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ABSTRACT
When objects move through air, forces are generated by the relative motion between the air and surfaces of the object. Aerodynamics is the study of these forces, generated by the motion of air, usually aerodynamics are categorized according to the type of flow as subsonic, hypersonic, supersonic etc.
It is essential that aerodynamics be taken in to account during the design of cars as an improved aerodynamics in car would attain higher speeds and more fuel efficiency. For attaining this aerodynamic design the cars are designed lower to the ground and are usually sleek in design and almost all corners are rounded off, to ensure smooth passage of air through the body , in addition to it a number of enhancements like spoilers, wings are also attached to the cars for improving aerodynamics. Wind tunnels are used for analyzing the aerodynamics of cars , besides this a number of softwareâ„¢s are also available now days to ensure the optimal aerodynamic design.
INTRODUCTION
When objects move through air, forces are generated by the relative motion between air and surfaces of the body, study of these forces generated by air is called aerodynamics. Based on the flow environment it can be classified in to external aerodynamics and internal aerodynamics; external aerodynamics is the flow around solid objects of various shapes, where as internal aerodynamics is the flow through passages in solid objects, for e.g. the flow through jet engine air conditioning pipe etc. The behavior of air flow changes depends on the ratio of the flow to the speed of sound. This ratio is called Mach number, based on this mach number the aerodynamic problems can be classified as subsonic if the speed of flow is less than that of sound, transonic if speeds both below and above speed of sound are present, supersonic if characteristics of flow is greater than that of sound and hypersonic if flow is very much greater than that of sound. Aerodynamics have wide range of applications mainly in aerospace engineering ,then in the design of automobiles, prediction of forces and moments in ships and sails, in the field of civil engineering as in the design of bridges and other buildings, where they help to calculate wind loads in design of large buildings.
AERODYNAMIC FORCES ON A BODY
Fig 1
LIFT
It is the sum of all fluid dynamic forces on a body normal to the direction of external flow around the body. Lift is caused by Bernoulliâ„¢s effect which states that air must flow over a long path in order to cover the same displacement in the same amount of time. This creates a low pressure area over the long edge of object as a result a low pressure region is formed over the aerofoil and a high pressure region is formed below the aerofoil, it is this difference in pressure that creates the object to rise
F=(1/2)CLdV2A
Where :
CL= Coefficient of Lift, dependent on the specific geometry of the object, determined experimentally
d= Density of air
V=Velocity of object relative to air, A=Cross-sectional area of object, parallel to wind
DRAG
It is the sum of all external forces in the direction of fluid flow, so it acts opposite to the direction of the object. In other words drag can be explained as the force caused by turbulent airflow around an object that opposes the forward motion of the object through a gas or fluid.
F=(1/2)CDdV2A
where: CD= Coefficient of Drag, dependent on the specific geometry of the object, determined experimentally.
d= Density of air.
V=Velocity of object relative to air.
A= cross section of frontal area.
Since drag is dependent on square of velocity it is most predominant when object is traveling at very high speeds. It is the most important aerodynamic force to study because it limits both fuel economy of a vehicle and the maximum speed at which a vehicle can travel.
WEIGHT

