cm**A*V2*l (5) R=.5*Cr**A*V2*l (6) N=.5*Cn**A*V2*l
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Here l is the total length of the vehicle . is the air density, V is the free stream velocity, A is the projected frontal area. Cd , Cl, Cy, Cm, Cr, Cn are corresponding coefficients.
2.4 Flow Field around a Passenger Car

The flow field around a vehicle is not yet fully understood, so a picture must be built up from pressure distribution measurements, velocity field measurements and flow observations of the vehicle surface. There are two types of separation. The first type has a quasi-two-dimensional character. In this case the line of separation tends to run perpendicular to the local flow direction .If reattachment
occurs, so-called separation bubbles are formed. Of course the flow inside the bubble, which is shed from a three-dimensional in nature. However, since the separation itself is mainly two-dimensional with separation line normal to the flow and vortex axes parallel to the separation line, it is designated 'quasi-twodimensional'. This type of flow can occur at the leading edge of the front hood, at the sides on the fenders, on the cowl and on the front spoiler, and possibly in the notch of a notchback (see fig 15).
Fig 15 : Quasi 2d separation
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Wakes also form on the blunt rear of a square back. Depending on the outer flow field, long wakes are formed, which extend far downstream, or the wakes are short and closed(see fig).
Fig 16 : Large,long,open wake of a squqreback and small,short,closed wake of a fastback

Fig below shows the counter-rotating vortex pair of a notchback, a fastback and a square-back. The lower vortex rotates counterclockwise and is responsible for carrying the contamination of the rear vehicle. The upper vortex rotates in the opposite direction. After the separation bubble closes , a pair of counter-rotating longitudinal vortices forms in the trailing wake. This produces an upwash in the case of a square-back, and induces a downwash in the trailing wake flow on a notchback or fastback.
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Fig 17 : Counter rotating transverse vortices in the wake of cars With three typical rear end configurations
The vector diagrams in fig clearly show the3se vortices. On a square back, the vortex pair rises in the flow direction and wanders toward the plane of symmetry. On fastbacks and notchbacks the vortices approach the road downstream and move to the outside .It can be postulated that these longitudinal vortices are the continuation of the lateral vortices described above. There is a velocity decrease toward the center of the vortex. The longitudinal vortices are slowly exhausted downstream by dissipation.
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Fig 18 : Continued on next page Aerodynamic analysis of a car using CFD
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Fig 19 : Transverse velocity vector diagrams for notchback, fastback and squareback cars
The second type of separation is three dimensional in nature. Vortex trains are formed at sharp edges where the flow is oblique, as with a delta wing. Such a vortex pair is formed on the two A-pillars and is bent back towards the roof at the upper end of the A-pillars. Its effect on the rear end flow is still unknown. A strong vortex pair forms at the rear of the vehicle, depending upon the inclination of the rear end(fig20).
Fig 20 : Three dimensional flow separation Aerodynamic analysis of a car using CFD
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These rear vortices interact with the external flow field and with the quasi-twodimensional wake.
2.5 Design tips for Aerodynamic design:

Design tips- lift and downforce When designing aircraft we are normally interested in how much aerodynamic lift we can generate so we can get off the ground. Requirements for cars are quite different, however. Lift can actually be very dangerous, as car that is lifted off the ground can no longer be steered, and braking can be tricky if your wheels are off the ground. So on the whole we try to generate negative lift, which is usually known as downforce. For road cars we generally want near zero lift, or some slight downforce. With lift or downforce we will generate some induced dragdefined as the drag caused by the generation of lift. So minimizing lift/downforce to minimize drag is generally what we desire.
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Fig 21 : File photo of a racing car

A car that generates maximum down-force for minimum drag penalty is what F1 aerodynamicists strive for.
Design tips-Aerodynamic design(3-D inverted airfoil shape)
File photo of a fully closed racing car
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The 2004 winner from Fruze Platt School, certainly looks aerodynamic, but what do we mean around, being quite turbulent causing pressure drag. Note that the car is closely fitted around the driver. This does two things: Minimizes frontal area. Minimizes the surface area of the vehicle in contact with the air, hence reducing skin friction drag. The front of the cockpit curves very smoothly up and over the drivers head, without any sharp corners. This is to prevent any flow separation. Note that the sides also curve smoothly in to a thin vertical trailing edge. The body is made from smooth material, in order to try and maintain a laminar boundary layer for as long as possible by that in terms of the discussion of drag above. The vehicle is completely enclosed. This is good as the airflow can be controlled by the designer. In open top cars the air will tend to swirl On the whole this car is pretty close to the aerodynamic ideal. The lap times certainly are impressive, showing the power of aerodynamics.
2.6 Numerical methods for computation of flow around road vehicle:

The traditional predictive tools used in the automobile industry to evaluate aerodynamic performance are the wind tunnel and roads tests. Full-scale wind tunnel tests are expensive to builds and operate whereas scale model test results are subjected to numerous doubts associated with realistic simulation of Reynolds number, surface and underbody details, engine cooling and passenger compartment flows, tunnel wall boundary layer and model support interference effects, model and wake blockage effects, effect of flow-intrusive probes etc.
Road tests represent the most realistic simulation of the environment in which a vehicle operates. However, the difficulties associated with the ever-changing
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environment often make the results obtained open to debate. Great care is need to make the results meaningful and conclusive.
Computer, and with them computational fluid dynamics(CFD), are slowly emerging as additional basic tools in aerodynamic design, Wind tunnels and computer are both simulators-wind tunnels analogues, computers digital. There characteristic differences make them complementary rather than completely competitive. The relative role of the simulation techniques is however changing.
In future, wind tunnel may be used for validation and refinement of the theoretical predictions or global simulation of the entire flow field rather than for extensive parameter studies as in the past.
Numerical simulation is well suited to the analysis of a wide range of shape options for example during an early design stage-thus increasing thus increasing the prospect that an optimum shape will be identified. Sometimes a numerical simulation permits the investigation of situations that can not be realistically duplicated in a wind tunnel The aero-dynamics of two vehicles in the passing for overtaking mode, for example, poses a difficult problem for wind tunnel tests. Numerical simulations are most useful in predicting trends of how shape changes will, affect flow field features. Absolute performance prediction is usually poor. Computer size and speed limitation, and the lack of information about the physics involve of the limit the predictive capacity of numerical methods. An interesting application of numerical methods is the effectively enhancement of wind tunnel test through pre-test planning on-line test diagnosis and post-test
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validation. Although this may not lead to reduction in wind tunnel testing, it can help to ensure that the time spent issued more intelligently.
All numerical methods to computer fluid flow are based on approximations to the full Navier-Stokes equations. These are second order non-linear partial differential equations which govern all fluid motion. Except for the simples approximations, they are solved by techniques such as finite volume of finite differences to achieve the spatial and temporal detail needed. In these techniques the physical region of interest is divided up (or discretized) by a two- or- three dimensional grid. Such grids are in practice complicated orthogonal or non-orthogonal networks that may originate in the body contour envelope and have a flow physics oriented spacing. The vast amount of detail needed to analyze the flow around a real vehicle will limit the use of computational methods for quite some time to come.
Navier-Stokes Equations: The Navier-Stokes equations are nonlinear partial differential equations in almost any real situation (an exception is creeping flow). On this slide we show the three-dimensional unsteady form of the Navier-Stokes Equations. These equations describe how the velocity, pressure, temperature, and density of a moving fluid are related. The equations were derived independently by G.G. Stokes, in England, and M. Navier, in France, in the early 1800's. The equations are extensions of the Euler Equations and include the effects of viscosity on the flow. The equations are a set of coupled differential equations and could, in theory, be solved for a given flow problem by using methods from calculus.
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But, in practice, these equations are too difficult to solve analytically. In the past, engineers made further approximations and simplifications to the equation set until they had a group of equations that they could solve. Recently, high speed computers have been used to solve approximations to the equations using a variety of techniques like finite difference, finite volume, finite element, and spectral methods. This area of study is called Computational Fluid Dynamics or CFD. The form most commonly used in CFD is called Reynolds averaged NavierStokes equations (RANS).The Navier-Stokes equations consists of a timedependent continuity equation for conservation of mass, three time-dependent conservation of momentum equations and a time-dependent conservation of energy equation. There are four independent variables in the problem, the x, y, and z spatial coordinates of some domain, and the time t. There are six
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dependent variables; the pressure p, density r, and temperature T (which is contained in the energy equation through the total energy Et) and three components of the velocity vector; the u component is in the x direction, the v component is in the y direction, and the w component is in the z direction, All of the dependent variables are functions of all four independent variables. The differential equations are therefore partial differential equations and not the ordinary differential equations that you study in a beginning calculus class. The symbol is used to indicate partial derivatives. The symbol indicates that we are to hold all of the independent variables fixed, except the variable next to symbol, when computing a derivative. Re is the Reynolds number which is a similarity parameter that is the ratio of the scaling of the inertia of the flow to the viscous forces in the flow. The q variables are the heat flux components and Pr is the Prandtl number which is a similarity parameter that is the ratio of the viscous stresses to the thermal stresses. The tau variables are components of the stress tensor.
The terms on the left hand side of the momentum equations are called the convection terms of the equations. The terms on the right hand side of the momentum equations that are multiplied by the inverse Reynolds number are called the diffusion terms. Diffusion is related to the stress tensor and to the viscosity of the gas. Turbulence, and the generation of boundary layers, are the
result of diffusion in the flow. The Euler equation
contain only the convection terms of
the Navier-Stokes equations and can not, therefore, model boundary layers.
These equations establish that changes in momentum in infinitesimal volumes of fluid are simply the sum of dissipative viscous forces (similar to friction), changes in pressure, gravity, and other forces acting inside the fluid: an application of Newton's second law. As such, these equations in both full and
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simplified forms, are used in the design of aircraft and cars, the study of blood flow, the design of power stations, the analysis of the effects of pollution, etc.
The Navier-Stokes equations are differential equations establish relations among the rates of change. For example, the Navier-Stokes equations for simple case of an ideal fluid (in-viscid) can state that acceleration (the rate of change of velocity) is proportional to the gradient (a type of multivariate derivative) of pressure.
A solution of the Navier-Stokes equations is called a velocity field or flow field, which is a description of the velocity of the fluid at a given point in space and time. Once the velocity field is solved for, other quantities of interest (such as flow rate, drag force, or the path a "particle" of fluid will take) may be found.
PROPERTIES Non linearity The non linearity is due to convective acceleration, which is an acceleration associated with the change in velocity over position. The non linearity makes most problems difficult or impossible to solve and is part of the cause of turbulence. Hence, any convective flow, whether turbulent or not, will involve non linearity.
Turbulence Turbulence is the time dependent chaotic behavior seen in many fluid flows. It is generally believed that it is due to the inertia of the fluid as a whole: the culmination of time dependent and convective acceleration; hence flows where inertial effects are small
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tend to be laminar. It is believed, though not known with certainty, that the Navier-Stokes equations model turbulence properly. Though CFD will theoretically work on any flow, in practice many common flows (such as flow over a wing) contain so much detail that no computer can handle in any reasonable amount of time.
Applicability Together with supplemental equations (for example, conservation of mass) and well formulated boundary conditions, the Navier-Stokes equations seem to model fluid motion accurately; even turbulent flows seem (on average) to agree with real world observations.
Limitations The Navier-Stokes equations assume that the fluid being studied is a continuum. At very small scales or under extreme conditions, real fluids made out of discrete molecules will produce results different from the continuous fluids modeled by the Navier-Stokes equations. Another limitation is very simply the complicated nature of the equations. Time tested formulations exist for common fluid families, but the application of the Navier-Stokes equations to less common families tends to result in very complicated formulations which are an area of current research. For this reason, the Navier-Stokes equations are usually written for Newtonian fluids. Derivation and description The derivation of the Navier-Stokes equations begins with the conservation of mass, momentum, and energy being written for an arbitrary control volume. The most general form of the Navier-Stokes equations ends up being:
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This is a statement of the conservation of momentum in a fluid, it is an application of Newton's second law to a continuum. This equation is often written using the substantive derivative, making it more apparent that this is a statement of Newton's law:
The right side of the equation is a summation of body forces. pressure gradient and arises from normal stresses that turn up in any flow.
is a
is representative o f
shear forces in the fluid, normally viscous effects, f represents "other" forces, such as gravity. The shear stress term form above contains too many unknowns, hence the general
isn't directly applicable to any problem. For this reason, assumptions on the specific shear stress behavior o f a fluid are made (based on natural observations) and applied in order to specify this quantity in terms of familiar variables, such as velocity. For example, this term becomes the usable quantity incompressible and Newtonian. when the fluid is assumed
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The Navier-Stokes equations are strictly a statement of the conservation of momentum. In order to fully describe fluid flow, more information is needed (how much depends on the assumptions made), this may include the conservation of mass, the conservation of energy, or an equation of state. Regardless of the flow assumptions, a statement of the conservation of mass is nearly always necessary. This is achieved through the continuity equation, given in its most general form as:
Incompressible flow of Newtonian fluids The vast majority of work on the Navier-Stokes equations is done under an incompressible flow assumption for Newtonian fluids. The incompressible flow assumption typically holds well even when dealing with a "compressible" fluid, such as air at room temperature (even when flowing up to about Mach 0.3). Taking the incompressible flow assumption into account and assuming constant viscosity, the Navier-Stokes equations will read (in vector form):
=f represents "other" body forces, such as gravity or centrifugal force. It's well
worth observing the meaning of each term: Numerical methods to solve the Navier-Stokes equations can be classified into the following four categories, depending upon the degree of approximation made: Linearized inviscid flow methods Non-linear inviscid flow methods
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Methods based on Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes equations Solutions of full Navier-Stokes equations
1. Linearized in-viscid flow methods These are used routinely in aircraft design and have reached maturity. They are applicable to subsonic, contour-attached flow. Vortex-lattice and panel method codes belong to this category. Use of these methods to compute the flow field around the cars, whose predominant feature is the large separation region at the vehicle rear, remains severely restricted.
2. Non-linear in-viscid flow methods The non-linear in-viscid flow methods based on the solution of Euler equations have established themselves as accurate design tools for the prediction of trans-sonic flow around a class of aircraft components, e.g. wings. The 'automatic' simulation of flow kinematics in the subsonic separated flow computations claimed by developers of these codes needs further substantiation. Provided this simulation capability turns out to be general, a coupling of these methods with boundary layer approaches may means a significant advance also of benefit to vehicle aerodynamicists.
3. Methods based on Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes equations These methods are still undergoing extensive research and development. These equations need a turbulent model for closure. The difficulty of modeling turbulence with sufficient generality and the complex mesh generation needed to resolve flows such as around road vehicles are the principle difficulty that have to be overcome.
4. Solutions of full Navier-Stokes equations Methods to solve the full Navier-Stokes equations, which belong to the last category named above, are practically non-existent. Only very preliminary research is underway here.
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Some Difficulties of Numerical Simulation of the Road Vehicle Flow Field Regions of separated flow being the key features of a road vehicle flow field, an analytical approach is extremely difficult. Even simplified, basic vehicle-like configurations free of all appendages and having smooth surfaces create 'closed' separation regions and a large wake. One of the main difficulties encountered in modeling such flows is the lack of generally applicable information about threedimensional separated flows. The variety of separation phenomena that can occur in three-dimensional flows is a subject of continuing research. Factors governing the initiation of different types of three-dimensional flow separation, kinematics of the structures in separated flow, unsteady behavior of bluff body wakes, turbulence, etc., are all phenomena not well understood. Modular or sequential approaches similar to those used in aircraft applications remain inadequate since computational methods to treat three-dimensional boundary layers, in an adverse pressure gradient and strong cross flow environment, which is typical of road vehicle flows, are not yet available. As noted earlier, use of Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes equations need a turbulence model to close the system of equations and make them amenable to solution. Standard mixing length and eddy viscosity concepts cannot be used to model complex real turbulent flows. Higher order turbulence models, currently not available, are therefore needed.
Methods Based on Solution of Navier-Stokes Equations The Navier-Stokes equations for a homogeneous, incompressible medium, together with the continuity equation, can be used to describe adequately the laminar flow around a road vehicle. As these equations represent, in principle, all the physics involved, no additional assumptions and modeling are needed.
However, the flow around road vehicles is mainly turbulent and Navier-Stokes equations for turbulent flows need a turbulence 'model', to make the system of
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equations amenable to numerical analysis. The basic equations employed are averaged over a time interval. This interval is chosen so as to make the equations independent of the random eddy fluctuations, yet permit a resolution of the unsteady macro-structures which may be present. The industry standard turbulence model used most commonly is the k- turbulence model.
K-epsilon Model
Introduction The K-epsilon model is one of the most common turbulence models. It is a two equation model, that means, it includes two extra transport equations to represent the turbulent properties of the flow. This allows a two equation model to account for history effects like convection and diffusion of turbulent energy. The first transported variable is turbulent kinetic energy, k . The second transported variable in this case is the turbulent dissipation, . It is the variable that determines the scale of the turbulence, whereas the first variable, k , determines the energy in the turbulence. Usual K-epsilon models Standard k-epsilon model Realizable k-epsilon model RNG k-epsilon model
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Standard k-epsilon model Transport equations for standard k-epsilon model For k;
For dissipation
Modeling turbulent viscosity
Where S is the modulus of the mean rate-of-strain tensor, defined as :
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Effect of buoyancy
where Prt is the turbulent Prandtl number for energy and g i is the component of the gravitational vector in the ith direction. For the standard and realizable - models, the default value of Prt is 0.85. The coefficient of thermal expansion, is defined as
Model constants The Model constants have the following default values:
RNG-k model: The RNG model was developed using Re-Normalisation Group (RNG) methods by Yakhot etal to re normalise the Navier-Stokes equations, to account for the effects of smaller scales of motion. In the standard k-epsilon model the eddy viscosity is determined from a single turbulence length scale, so the calculated turbulent diffusion is that which occurs only at the specified scale, whereas in reality all scales of motion will contribute to the turbulent diffusion. The RNG approach, which is a mathematical technique that can be used to derive a turbulence model similar to the
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k-epsilon, results in a modified form of the epsilon equation which attempts to account for the different scales of motion through changes to the production term. Applicability and Use Although the technique for deriving the RNG equations was quite revolutionary at the time, it's use has been more low key. Some workers claim it offers improved accuracy in rotating flows, although there are mixed results in this regard: It has shown improved results for modeling rotating cavities, but shown no improvements over the standard model for predicting vortex evolution (both these examples from individual experience). It is favoured for indoor air simulations.
2.7 Introduction to CFD