It is actually just the weight of the object that is in motion.i.e. the mass of the object multiplied by the magnitude of gravitational field.This weight has a significant effect on the acceleration of the object.
THRUST
When a body is in motion a drag force is created which opposes the motion of the object so thrust can be the force produce in opposite direction to drag that is higher than that of drag so that the body can move through the fluid. Thrust is a reaction force explained by Newtonâ„¢s second and third laws, The total force experienced by a system accelerating in mass m is equal and opposite to mass m times the acceleration experienced by that mass.
HISTORY & EVOLUTION OF AERODYNAMICS
Ever since the first car was manufactured in early 20th century the attempt has been to travel at faster speeds, in the earlier times aerodynamics was not a factor as the cars where traveling at very slow speeds there were not any aerodynamic problems but with increase of speeds the necessity for cars to become more streamlined resulted in structural invention such as the introduction of the windscreen, incorporation of wheels into the body and the insetting of the headlamps into the front of the car. This was probably the fastest developing time in automobiles history as the majority of the work was to try and reduce the aerodynamic drag. This happened up to the early 1950â„¢s, where by this time the aerodynamic dray had been cut by about 45% from the early cars such as the Silver Ghost. However, after this the levels of drag found on cars began to slowly increase. This was due to the way that the designing was thought about. Before1950, designers were trying to make cars as streamlined as possible to make it easier for the engine, yet they were restricting the layout of the interior for the car. After 1950, the levels of aerodynamic drag went up because cars were becoming more family friendly and so as a consequence the shapes available to choose were more limited and so it was not possible to keep the low level of aerodynamic drag. The rectangular shape made cars more purposeful for the family and so it is fair to say that after 1950 the designing of cars was to aid the lifestyle of larger families.
Although this was a good thing for families, it didnâ„¢t take long before the issue of aerodynamics came back into the picture in the form of fuel economy. During the 1970â„¢s there was a fuel crisis and so the demand for more economical cars became greater, which led to changes in car aerodynamics. During the 1970â„¢s there was a fuel crisis and so the demand for more economical cars became greater, which led to changes in car aerodynamics. If a car has poor aerodynamics then the engine has to do more work to go the same distance as a car with better aerodynamics, so if the engine is working harder it is going to need more fuel to allow the engine to do the work, and therefore the car with the better aerodynamics uses less fuel than the other car. This quickly led to a public demand for cars with a lower aerodynamic drag in order to be more economical for the family.
This diagram below shows the typical use of cars energy that it gets,
Fig 2
Only about 15% of the energy from the fuel you put in your tank gets used to move your car down the road or run useful accessories, such as air conditioning. The rest of the energy is lost to engine and driveline inefficiencies and idling. Therefore, the potential to improve fuel efficiency with advanced technologies is enormous.
Now a days almost all cars are manufactured aerodynamically , one misconception that everyone has is aerodynamics is all about going faster, in a way it is true but it is not all about speed, by designing the car aerodynamically we can reduce the friction that it encounters and there by power needed to overcome would be less thus fuel can be saved; In the modern era where our fuel resources are fast depleting all the efforts are to find alternate sources of energy or to save our current resources or minimize the use of current resources like fuels, so now a days aerodynamics are given very much importance as everyone like to have a good looking , stylish and fuel efficient car.
STUDY OF AERODYNAMICS OF CARS
In order to improve the aerodynamics we must first know how the flow of air past a car, if we visualize a car moving through the air. As we all know, it takes some energy to move the car through the air, and this energy is used to overcome a force called Drag.
DRAG
A simple definition of aerodynamics is the study of the flow of air around and through a vehicle, primarily if it is in motion. To understand this flow, you can visualize a car moving through the air. As we all know, it takes some energy to move the car through the air, and this energy is used to overcome a force called Drag.
Drag, in vehicle aerodynamics, is comprised primarily of two forces. Frontal pressure and rear vaccum.
DRAG FORCE AT LOW SPEEDS
The total drag force decreases, meaning that a car with a low drag force will be able to accelerate and travel faster than one with a high drag force. This means a smaller engine is required to drive such a car, which means less consumption of fuel.
CAR WEIGHT
As with the parts inside the engine, when the entire car is made lighter, through the use of lighter materials or better designs, less force is required to move the car. This is based on F=MA or more accurately, A=F/M, so as mass of the car decreases, the acceleration increases, or less force is required to accelerate the lighter car.
FRONT END
Fig 3
Frontal pressure is caused by the air attempting to flow around the front of the car. As millions of air molecules approach the front grill of the car, they begin to compress, and in doing so raise the air pressure in front of the car. At the same time, the air molecules traveling along the sides of the car are at atmospheric pressure, a lower pressure compared to the molecules at the front of the car. The compressed molecules of air naturally seek a way out of the high pressure zone in front of the car, and they find it around the sides, top and bottom of the car. Improvements at the front can be made by ensuring the Ëœfront end is made as a smooth, continuous curve originating from the line of the front bumperâ„¢. Making the screen more raked (ie. not as upright) Ëœtends to reduce the pressure at the base of the screen, and to lower the dragâ„¢. However, much of this improvement arrives because a more sloped screen means a softer angle at the top where it meets the roof, keeping flow attached. Similar results can be achieved through a suitably curved roofs.
This graph clearly shows that drag force is directly proportional to frontal area.(results of wind tunnel tests)
Fig 4
REAR END
Rear vacuum (a non-technical term, but very descriptive) is caused by the "hole" left in the air as the car passes through it. To visualize this, imagine a bus driving down a road. The blocky shape of the bus punches a big hole in the air, with the air rushing around the body, as mentioned above. At speeds above a crawl, the space directly behind the bus is "empty" or like a vacuum. This empty area is a result of the air molecules not being able to fill the hole as quickly as the bus can make it. The air molecules attempt to fill in to this area, but the bus is always one step ahead, and as a result, a continuous vacuum sucks in the opposite direction of the bus. This inability to fill the hole left by the bus is technically called Flow detachment .At the rear of vehicles, the ideal format is a long and gradual slope. As this is not practical, it has been found that Ëœraising and/or lengthening the boot generally reduces the drag. In plan view, rounding corners and Ëœall