Computational fluid dynamics or CFD is the analysis of systems involving fluid flow, heat transfer and associated phenomena such as chemical reactions by means of computer-based simulation. The technique is very powerful and spans a wide range of industrial and non-industrial application areas. Some examples are: 1. Aerodynamics of airc4raft and vehicles: lift and drag. 2. Hydrodynamics of ships. 3. Power plant :combustion in IC engines and gas turbines. 4. Turbo machinery: flows inside rotating passages, diffusers etc. 5. Electrical and electronic engineering: cooling of equipment including micro circuits. 6. Chemical process engineering: mixing and separation, polymer moulding. 7. External and internal environment of buildings: wind loading and heating ventilation. 8. Marine engineering: loads on off-shore structures. 9. Environmental engineering :distribution of pollutants and effluents. 10 Hydrology and oceanography: flows in rivers, estuaries, oceans. 11. Meteorology : weather prediction. 12. Biomedical engineering: blood flows through arteries and veins.
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CFD Code working CFD codes are structured around the numerical algorithms that can tackle fluid flow problems. In order to provide easy access to their solving power all commercial CFD packages include sophisticated user interfaces to input problem parameters and to examine the results. Hence all codes contain three main elements(1)a preprocessor,(2)a solver and (3) a post processor. We briefly examine the function of each of these elements within the context of a CFD code.
Pre-processor Pre-processing consists of the input of a flow problem to a CFD program by means of an operator-friendly interface and the subsequent transformation of this input into a form suitable for use by the solver. The user activities at the pre-processing stage involve: 1.Definition of the geometry for the region of interest generally known as the computational domain. 2.Grid generation i.e. the sub division of the domain into a number of smaller, nonoverlapping sub-domains, a grid(or mesh) of cells(or control volumes or elements). 3.selection of the physical and chemical phenomena that needs to be modeled. 4.Definition of fluid properties. 5.Specification of appropriate boundary conditions at cells which coincide with or touch the domain boundary. The solution to a flow problem(velocity, pressure, temperature etc.) is defined at nodes inside each cell. The accuracy of a CFD solution is governed by the number of cells in the grid. In general, the larger no of cells the better the solution accuracy. Both the accuracy of a solution and its cost in terms of necessary computer hardware and calculation time are dependent on the fineness of the grid. Optimal meshes are often non-uniform, finer in areas where large variations occur from point to point and coarser in regions with relatively little change.
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Solver There are three distinct streams of numerical solution techniques Finite difference, Finite element and spectral methods. In outline the numerical methods that form the basis of the solver perform the following steps: 1. Approximation of the unknown flow variables by means of simple functions. 2. Discretization by substitution of the approximation into the governing flow equations and subsequent mathematical manipulations. 3. Solution of the algebraic equations.
The main differences between the three separate streams are associated with the way in which the flow variables are approximated and with the discretization processes.
Finite Differences Methods Finite difference methods describe the unknowns () of the flow problem by means of point samples at the node points of a grid of co-ordinate lines. Truncated Taylor series expansions are often used to generate finite difference approximations of derivatives of in terms of point samples of at each grid point and its immediate neighbors. Those derivatives appearing in the governing equations are replaced by finite differences yielding an algebraic equation for the values of () at each grid point.
Finite Element Method Finite element methods use simple piecewise functions(e.g. linear or quadratic) valid on elements to describe the local variations of unknown flow variables ().the governing equation is precisely satisfied by the exact solution. If the piecewise approximating functions for () are substituted into the equation it will not hold exactly and a residual is defined to measure the errors. Next the residuals(and hence the errors) are minimized in some sense by multiplying them by a set of weighing functions and integrating. As a result we obtain a set of algebraic equation for the
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unknown coefficients of the approximating functions. The theory of finite elements has; been developed initially for structural stress analysis. Spectral Methods Spectral methods approximate the unknown by means of truncated Fourier series or series of Chebyshev polynomials. Unlike the finite difference or finite element approach the approximations are not local but valid throughout the entire computational domain. Again we replace the unknowns in the governing equation by the truncated series. The constraint that leads to the algebraic equations for the coefficients of the Fourier or Chebyshev series is provided by a weighted residuals concept similar to the finite element method or by making the approximate unction coincide with the exact solution at a number of grid points.
The Finite Volume Method The finite volume method was originally developed as a special finite difference formulation. It is central to four of the five main commercially available CFD codes :CFX,PHOENICS,FLUENT,FLOW3D and STAR-CD. The numerical algorithm consists of the following steps: Formal integration of the governing equations of the fluid flow over all the (finite) control volumes of the solution domain. Discretization involves the substitution of a variety of finite-difference type approximations for the terms in the integrated equation representing flow processes such as convection, diffusion and sources. This converts the integral equation into a system of algebraic equations. Solution of the algebraic equations by an iterative method.
The first step, the control volume integration, distinguishes the finite volume method from all other CFD techniques. The resulting statements express the (exact) conversation of relevant properties for each finite size cell. This clear relationship
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between the numerical algorithm and the underlying physical phenomena conversation principle forms one of the main attractions of the finite volume method and makes its concepts much simples to understand by engineers than finite element and spectral methods. CFD codes contain discretization techniques suitable for the treatment of the key transport phenomena, convection(transport due to fluid flow) and diffusion as well as for the source terms and the rate of change with respect to time. The underlying physical phenomena are complex and non-linear so an iterative solution approach is required. The most popular solution procedures are the TDMA line-by-line solver of the algebraic equations and the SIMPLE algorithm to ensure correct linkage between pressure and velocity. Commercial codes may also give the user a selection of further, more recent, techniques such as Stones algorithm and conjugate gradient methods. Post Processing As in pre-processing a huge amount of development work has recently taken place in the post-processing field. Owing to the increased popularity of engineering workstations, many of which have outstanding graphics capabilities, the leading CFD packages are now equipped with versatile data visualization tools. These include: Domain geometry and grid display Vector plots Line and shaded contour plots 2D and 3D surface plots Particle tracking View manipulation(translation, rotation, scaling etc) Color postscript output More recently these facilities may also include animation for dynamic result display and in addition to graphics all codes produce trusty alphanumeric output and have data export facilities for further manipulation external to the code. As in many other
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branches of CAE the graphics output capabilities of CFD codes have revolutionized the communication of ideas to the non-specialist.
Problem solving with CFD Prior to setting up and running a CFD simulation there is a stage of identification and formulation of the flow problem in terms of the physical and chemical phenomena that need to be considered. Typical decisions that might be needed are whether to model a problem in two or three dimensions, to exclude the effects of ambient temperature or pressure variations on the density of an air flow, to choose to solve the turbulent flow equations. To make the right choices requires good modeling skills, because in all but the simplest problems we need to make assumptions to reduce the complexity to a manageable level whilst preserving the salient features of the problem in hand. A good understanding of the numerical solution algorithm is also crucial. Three mathematical concepts are useful in determining the success or otherwise of such algorithms: convergence , consistency and stability