forward facing elementsâ„¢ will reduce drag. Increases in curvature of the entire vehicle in plan will usually decrease drag provided that frontal area is not increased. ËœTapering the rear in plan viewâ„¢, usually from the rear wheel arch backwards, Ëœcan produce a significant reduction in dragâ„¢. Under the vehicle, a smooth surface is desirable as it can reduce both vehicle drag and surface friction drag. ËœFor a body in moderate proximity to the ground, the ideal shape would have some curvature on the underside.â„¢
Fig 5
Flow detachment applies only to the "rear vacuum" portion of the drag equation, and it is really about giving the air molecules time to follow the contours of a car's bodywork, and to fill the hole left by the vehicle, The reason keeping flow attachment is so important is that the force created by the vacuum far exceeds that created by frontal pressure, and this can be attributed to the Turbulence created by the detachment.
Fig 6
LIFT OR DOWNFORCE
One term very often heard in race car circles is Down force. Down force is the same as the lift experienced by airplane wings, only it acts to press down, instead of lifting up. Every object traveling through air creates either a lifting or down force situation. Race cars, of course use things like inverted wings to force the car down onto the track, increasing traction. The average street car however tends to create lift. This is because the car body shape itself generates a low pressure area above itself.
For a given volume of air, the higher the speed the air molecules are traveling, the lower the pressure becomes. Likewise, for a given volume of air, the lower the speed of the air molecules, the higher the pressure becomes. This of course only applies to air in motion across a still body, or to a vehicle in motion, moving through still air.
When we discussed Frontal Pressure, above that the air pressure was high as the air rammed into the front grill of the car. What is really happening is that the air slows down as it approaches the front of the car, and as a result more molecules are packed into a smaller space. Once the air Stagnates at the point in front of the car, it seeks a lower pressure area, such as the sides, top and bottom of the car.
Now, as the air flows over the hood of the car, it's loses pressure, but when it reaches the windscreen, it again comes up against a barrier, and briefly reaches a higher pressure. The lower pressure area above the hood of the car creates a small lifting force that acts upon the area of the hood (Sort of like trying to suck the hood off the car). The higher pressure area in front of the windscreen creates a small (or not so small) down force. This is akin to pressing down on the windshield.
Where most road cars get into trouble is the fact that there is a large surface area on top of the car's roof. As the higher pressure air in front of the wind screen travels over the windscreen, it accelerates, causing the pressure to drop. This lower pressure literally lifts on the car's roof as the air passes over it. Worse still, once the air makes it's way to the rear window, the notch created by the window dropping down to the trunk leaves a vacuum, or low pressure space that the air is not able to fill properly. The flow is said to detach and the resulting lower pressure creates lift that then acts upon the surface area of the trunk.
Fig 7
Not to be forgotten, the underside of the car is also responsible for creating lift or down force. If a car's front end is lower than the rear end, then the widening gap between the underside and the road creates a vacuum, or low pressure area, and therefore "suction" that equates to down force. The lower front of the car effectively restricts the air flow under the car. So, as you can see, the airflow over a car is filled with high and low pressure areas, the sum of which indicate that the car body either naturally creates lift or down force.
Fig 8
WINGS & SPOILERS
What this wings or spoilers does is it prevents the separation of flow and there by preventing the formation of vortices or helps to fill the vaccum in the rear end more effectively thus reducing drag. So what actually this wings does is that, The wing works by differentiating pressure on the top and bottom surface of the wing. As mentioned previously, the higher the speed of a given volume of air, the lower the pressure of that air, and vice-versa. What a wing does is make the air passing under it travel a larger distance than the air passing over it (in race car applications). Because air molecules approaching the leading edge of the wing are forced to separate, some going over the top of the wing, and some going under the bottom, they are forced to travel differing distances in order to "Meet up" again at the trailing edge of the wing. This is part of Bernoulli's theory. What happens is that the lower pressure area under the wing allows the higher pressure area above the wing to "push" down on the wing, and hence the car it's mounted to.
The way a real, shaped wing works is essentially the same as an airplane wing, but it's inverted. An airplane wing produces lift, a car wing produces negative lift or in other words what we call us, downforce. That lift is generated by a difference in pressure on both sides of the wing. .
But how is the difference in pressure generated? Well, if you look closely at the drawings, you'll see that the upper side of the wing is relatively straight, but the bottom side is curved. This means that the air that goes above the wing travels a relatively straight path, which is short. The air under the wing has to follow the curve, and hence travel a greater distance. Now there's Bernoulli's law, which basically states that the total amount of energy in a volume of fluid has to remain constant. (Unless you heat it or expose an enclosed volume of it to some form of mechanical work) If you assume the air doesn't move up and down too much, it boils down to this: if air (or any fluid, for that matter) speeds up, its pressure drops. From an energetic point of view, this makes sense:
if more energy is needed to maintain the speed of the particles, there's less energy left do do work by applying pressure to the surfaces.
In short: on the underside, air has to travel further in the same amount of time, which means it has to speed up, which means its pressure drops. More pressure on top of the wing and less on the underside results in a net downward force called downforce.
AERODYNAMIC DEVICES
SCOOPS
Fig 9
Scoops, or positive pressure intakes, are useful when high volume air flow is desirable and almost every type of race car makes use of these devices. They work on the principle that the air flow compresses inside an "air box", when subjected to a constant flow of air. The air box has an opening that permits an adequate volume of air to enter, and the expanding air box itself slows the air flow to increase the pressure inside the box. See the diagram below:
Fig 10
NACA Ducts
NACA stands for "National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics". NACA is one of the predecessors of NASA. In the early days of aircraft design, NACA would mathematically define airfoils (example: NACA 071) .
Fig 11