Convergence is the property of a numerical method to produce a solution which approaches the exact solution as the grid spacing, control volume size or element size is reduced to zero. Consistent numerical schemes produce systems of algebraic equations which can be demonstrated to be equivalent to the original governing equation as the grid spacing tends to zero. Stability is associated with damping of errors as the numerical method proceeds. If a technique is not stable even round off errors as the numerical method proceeds. If a technique is not stable even round off errors in the initial data can cause wild oscillations or divergence Performing the actual CFD computation itself requires operator skills of a different kind. Specifications of the domain geometry and grid design are the main tasks at the input stage and subsequently the user needs to obtain a successful simulation
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result. The two aspects that characterize such a result are convergence of the iterative process and grid independence. The solution algorithm is iterative in nature and in a converged solution the so-called residual measures of the overall conservation of the flow properties are very small. Progress towards a converged solution can be greatly assisted by careful selection of the settings of various relaxation factors and acceleration devices. There are no straightforward guidelines for making these choices since they are problem dependent.
Optimization of the solution speed requires considerable experience with the code itself, which can only be acquired by extensive use. Good initial grid relies largely on an insight into the external properties of the flow. A background in the fluid dynamics of the particular problem certainly helps and experience with grinding of similar problems is also invaluable. The only way to eliminate errors due to the coarseness of a grid is to perform a grid dependence study, which is a procedure of successive refinement of an initially coarse grid until certain key results do not change. Then the simulation is grid independent. Validation of a CFD code requires highly detailed information concerning the boundary conditions of a problem and generates a large volume of results. To validate these in a meaningful way it is necessary to produce experimental work may not(yet) exist in which case the CFD user must rely on (1)previous experience,(2) comparisons with analytical solutions of simpler flows and (3)comparisons with high quality data from closely related problems reported in the literature. CFD computation involves the creation of a set of numbers that constitutes a realistic approximation of a real time system. It is clear that there are guidelines for good operating practice which can assist the user of a CFD code and repeated validation plays a key role as the final quality control mechanism. However, the main ingredients for success in CFD are
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experience and a thorough understanding of the physics of fluid flows and the fundamentals of the numerical algorithms. Without these it is very unlikely that the user gets the best out of a code. A SPECIAL MENTION TO GRIDS The use of CFD is spreading in all areas of engineering. The flow domains are usually very complicated, which places high demands on both meshing and solution methods. Grids can either be structured(hexahedral) or unstructured(tetrahedral).It depends upon type of discretization scheme and application.
Scheme Finite differences: structured Finite volume or Finite element: structured or unstructured
STRUCTURED
Fig 23 : Different types of meshes
UNSTRUCTURED
Thin boundary layers are best resolved with highly-stretched grids. Unstructured grids are useful for complex geometries Unstructured grids permit automatic adaptive refinement based on the pressure gradient, or regions interested(FLUENT). Most flows of engineering interest take place in complex geometries. The flow domain is in many cases difficult to define: the CAD-data provides a description of
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parts surrounded by fluid, but the extraction of a closed fluid volume is often a nontrivial job. CFD-engineers usually spend a large-if not the largest-portion of their analysis time on this task. The starting point for a CFD simulation is often a CADdata, usually provided by designers or analysts from another department; CFDengineer has to import this data into one or more tools and work on it until a satisfactory mesh is created. A tool for the clean-up and repair of CAD-data is indispensable in the process of grid generation for complex geometries. Not only that it has to provide the possibility of creating a closed surface enclosing the flow domain, but it also has to facilitate the desired simplification and removal of geometry details which are deemed unimportant for the flow analysis. Such details can make meshing substantially more complicated while having little effect on the computed flow; however, one has to be careful as sometimes small geometrical details can trigger phenomena which otherwise may not be captured in the simulation(separation, unsteadiness etc.).This step often requires a skilled analyst who can evaluate the surface and make adequate decisions about the level of detail that is to be retained in the final closed surface. In addition to flow volume extraction from exact geometry defined by CAD-data, surface-wrapping techniques are often used to create an approximated closed surface of the flow domain. This approach usually leads to small geometry details getting lost during the wrapping process, whish is often satisfactory; caution is needed in order to ensure that the main flow features are captured. The advantage of this approach is that it can be fully automated.
Meshing of complex Flow Domains Since flow domains can be arbitrarily complex, the meshing procedure should be fully automatic, as any manual intervention by the CFD-engineer may require both too much time and special skills to produce an optimal result. Therefore, blockstructured grids can seldom be used; unstructured meshes are the only practical alternative. The meshing tool-in addition to being automatic-needs to fulfill the following criteria:
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Prismatic layers should be automatically created along walls, if viscous flows are to be computed. The prisms may have any polygonal base(from triangle onwards) it is most important that there are enough of cells with two faces parallel to wall in order to allow for an appropriate treatment of the wall boundary layer. Also, parts like ducts, pipes, narrow gaps etc. should be recognized and meshed with prismatic cells, both for accuracy (allowing for an accurate treatment of parallel flow) and efficiency reasons(allowing for higher aspect ratios) The mesh fineness should be controllable, both by the user(who often knows in advance where the mesh should be finer) and by the solver(for a subsequent mesh adaptation and error-guided mesh refinement). The mesh quality should be controlled and, where necessary, automatically repaired. This can be achieved by re-meshing, merging, or splitting of bad cells. The most widely used unstructured meshes are those made of tetrahedral, usually with a layer of triangular prisms along walls to allow for an appropriate treatment of boundary layers. While such meshes are the easiest to generate, their quality is often inappropriate. The prism layers along walls alleviate the problems associated with flat tetrahedral near boundary, but the fact that a tetrahedron has only four faces-and thus only four neighbor cells-makes cells of this type less suitable for approximation of diffusive fluxes than hexahedra or polyhedra. The problem is that ,in order to compute gradients of dependent variables, the four nearest neighbors of a given cell are often not sufficient to achieve the accuracy offered by control volumes with six or more faces. The consequence is that a larger number of tetrahedral control volumes are needed when computing viscous flows to achieve the desired accuracy than when hexehedra or polyhedra are used. Hexahedral control volumes are probably optimal from efficiency and accuracy point of view, but meshes made of good quality hexahedra are difficult to generate automatically. Polyhedra meshes, on the other hand, can be generated automatically as easily as tetrahedral meshes; while they have more neighbors and thus require both more
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storage And computing time per cell, the higher accuracy usually compensates for the extra effort. The question often asked is: which grid is optimal for my application? Any grid type leads asymptotically to the same solution(there are exceptions where the error is not reduced by grid refinement, but these are not typical and will not be considered here);however, the effort needed to obtain a solution of a required accuracy depends largely on the mesh type and quality. A general recommendation is to use prismatic cells not only along walls but also whenever flow direction is fixed by the geometry(pipes, channels, ducts, small gaps etc).This means that the side prism faces should be aligned with the flow while the prism base should be orthogonal to flow direction. On the other hand, when recirculating flows are encountered, polyhedral cells tend to generally be the most efficient ones. Tetrahedral cells if used as control volumes-are the least suitable; there are methods, however, which use tetrahedral meshes but solve on a dual mesh(which is effectively a polyhedral mesh),thus alleviating the problems associated with tetrahedral control volumes.
Commercially available CFD codes: Commercial CFD code: FLUENT, Star-CD, CFDRC,CFX/AEA, etc. Research CFD code: CFDSHIP-IOWA. Public domain software (PHI3D,HYDRO, and WinpipeD, etc.) Other CFD software includes the Grid generation software (e.g. Gridgen, Gambit) and flow visualization software (e.g. Tecplot, FieldView)
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Chapter 3
PROJECT METHODOLOGY
Fig 23 : CFD methodology