The purpose of a NACA duct is to increase the flowrate of air through it while not disturbing the boundary layer. When the cross-sectional flow area of the duct is increased, you decrease the static pressure and make the duct into a vacuum cleaner, but without the drag effects of a plain scoop. The reason why the duct is narrow, then suddenly widens in a graceful arc is to increase the cross-sectional area slowly so that airflow does separate and cause turbulence (and drag).
NACA ducts are useful when air needs to be drawn into an area which isn't exposed to the direct air flow the scoop has access to. Quite often you will see NACA ducts along the sides of a car. The NACA duct takes advantage of the Boundary layer, a layer of slow moving air that "clings" to the bodywork of the car, especially where the bodywork flattens, or does not accelerate or decelerate the air flow. Areas like the roof and side body panels are good examples. The longer the roof or body panels, the thicker the layer becomes (a source of drag that grows as the layer thickens too). Anyway, the NACA duct scavenges this slower moving area by means of a specially shaped intake. The intake shape, shown below, drops in toward the inside of the bodywork, and this draws the slow moving air into the opening at the end of the NACA duct. Vortices are also generated by the "walls" of the duct shape, aiding in the
scavenging. The shape and depth change of the duct are critical for proper operation.
Fig 12
SPOILERS
Spoilers are used primarily on sedan-type race cars. They act like barriers to air flow, in order to build up higher air pressure in front of the spoiler. This is useful, because as mentioned previously, a sedan car tends to become "Light" in the rear end as the low pressure area above the trunk lifts the rear end of the car. See the diagram below:
Fig 13
Front air dams are also a form of spoiler, only their purpose is to restrict the air flow from going under the car.
WINGS
Probably the most popular form of aerodynamic aid is the wing. Wings perform very efficiently, generating lots of down force for a small penalty in drag. Spoiler are not nearly as efficient, but because of their practicality and simplicity, spoilers are used a lot on sedans.
The wing works by differentiating pressure on the top and bottom surface of the wing. As mentioned previously, the higher the speed of a given volume of air, the lower the pressure of that air, and vice-versa. What a wing does is make the air passing under it travel a larger distance than the air passing over it (in race car applications). Because air molecules approaching the leading edge of the wing are forced to separate, some going over the top of the wing, and some going under the bottom, they are forced to travel differing distances in order to "Meet up" again at the trailing edge of the wing. This is part of Bernoulli's theory.
What happens is that the lower pressure area under the wing allows the higher pressure area above the wing to "push" down on the wing, and hence the car it's mounted to. See the diagram below:
Fig 14
Wings, by their design require that there be no obstruction between the bottom of the wing and the road surface, for them to be most effective. So mounting a wing above a trunk lid limits the effectiveness.
DRAG COEFFICIANT
To calculate the aerodynamic drag force on an object, the following formula can be used:
F = ½ CDAV² Where:
F - Aerodynamic drag force
C - Coefficient of drag
D - Density of air
A - Frontal area
V - Velocity of object
In this system, D as air density is expressed in kg/m³. The frontal area is the surface of
the object viewed from a point that object is going to. It's expressed in m³. The better(lower) the number is the easier it is for air to pass around a car
Fig 15
It is the measure of the aerodynamic efficiency of the car .
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METHODS FOR EVALUATING AERODYNAMCIS OF CARS
WIND TUNNELS
A wind tunnel is a research tool developed to assist with studying the effects of air moving over or around solid objects. Air is blown or sucked through a duct equipped with a viewing port and instrumentation where models or geometrical shapes are mounted for study. Various techniques are then used to study the actual airflow around the geometry and compare it with theoretical results, which must also take into account the Reynolds number and Mach number for the regime of operation. Threads can be attached to the surface of study objects to detect flow direction and relative speed of air flow.
Dye or smoke can be injected upstream into the airstream and the streamlines that dye particles follow photographed as the experiment proceeds.
Traditionally, wind tunnel testing was a sizeable trial and error process, ongoing throughout the development of a vehicle. Today, with the high level of CAD prediction and pre-production evaluation, coupled with a greater human understanding of aerodynamics, wind tunnel testing often comes into the design process later. The wind tunnel is the proving ground for the vehicle's form and allows engineers to obtain considerable amounts of advanced information within a controlled environment.
Fig 16
Now a days the aerodynamic studies are not constrained to the flow of air past cars but also a number of other factors like new methods are developed to provide a greater level of detailed information. Special pressure sensitive paint is now used in the wind tunnel to graphically show levels of air pressure on a vehicle how it is done is that ,Two different images are obtained, one at normal room air pressure (wind-off) and a second in which the wind tunnel is running (wind-on) at a desired test speed. These differences in color, from wind-off to wind-on, are used to calculate surface pressure.
A bank of blue lights illuminate the car to be tested that has pressure-sensitive paint applied on the driver's side window. The car and lights are in a wind tunnel at Ford Motor Company's Dearborn Proving Ground. Ford researchers have developed a computerized, pressure-sensitive paint technique that measures airflow over cars, shaving weeks off current testing methods. A digital camera near the blue lights captures this information and feeds it into a computer, which displays the varying pressure as dramatically different colors on a monitor.
The images obtained from tests in the wind tunnel are captured on computer. They can then be used to study air flow patterns across a vehicle, highlighting areas of possible refinement or improvement. Additionally, actual data from a production ready model can be compared with pre-production computer predictions which can in turn help improve the accuracy of the early design stages.
SOFTWARES
Now a days a large number of softwareâ„¢s are developed for the analysis and optimization of aerodynamics in automobiles. Earlier times the cars were worked directly on wind tunnels where they prepared different shapes or cross sections and tested upon the cars, during those times it was not possible to test the for small areas that is for a small part of front area etc there testing were made for the entire cross sections, But with the introduction of computational fluid dynamics i.e. the use of computers to analyze fluid flows where the entire area is divided in to grids and each grid is analyzed and suitable algorithms are developed to solve the equations of motion.Based on CFD large number of softwareâ„¢s are developed for the design and analyzing aerodynamics the
most commonly used softwareâ„¢s are ANSYS,CATIA.
Here are some of the features of commonly used software Alias surface studio
ALIAS SURFACE AND AUTO STUDIO