3.1 Geometric modeling
To understand the effect of change in the rear end 3 different car models are being considered namely : a. AUDI-A4(notchback) b. AUDI-Q7 (squareback) Due to time constraints the hatchback model is not being considered in the analysis. The 3D-model of the above mentioned cars were generated in SOLIDWORKS. To have profile accuracy the blueprints of all models were traced on graph paper. Then from the graphs, co-ordinates of different points through which the curve passed were obtained. The next step was to scale model by deciding a scale factor between the traced image dimensions and the actual dimension. The above scale was set with reference to the wheel base(actual/graph).
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1) Audi A4
Fig 24 : Side view profile of AUDI A4 on graph

Table no : 1 Y(mm) Point number 178.6 428.6 714.4 821.6 857.3 1071.6 1214.48 1285.9 1285.9 1285.9 1160.9 982.3 928.7 785.8 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28
Point number 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14
X(mm) 330.1 330.1 427.2 873.9 1437.1 1747.8 2039.1 2427.5 2913 3301.4 3884 4408.3 4874.4 4952.1
X(mm) 4990.9 5088 5126.9 5126.9 5058.9 5058.9 4408.3 4408.3 3981.1 3592 3592 1359.4 1359.4 97.1
Y(mm) 607.2 589.4 535.8 464.4 410.8 330.4 214.3 321.5 660.8 321.5 160.7 160.7 321.5 660.8
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The solid models as obtained in solid works is as below:
Fig 25 : Solid model of AUDI A4
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2) AUDI Q7
Fig 26 : Side view profile of AUDI Q7 on graph

Point number 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 X(mm) 411.46 881.7 1175.6 1557.67 2057.3 2351.2 2645.1 3232.9 3820.7 4408.5 4702.4 4966.91 5231.42 5260.81 Table no : 2 Y(mm) Point number 971.52 1118.72 1148.16 1177.6 1442.56 1589.76 1678.08 1692.8 1692.8 1648.64 1530.88 1265.92 1000.96 942.08 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 X(mm) 5260.81 5348.98 5319.59 5202.03 4819.96 4673.01 3791.31 1675.23 822.29 499.63 264.51 293.9 323.29 Y(mm) 794.88 706.56 647.68 412.16 323.84 323.84 323.84 294.4 294.4 294.4 412.16 500.48 706.58 -
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The solid models as obtained in solid works is as below:
Fig 27 : Solid model of AUDI Q7

The 3D models were exported from SOLIDWORKS in IGES File Format to GAMBIT for surface mesh generation.
3.2 Meshing
1) After importing the car model in Gambit, a domain was created with dimensions as given below: a) b) Height c) Width Length 120 meter.
20 meter. 30 meter.
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The vehicle surface is discretized with low skewness triangles. Curvature of every surface must be respected with smaller triangle size when necessary. Smooth transitions are guarantied between areas meshed with triangles of different sizes to avoid excessive numerical dissipation. This is done by specifying suitable interval size.
Fig 28 : Panel of face meshing in gambit
Great care must be taken for surface meshing as volume mesh quality is directly correlated with its quality.
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Fig 29 : Surfaces meshed