Alias Surface Studio is a technical surfacing product designed for the development surfaces. It offers advanced modeling and reverse engineering tools, real-time diagnostics and scan data processing technology. Surface Studio is comprised of a complete suite of tools for creating surface models to meet the high levels of quality, accuracy and precision required in automotive styling.
This software performs all the basics of design right from the sketching to evaluation.
Features:
1)User Interaction
A user interface that enables creativity and efficiency
2) Sketching
A complete set of tools for 2D design work tightly integrated into a 3D modeling environment
3)2D / 3D Integration
Take advantage of your sketching skills throughout the design process. Add details and explore ideas quickly by sketching over 3D forms before taking the time to model them.
4) Modeling
Industry-leading, NURBS-based surface modeler.
5) Advanced Automotive Surfacing Tools
Surface creation tools that maintain positional, tangent or curvature continuity between surfaces - for high quality, manufacturability results.
6) Reverse Engineering
Tools for importing and configuring cloud data sets from scanners for visualizing, as well as extracting feature lines and building surfaces based on cloud data.
7) Evaluation Tools
Tools to analyze and evaluate the styling and physical properties of curves and surfaces interactively, while creating and editing geometry.
8)Rendering
Create photorealistic images using textures, colours, highlights, shadows, reflections and backgrounds.
9)Animation
Animations can be used for high quality design presentations, design analysis of mechanisms, motion and ergonomic studies, manufacturing or assembly simulation.
10)DataIntegration
Support for industry-standard data formats and a wide range of peripheral devices.These softwareâ„¢s are now commonly in use as wind tunnel testing is an expensive process as compared to this softwareâ„¢s where we get more accurate and easily the test results.
AERODYNAMIC DESIGN TIPS
.) Keep the vehicle low to the ground, with a low nose, and pay attention to
the angle of wind shield.
.) Cover the wheel wells, Open wheels create a great deal of drag and air flow turbulence
.) Enclose the under carriage (avoid open areas-convertibles, etc.)
.) Make corners round instead of sharp
.) The underbody should be as smooth and continuous as possible, and should sweep out slightly at rear.
.) There should be no sharp angles (except where it is necessary to avoid crosswind instability ).
.) The front end should start at a low stagnation line, and curve up in a continuous line.
.) The front screen should be raked as much as is practical.
. ) All body panels should have a minimal gap.
.) Glazing should be flush with the surface as much as possible.
.) All details such as door handles should be smoothly integrated within the contours.
.) Minor items such as wheel trims and wing mirrors should be optimized using wind tunnel testing.
.) Using spoilers or wings.
FOR A VEHICLE YOU ALREADY OWN
¢ Keep your vehicle washed and waxed. This reduces skin friction.
¢ Remove mud flaps from behind the wheels.
¢ Add a spoiler to the front fender or the rear of the car. Having it on the front fender reduces air flow beneath the car, while having it behind will decrease the low pressure behind the car and reduce drag.
¢ Close your windows, put your top up, and close your sun roof. All at once!
¢ Avoid having roof-racks and carriers on your car.
¢ For pickups: cover the back, take the gate off, or at least leave the gate open. Air gets trapped in the bed and causes major drag.
¢ Place your license plate out of the air flow
CONCLUSION