Before exporting the surface mesh to Tgrid for volume mesh generation, all faces were specified with corresponding boundary types in zones tab.
Fig 30 : Zones on domain surfaces Aerodynamic analysis of a car using CFD

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2) The surface mesh generated was imported in Tgrid as .msh file. Layers of prism are extruded from the surface mesh of the car to capture flow features in the boundary layer. The first height was calculated using y+ concept as covered later.
Fig 31 : Panel window of prism cells growth in TGRID

The prism layers will look similar to one as seen in fallowing figure.
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(Image obtained in later stages by grid display in fluent)
Fig 32 : Prism layer near car profile

3) Once prism layers have been created around the vehicle body, the rest of the fluid domain numerical wind tunnel is built using a fully automated procedure. The domain is meshed with tetrahedrons after extruding the prism layers from car surface. Automatic mesh refinement of the car was also implemented to guarantee sufficient mesh quality for satisfactory results and numerical stability.
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Fig 33 : Panel for creating new domain- in Tgrid

Domain view (Image obtained in later stages by grid display in fluent)
Fig 34 : Domain mesh
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3.3 Case set-up

Initially in fluent the grid is scaled followed by setting different conditions. The fluent v6 segregated solver is used here for steady external aerodynamic simulations.
Boundary Conditions
The equations relating to fluid (air) flow can be closed (numerically) by the specifications of conditions on the external boundary of the fluid domain. Hence boundary conditions determine to a large extent the characteristics of the solution obtained. Before giving the boundary conditions the fluid domain has to be defined. Air at a temperature of 300K with a reference pressure of 1 atm was used to represent the air flow in the domain(operating conditions). The boundary conditions used for aerodynamic analysis are as follows: Inlet An inlet boundary condition is used where it is known that the flow is directed into the domain. The boundary conditions can be set in a number of ways depending on how you want to specify the conditions, and what particular physical models you are using for the simulation. As it is evident that the flow around a car body is always turbulent, turbulent models (k-) were used for flow modeling.
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Fig 35 : Boundary conditions panel in fluent:INLET
Outlet An outlet boundary condition can be used where it is known that flow is directed out of the domain. The hydrodynamic boundary condition specification (i.e. those for mass and momentum) for a subsonic outlet involves some constraint on the boundary: static pressure, velocity or mass flow. For the wind tunnel test, a static pressure of reference value 0 Pa was used as the outlet boundary condition recommended by several researchers in their research papers.
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Fig 36 : Boundary conditions panel in fluent-OUTLET

All conditions remain the same for all car models except for velocity at inlet.
3.4 Numerical solutions

After defining the boundary conditions, in the solver under relaxation factors were set for different variables like pressure, density etc. The pressure velocity coupling algorithm was selected as SIMPLE. The descritisation for momentum, turbulent kinetic energy and turbulent desipation rate was second order upwind. The solver carried out iterations depending on the number specified and the convergence limit specified in residual monitors.
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3.5 Post processing Results

After convergence, different types of results were obtained from fluent post processor. This involved pressure distribution around car body, both static and dynamic, velocity distribution, velocity vectors in the domain etc. From these results, the coefficient of drag was calculated which is discussed later.
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Chapter 4 COMPUTATIONAL RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS

As mentioned in the chapter 3, the aerodynamic analysis of car body was carried out using fluent. During the analysis it was found that the pressure distributions, nature of flow around the vehicle body were identical o the expected theoretical descriptions. The drag coefficient was slightly different than the expected values for car models. The results for different car models at different velocities are tabulated below. In all the following tables, Cd= pressure drag coefficient + viscous drag coefficient Table no -3 Projected area: 1) AUDI A4(2008)- 2.1505 m2 2) AUDI Q7- 2.8224 m2
Test number Boundary layer details Turbulence model Straight wind speed Domain Static Pressure (pascal) Dynamic 1 Initial height (mm) Model 1.031 AUDI A4(2008) Number of layers 24.7793 Drag force(N) 70 kmph (19.8 m/sec) Cuboidal Minimum Maximum Minimum Maximum Air density (kg/m3) Velocity (m/sec) Minimum Maximum Minimum Maximum 0 24.57964 Cd Drag Factor -455.7132 259.7441 0.1723265 370.054 1.224999 1.225001 0.319+0.044=0.363 0.7806 155.615 10
Boundary layer thickness (mm) K-
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Test number Boundary layer details Turbulence model Straight wind speed Domain Static Pressure (pascal) Dynamic
2 Initial height (mm)
Model 0.5279
AUDI A4(2008) 10
Number of layers 13.5708 Drag force(N)
641.264
150 kmph (41.67 m/sec) Cuboidal Minimum Maximum Minimum Maximum -2159.84 1177.962 0.7093396 1681.579 1.2240999 1.225001 0 52.39202 Cd Drag Factor 0.3185+0.0401=0.3587 0.7714
Air density (kg/m3) Velocity (m/sec)
Minimum Maximum Minimum Maximum
Table no 4 & 5
Test number Boundary layer details Turbulence model Straight wind speed Domain Static Pressure (pascal) Dynamic 3 Initial height (mm) Model 0.4076 AUDI A4(2008) Number of layers 10.6687 Drag force(N) 200 kmph (55.56 m/sec) Cuboidal Minimum Maximum Minimum Maximum Air density (kg/m3) Velocity (m/sec) Minimum Maximum Minimum Maximum 0 69.02472 Cd Drag factor -4046.674 2072.674 1.13104 2918.59 1.224999 1.225001 0.318+0.0395=0.3575 0.7688 1100.628 10
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Model 0.3665
AUDI A4(2008) Number of layers 9.4556 Drag force(N) 1366.369 10
225 kmph (62.5 m/sec) Cuboidal Minimum Maximum Minimum Maximum -5063.605 2626.068 1.257357 3734.332 1.224999 1.225001 0 78.05971 Cd Drag factor 0.3177+0.039=0.3567 0.7679
Minimum Maximum Minimum Maximum
Table no 6 & 7
Test number Boundary layer details Turbulence model Straight wind speed Domain Static Pressure (pascal) Dynamic 5 Initial height (mm) Model 1.0370 AUDI Q7 Number of layers 25.2218 Drag force(N) 70 kmph (19.8 m/sec) Cuboidal Minimum Maximum Minimum Maximum Air density (kg/m3) Velocity (m/sec) Minimum Maximum Minimum Maximum 0 27.41329 Cd Drag factor -633.7581 272.0326 .01148525 514.7364 1.224999 1.225001 0.43+.045=0.475 1.3406 234.747 10
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Model 0.5301
AUDI Q7 Number of layers 13.0739 10
Drag force(N) 150 kmph (41.67 m/sec) Cuboidal Minimum Maximum Minimum Maximum
979.817
-2953.516 1232.92 .01446848 2171.28 1.224999 1.225001
Minimum Maximum Minimum Maximum 0 58.6722 Cd Drag factor
0.429+0.0416=0.4708 1.3288
Table no 8 & 9
Test number Boundary layer details Turbulence model Straight wind speed Domain Static Pressure (pascal) Dynamic 7 Initial height (mm) Model 0.4090 AUDI Q7 Number of layers 10.6535 Drag force(N) 150 kmph (55.56 m/sec) Cuboidal Minimum Maximum Minimum Maximum Air density (kg/m3) Velocity (m/sec) Minimum Maximum Minimum Maximum 0 78.36116 Cd Drag factor -5190.029 2212.179 .03981789 3779.665 1.224999 1.225001 0.427+0.0401=0.4674 1.3192 1689.354 10
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Model 0.3685
AUDI Q7 Number of layers 9.7313 10
Drag force(N) 225 kmph (62.5 m/sec) Cuboidal Minimum Maximum Minimum Maximum
2105.535
-6803.481 2782.87 .09094547 4836.421 1.224999 1.225001
Minimum Maximum Minimum Maximum 0 88.81863 Cd Drag factor
0.4253+0.0394=0.4648 1.3119
Table no - 10
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4.1 Sample Calculations