Earlier cars were poorly designed with heavy engines , protruding parts and rectangular Shapes due to which they consumed large quantities of fuel and and became unaffordable all theses factors lead to the development and need of aerodynamics in the design of cars now it would be fair to say that all most all cars are tested for getting the optimum aerodynamic configuration.
REFERENCES
BOOKS
1) Road Vehicle Aerodynamic Design , Barnard R.H.
2) Introduction to Aerodynamics by Anderson.
WEBSITES
1) wikipedia.com
2) cardesignonline.com
CONTENTS
Acknowledgement
Abstract
Contents
List of figures
1. Introduction
2. Aerodynamic forces on a body
a) Lift
b) Weight
c) Drag
d) Thrust
3. History and evolution of aerodynamics
4. Study of Aerodynamic forces on cars
a) Drag
b) Lift or Downforce
5. Aerodynamic devices
6. Drag Coefficiant
7. Methods for evaluating Aerodynamics in cars
a) Wind tunnels
b) Softwares
8. Aerodynamic Design tips
9. conclusions
10. References

how to find the area for the spoilers

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Tushar Kiran
Third year (Mechanical)

Aerodynamics in Cars

Aerodynamics is itself a part of fluid dynamics, which is the study of the properties of a solid object displace a fluid such as air.
For the performance of a typical passenger car, aerodynamics is an important consideration in the achievement of maximum fuel economy, as well as in creating auto body styling that is visually appealing.

Terms to Know- Aerodynamics

Fluid
Mass
Aerodynamics
Drag
Lift
Rear Suction
Down Force
Frontal Area

Fluid

Air-
Is a type of fluid such as water that can be directed or displaced;
Has mass and is measured in terms of pressure;
Applies direct and frictional forces to objects in motion;

Principles

One should be aware of four aerodynamic principles-
Drag
Lift/Down Force
Drag Coefficient
Frontal Area

Drag

Drag is a combination of two forces that will work against the acceleration of your car.
Frontal Pressure occurs when tiny molecules of air hit the front of your car and is forced away to make room for other molecules to hit it.
Rear Suction occurs when an empty pocket of air is created in the back of your car resulting in a vacuum cleaner effect that tries to pull your car backward.

Lift and Down Force

Lift is similar to rear suction in that a thin empty pocket occurs as air passes over a flat surface causing the car to lift.
Down Force is due to high pressure in curved surfaces that causes the car to be pushed down.

Drag Coefficient

Drag Coefficient is a way of expressing how slippery a car is.
The drag coefficient (CD) is a measure of the vehicle's aerodynamic efficiency.

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SUMIT SAURABH SHUKLA
B.TECH. (IV YEAR)



INTRODUCTION
The word comes from two Greek words: aerios, concerning the air, and dynamis, which means force. Aerodynamics is the study of forces and the resulting motion of objects through the air. Humans have been interested in aerodynamics and flying for thousands of years, although flying in a heavier-than-air machine has been possible only in the last hundred years. Aerodynamics affects the motion of a large airliner, a model rocket, a beach ball thrown near the shore, or a kite flying high overhead. The curveball thrown by big league baseball pitchers gets its curve from aerodynamics.
Automobile aerodynamics is a subscript of the broader science of aerodynamics, the study of air and the interaction with solid bodies moving through air. Aerodynamics is itself a part of fluid dynamics, which is the study of the properties of a solid object moving through a fluid such as air. An automobile is being used here as a general term describing any motorized vehicle, including cars or trucks.
Automotive aerodynamics differs from aircraft aerodynamics in several ways. First, the characteristic shape of a road vehicle is bluff, compared to an aircraft. Second, the vehicle operates very close to the ground, rather than in free air. Third, the operating speeds are lower. Fourth, the ground vehicle has fewer degrees of freedom than the aircraft, and its motion is less affected by aerodynamic forces.
The aerodynamic properties of an automobile are fundamental to the performance of the machine. While the engine, suspension, transmission, and tires are the first structural components of a motor vehicle considered when automotive performance is assessed, the efficient performance of the automobile requires optimum aerodynamic performance. Automobile aerodynamics is a subscript of the broader science of aerodynamics, the study of air and the interaction with solid bodies moving through air. Aerodynamics is itself a part of fluid dynamics, which is the study of the properties of a solid object moving through a fluid such as air. An automobile is being used here as a general term describing any motorized vehicle, including cars or trucks.
The aerodynamic properties of an automobile are fundamental to the performance of the machine. While the engine, suspension, transmission, and tires are the first structural components of a motor vehicle considered when automotive performance is assessed, the efficient performance of the automobile requires optimum aerodynamic performance.
Aerodynamic principles are most often considered in the context of racing cars, where slight adjustments to the profile of the vehicle can affect both speed and performance characteristics such as handling and braking. For the performance of a typical passenger car, aerodynamics are an important consideration in the achievement of maximum fuel economy, as well as in creating auto body styling that is visually appealing.
The creation of desired aerodynamic effect in an automobile begins in a testing facility known as a wind tunnel, where models can be subjected to varying types of wind effect. The test results will include an assessment of the fundamental components of auto aerodynamics, drag and lift.
Drag is the combination of all of the aerodynamic forces that act on an object as it moves through air. The force of drag operates in an opposite direction to the motion of the object. The friction created by the surface of the automobile as it moves through the air is one of the separate types of drag forces created. The principles of drag that apply to an automobile are identical to those created by the hull of a canoe or kayak in the motion through water, as air and water are both fluids for the purpose of the application of the principles of physics in determining drag forces. As a common sense proposition, drag force may be understood through the comparison between a sleek racing car and a large transport truck; the truck will more affected by drag forces than the racing car.
The effect of drag on an automobile increases as a square of velocity. The power (the rate of work) required to propel the automobile through the air increases as a cube of velocity. The drag coefficient may range from a factor of 0.2, for a very sleek and highly buffed race car, to 0.4 for a standard passenger vehicle, to 0.6 or more for a pickup truck, a more angular shape.
To counter the effect of drag, automobiles designed for performance will maximize down force. The faster a vehicle travels through air, the more it becomes affected by the forces of lift.
The Bernoulli Effect is a physical principle applicable to lift and down force. The Bernoulli Effect is observed when any fluid (including air) flows around an object at different speeds; the slower fluid imposes greater pressure on the object than does the faster moving fluid. As a result, the object is forced toward the faster moving fluid.