1. FOR VOLUME MESH GENERATION IN TGRID The minimum spacing ( initial height ) is generally based on y+, a dimensionless parameter representing a local Reynold's number in the nearwall region. This parameter is defined as
where, y = distance from wall surface, u* = ( / )0.5frictional velocity, = shear stress at the wall, = density, and = kinematic viscosity. Using flat-plate boundary layer theory, this parameter can be derived as
where, L = body length, and Re = Reynold's number based on body length. y+ is a dimensionless value based on the values of density, viscosity, shear stresses due to velocity, and the distance from the wall. For low values of y+ (y+<11.225 in Fluent), the flow is modeled as laminar. For the transition layer, with mid range values of y+ (30 < y+ < 60), the flow is modeled as turbulent where viscous forces are included in the calculations. Shear stresses are assumed constant in this region and equal to the
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wall shear stress. The outer, turbulent layer is modeled with inertia forces as dominant in the CFD calculations, and direct viscous effects are ignored. In modeling with CFD, it is important to ensure that the grid is fine enough at the wall boundaries to ensure that the y+ values are not too high, as it is in this region where the CFD programs include viscous shear stresses in the calculations. The y+ values at the wall boundaries is marginally affected by the choice of model (which may vary in their calculations of turbulent viscosity), but the main factor that affects the y+ values is the mesh. If the y+ values of the cells adjoining the wall surface are greater than 500 (at best), the results there will be in error, as the program will be including viscous effects in regions of the model that are outside the transition boundary layer. A finer mesh is required in such cases. y+ values of 60 or less are desired. Thus considering y+ value of 50 for all car model analysis, following are the calculations for initial height. a.) AUDI A4(vehicle length=4.81 m) For v= 70 kmph, Using Re= / we get Re= 1.225*19.8*4.81 / (1.7894e-5) Re = 6.5093e+6
Thus using Re in equation
50 = .172(y/4.81)*(6.5093e+6).9 Thus y=0.1031 cm ( initial height )
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b.) Audi Q7 (vehicle length=5.086 m) For v=70 kmph, Using Re= / we get Re= 1.225*19.8*5.086 / (1.7894e-5) Re = 6.894e+6
Thus using Re in equation
50 = .172(y/5.086)*(6.894e+6).9 Thus y=0..1037 cm ( initial height ) Thus the initial heights in cm for each model at different Reynolds no (i.e. at different velocities) is tabulated as below;
Table no. 11
AUDI A4 Vel=70kmph Vel=150kmph Vel=200kmph Vel=225kmph 0.1031 0.05279 0.04076 0.03665 AUDI Q7 0.1037 0.05301 0.0409 0.03685
Maximum velocity for Audi A4 and Audi Q7 is 225 kmph. On the basis of initial height determined above, boundary layer thickness (in mm) for different models at different velocities is tabulated below:
Table no. 12
AUDI A4 Vel=70kmph Vel=150kmph Vel=200kmph Vel=225kmph 24.7793 13.5708 10.6687 9.4556 AUDI Q7 25.2218 13.0739 10.6535 9.7313
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Result and Discussions 1.) AUDI A4 A) VEL= 70 kmph From the aerodynamic analysis of the car body, the pressure distribution around the car body is obtained as shown below.
Fig 37 : Static Pressure contour on car surface

Very high pressure at the bumper location. Negative pressure at the front edge of the hood. High pressure at the base of the wind shield. Negative pressure over the roof.
Fig 38 : Static Pressure contour on symmetry plane
From the pressure distribution shown above, following points can be concluded;
From the dynamic pressure distribution shown below, following points can be concluded; Since velocity is zero at the stagnation point, the dynamic pressure is almost near to zero at the stagnation point. As the flow accelerates over the hood region, velocity increases, as a result of which the dynamic pressure also increases.
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Because of the sharp change in contour at the base of the wind shield, flow velocity is greatly reduced there by reducing the dynamic pressure. The flow again accelerates over the wind shield and over some part of the roof, thus dynamic pressure again increases. After this because of pressure recovery, velocity decreases thereby decreasing dynamic pressure which leads to separation and finally formation of wake region.
Fig 39 : Dynamic pressure contour at front portion on car surface
Fig 40 : Dynamic pressure contour at rear portion on car surface
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Fig 41 : Dynamic pressure contour
Fig 42 : Stagnation point
Fig 43: Wake region
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Fig 44 : Point of separation
Fig 45 : Static pressure horizontal
Fig 46 : Dynamic pressure horizontal
Fig 47 :Velocity contour - Front end
Fig 48: Velocity contour -Rear end
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Fig 49 : Velocity contour : Symmetry plane
Fig 50 :Velocity contour : Horizontal plane
Fig 51 : Residual plot

The above figure shows that the solution converged around 350 iterations.
84
b) VEL=150 kmph.
Fig 52 : static pressure contour on car surface
Fig 53 : static pressure contour on symmetry plane
Fig 54 : Dynamic pressure contour on front car surface
Fig 55: Dynamic pressure contour on rear car surface

Stagnation point
Fig 57 : Wake region

Wake region
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Fig 59 : Static pressure contour on horizontal surface
Fig 60 : Dynamic pressure contour on horizontal surface
Fig 61 : Velocity contour on front car Velocity contour : Front end surface
Fig 62 : Velocity on rear car Velocity contour : contour Rear end surface
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C ) VEL = 225 kmph
87
88
89
Fig 73 : Velocity contour on front car surface
Fig 74 : Velocity contour on rear car surface

90
d ) VEL = 200 kmph
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Fig 80: Stagnation point
Fig 81: Wake region
Fig 83 : Static pressure contour on horizontal surface Aerodynamic analysis of a car using CFD

92

93
2) AUDI Q7 VEL = 70 kmph
Fig 88: static pressure contour on car surface
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Fig 95: Static pressure contour on horizontal surface
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Fig 98: Velocity contour on rear car surface
Fig 99: Residual plot

96
VEL= 150 kmph
97
Fig 107: Static pressure contour on horizontal surface
Fig 109: Velocity contour on front car Fig 110: Velocity contour on rear car surface surface Aerodynamic analysis of a car using CFD
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The above figure shows that the solution converged around 230 iterations. VEL=200 kmph
Fig 113: static pressure contour on symmetry plane
Fig 114 : Dynamic pressure contour Fig 115: Dynamic pressure contour on front car surface on rear car surface
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Fig 116: Stagnation point
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Fig 122: Velocity contour on rear car surface
101
D) VEL=225kmph.
Fig 125: static pressure contour on symmetry plane
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Fig 133 : Velocity contour on front car surface Aerodynamic analysis of a car using CFD