DRAG
A simple definition of aerodynamics is the study of the flow of air around and through a vehicle, primarily if it is in motion. To understand this flow, you can visualize a car moving through the air. As we all know, it takes some energy to move the car through the air, and this energy is used to overcome a force called Drag.
Drag, in vehicle aerodynamics, is comprised primarily of two forces. Frontal pressure is caused by the air attempting to flow around the front of the car. As millions of air molecules approach the front grill of the car, they begin to compress, and in doing so raise the air pressure in front of the car. At the same time, the air molecules traveling along the sides of the car are at atmospheric pressure, a lower pressure compared to the molecules at the front of the car.
Just like an air tank, if the valve to the lower pressure atmosphere outside the tank is opened, the air molecules will naturally flow to the lower pressure area, eventually equalizing the pressure inside and outside the tank. The same rules apply to cars. The compressed molecules of air naturally seek a way out of the high pressure zone in front of the car, and they find it around the sides, top and bottom of the car. See the diagram below.
Rear vacuum (a non-technical term, but very descriptive) is caused by the "hole" left in the air as the car passes through it. To visualize this, imagine a bus driving down a road. The blocky shape of the bus punches a big hole in the air, with the air rushing around the body, as mentioned above. At speeds above a crawl, the space directly behind the bus is "empty" or like a vacuum. This empty area is a result of the air molecules not being able to fill the hole as quickly as the bus can make it. The air molecules attempt to fill in to this area, but the bus is always one step ahead, and as a result, a continuous vacuum sucks in the opposite direction of the bus. This inability to fill the hole left by the bus is technically called Flow detachment.
Flow detachment applies only to the "rear vacuum" portion of the drag equation, and it is really about giving the air molecules time to follow the contours of a car's bodywork, and to fill the hole left by the vehicle, it's tires, it's suspension and protrusions (ie. mirrors, roll bars). If you have witnessed the Le Mans race cars, you will have seen how the tails of these cars tend to extend well back of the rear wheels, and narrow when viewed from the side or top. This extra bodywork allows the air molecules to converge back into the vacuum smoothly along the body into the hole left by the car's cockpit, and front area, instead of having to suddenly fill a large empty space.
The reason keeping flow attachment is so important is that the force created by the vacuum far exceeds that created by frontal pressure, and this can be attributed to the Turbulence created by the detachment.
Turbulence generally affects the "rear vacuum" portion of the drag equation, but if we look at a protrusion from the race car such as a mirror, we see a compounding effect. For instance, the air flow detaches from the flat side of the mirror, which of course faces toward the back of the car. The turbulence created by this detachment can then affect the air flow to parts of the car which lie behind the mirror. Intake ducts, for instance, function best when the air entering them flows smoothly. Therefore, the entire length of the car really needs to be optimized (within reason) to provide the least amount of turbulence at high speed. See diagram below (Light green indicates a vacuum-type area behind mirror):