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4.2 Discussions 1) Cd v/s velocity Although the drag coefficient mainly depends on the shape of the vehicle, it is also dependent on a number of factors such as the turbulent properties of the flow and the Reynolds number. The dependence on Reynolds number means the drag coefficient varies with speed. From the formula for dynamic force (i.e. dynamic pressure x area), we know that,
Cd 1/ V2
and
Cd
dynamic pressure
Thus the coefficient of drag must decrease with increase in velocity. Also from the results obtained as shown below in the graph it can be seen that the coefficient of drag reduces with the increase in velocity thereby validating the experimental results.
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Cd v/s velocity
0.5 0.4 Cd 0.3 0.2 0.1 0 AUDI A4 AUDI Q7 70 0.363 0.475 150 0.3587 0.4708 200 0.3575 0.4674 225 0.3567 0.4648 AUDI A4 AUDI Q7
VELOCITY
Fig 136: Variation of Cd and velocity

2) Drag factor: A low drag coefficient does not necessarily mean low drag. The product of Cd and A is also one of the important factors in aerodynamics of road vehicles. This factor is known as drag factor or shape factor. The variation of drag factor with velocities for two models considered is as shown below. DRAG FACTOR V/S VELOCITY
1.5 DRAG FACTOR 1 0.5 0 AUDI A4 AUDI Q7
AUDI A4 AUDI Q7
70 0.7806 1.3406
150 0.7714 1.3288
200 0.7688 1.3192
225 0.7671 1.3119
VELOCITY
Fig 137: Variation of Drag factor and velocity
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3) Drag force v/s velocity: We know that the drag force is nothing but the resistance experienced by the car body in motion. Thus lower the drag force lower is the resistance to motion thereby affecting fuel consumption. As we can see from the graph below, the drag force is less for AUDI A4 as compared to AUDI Q7.
DRAG FORCE V/S VELOCITY
2500 DRAG FORCE 2000 1500 1000 500 0 AUDI A4 19.8 41.7 55.6 62.5 AUDI A4 AUDI Q 7
155.615 641.264 1100.63 1366.37 VELOCITY
AUDI Q 7 234.747 979.817 1689.35 2105.54
Fig 138 : Variation of Drag force and velocity
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CHAPTER 5
CONCLUSIONS AND FUTURE SCOPE OF STUDIES
5.1 Conclusions:
From the above discussions made we have two things which would be appropriate to conclude the topic. First one is percentage difference in drag coefficient and drag factor of AUDI Q7 with respect to AUDI A4. And the second one is, wake length of AUDI Q7 and AUDI A4. 1) Percentage difference in Cd and Cd*A From the results it is seen that, there is a difference of about 16.16% in Cd and 52.45% in Cd*A. thus it can be seen that, the design of the rear part plays a very important role in reducing the drag coefficient and the drag factor. And a proper streamlined rear can reduce the effect of separation (pressure drag at the rear) to a great extent thus reducing Cd and Cd*A value of the car bodies. 2) Wake length Wake length is obtained by the formula L= k*S0.5 L- wake length k- wake factor ( NOTCHBACK- 1.2~1.4; SQUAREBACK 1.8~2.0) S-area of the base over which the flow is separated.
Table no 13
VELOCITY(kmph) 70 150 200 225 AUDI A4(m) 1.2695 1.2691 0.9468 0.9467 AUDI Q7(m) 2.1361 1.4954 1.4953 1.4951
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Thus from the above results it can be concluded that definitely, as the velocity increases, drag reduces and thus the wake length also reduces. Also it can be seen that AUDI A4 has less wake length as compared to AUDI Q7 at all the above mentioned velocities.
And hence it is advisable to make the car body as much streamlined as possible in order to reduce the effect of flow separation as well as the amount of wake region.
5.2 Future scope of studies

Meshing quality can be improved by adapting structured mesh generation. Due to computer hardware and time constraints, it was not possible to incorporate this type of analysis in the above discussions. The following images give us an idea of how structured mesh generation can be carried out:
Fig 139: Splitting of car surface for domain creation.
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Fig 140: Splitted domain
Fig 141: Complete structured mesh
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In future, modeling can be made more streamlined and stylish with minimum possible drag by using better modeling techniques. Mesh refinement by using more sophisticated meshing softwares such as HYPERMESH is a major scope of study. Provision of a wing at the rear can be a better modification to reduce the drag as well as lift of the vehicle and could be a better work for analysis in future.
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CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION

Aerodynamic analysis of a car using CFD

Aerodynamic analysis of a car using CFD

1.2 Problem definition and objectives

theoretical prescribed values for good aerodynamic behavior.

Aerodynamic analysis of a car using CFD

1.3 Line of Action

Aerodynamic analysis of a car using CFD

CHAPTER-2 LITERATURE REVIEW

Aerodynamic analysis of a car using CFD

Fig 1: Drag force acting on a vehicle

Drag = (.5)x(density)x(speed)x(speed)x(area)x(drag coefficient)

Aerodynamic analysis of a car using CFD

Area - The frontal area of the car is considered.

Aerodynamic analysis of a car using CFD

Aerodynamic analysis of a car using CFD

Skin friction drag(viscous drag):

Viscous drag=velocity x viscosity x distance

Aerodynamic analysis of a car using CFD

Aerodynamic analysis of a car using CFD

Aerodynamic analysis of a car using CFD

Fig 2 : Flow past a flat plate

Aerodynamic analysis of a car using CFD

b) Flow around a cylinder

Fig 3 : Flow past a cylinder

Aerodynamic analysis of a car using CFD

Fig 4 : Flow past an aerofoil

Fig 5 : Hypothetical flow around a van

Aerodynamic analysis of a car using CFD

Fig 6 : Actual flow around a van

Aerodynamic analysis of a car using CFD

2.3 Flow phenomena related vehicles:

Fig 7 : External flow around a car

Aerodynamic analysis of a car using CFD

Aerodynamic analysis of a car using CFD

Fig 8 : Simplified three dimensional flow around a vehicle

Aerodynamic analysis of a car using CFD

Aerodynamic analysis of a car using CFD

Fig 9 : Laminar and turbulent boundary layer

Aerodynamic analysis of a car using CFD

Aerodynamic analysis of a car using CFD

Fig 11 : Flow separation on a bluff body

Aerodynamic analysis of a car using CFD

Aerodynamic analysis of a car using CFD

Fig 13 : Three dimensional flow separation at rear of the vehicle

Aerodynamic analysis of a car using CFD

Fig 14 : Forces and Moments acting on a vehicle (c.g.-centre of gravity)

Aerodynamic analysis of a car using CFD

2.4 Flow Field around a Passenger Car

Fig 15 : Quasi 2d separation

Aerodynamic analysis of a car using CFD

Fig 16 : Large,long,open wake of a squqreback and small,short,closed wake of a fastback

Aerodynamic analysis of a car using CFD

Aerodynamic analysis of a car using CFD

Fig 18 : Continued on next page Aerodynamic analysis of a car using CFD

2.5 Design tips for Aerodynamic design:

Aerodynamic analysis of a car using CFD

Fig 21 : File photo of a racing car

Design tips-Aerodynamic design(3-D inverted airfoil shape)

File photo of a fully closed racing car

Aerodynamic analysis of a car using CFD

2.6 Numerical methods for computation of flow around road vehicle:

Aerodynamic analysis of a car using CFD