LIFT (OR DOWN FORCE)
One term very often heard in race car circles is Down force. Down force is the same as the lift experienced by airplane wings, only it acts to press down, instead of lifting up. Every object traveling through air creates either a lifting or down force situation. Race cars, of course use things like inverted wings to force the car down onto the track, increasing traction. The average street car however tends to create lift. This is because the car body shape itself generates a low pressure area above itself.
How does a car generate this low pressure area? According to Bernoulli, for a given volume of air, the higher the speed the air molecules are traveling, the lower the pressure becomes. Likewise, for a given volume of air, the lower the speed of the air molecules, the higher the pressure becomes. This of course only applies to air in motion across a still body, or to a vehicle in motion, moving through still air.
When we discussed Frontal Pressure, above, we said that the air pressure was high as the air rammed into the front grill of the car. What is really happening is that the air slows down as it approaches the front of the car, and as a result more molecules are packed into a smaller space. Once the air Stagnates at the point in front of the car, it seeks a lower pressure area, such as the sides, top and bottom of the car.
Now, as the air flows over the hood of the car, it's loses pressure, but when it reaches the windscreen, it again comes up against a barrier, and briefly reaches a higher pressure. The lower pressure area above the hood of the car creates a small lifting force that acts upon the area of the hood (Sort of like trying to suck the hood off the car). The higher pressure area in front of the windscreen creates a small (or not so small) down force. This is akin to pressing down on the windshield.
Where most road cars get into trouble is the fact that there is a large surface area on top of the car's roof. As the higher pressure air in front of the wind screen travels over the windscreen, it accelerates, causing the pressure to drop. This lower pressure literally lifts on the car's roof as the air passes over it. Worse still, once the air makes it's way to the rear window, the notch created by the window dropping down to the trunk leaves a vacuum, or low pressure space that the air is not able to fill properly. The flow is said to detach and the resulting lower pressure creates lift that then acts upon the surface area of the trunk. This can be seen in old 1950's racing sedans, where the driver would feel the car becoming "light" in the rear when traveling at high speeds.
Not to be forgotten, the underside of the car is also responsible for creating lift or down force. If a car's front end is lower than the rear end, then the widening gap between the underside and the road creates a vacuum, or low pressure area, and therefore "suction" that equates to down force. The lower front of the car effectively restricts the air flow under the car.
So, as you can see, the airflow over a car is filled with high and low pressure areas, the sum of which indicates that the car body either naturally creates lift or down force.


DRAG COEFFICIENT
The shape of a car, as the aerodynamic theory above suggests, is largely responsible for how much drag the car has. Ideally, the car body should:
• Have a small grill, to minimize frontal pressure.
• Have minimal ground clearance below the grill, to minimize air flow under the car.
• Have a steeply raked windshield to avoid pressure build up in front.
• Have a "Fastback" style rear window and deck, to permit the air flow to stay attached.
• Have a converging "Tail" to keep the air flow attached.
• Have a slightly raked underside, to create low pressure under the car, in concert with the fact that the minimal ground clearance mentioned above allows even less air flow under the car.
If it sounds like we've just described a sports car, you're right. In truth though, to be ideal, a car body would be shaped like a tear drop, as even the best sports cars experience some flow detachment. However, tear drop shapes are not conducive to the area where a car operates, and that is close to the ground. Airplanes don't have this limitation, and therefore teardrop shapes work.
What all these "ideal" attributes stack up to is called the Drag coefficient (Cd). The best road cars today manage a Cd of about 0.28. Formula 1 cars , with their wings and open wheels (a massive drag component) manage a minimum of about 0.75.
If we consider that a flat plate has a Cd of about 1.0, an F1 car really seems inefficient, but what an F1 car lacks in aerodynamic drag efficiency, it makes up for in down force and horsepower.

FRONTAL AREA
Drag coefficient, by itself is only useful in determining how "Slippery" a vehicle is. To understand the full picture, we need to take into account the frontal area of the vehicle. One of those new aerodynamic semi-trailer trucks may have a relatively low Cd, but when looked at directly from the front of the truck, you realize just how big the Frontal Area really is. It is by combining the Cd with the Frontal area that we arrive at the actual drag induced by the vehicle.
The drag coefficient (Cd) is a measure of the vehicle's aerodynamic efficiency. Aerodynamic drag = (p/2) Cd * A * V2, where p is air density, A is the projected frontal area of the body, and V is velocity. Even though aerodynamic drag is critically dependent on the velocity, it is only the product Cd times A that the designer can control. The season aerodynamic losses are so important relative to engine power is that the power required to overcome these losses is a function of the square of the velocity.

AERODYNAMIC DEVICES
Scoops
Scoops, or positive pressure intakes, are useful when high volume air flow is desirable and almost every type of race car makes use of these devices. They work on the principle that the air flow compresses inside an "air box", when subjected to a constant flow of air. The air box has an opening that permits an adequate volume of air to enter, and the expanding air box itself slows the air flow to increase the pressure inside the box.

NACA Ducts
NACA stands for "National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics". NACA is one of the predecessors of NASA. In the early days of aircraft design, NACA would mathematically define airfoils (example: NACA 071) and publish them in references, from which aircraft manufacturers would get specific applications
The purpose of a NACA duct is to increase the flow rate of air through it while not disturbing the boundary layer. When the cross-sectional flow area of the duct is increased, you decrease the static pressure and make the duct into a vacuum cleaner, but without the drag effects of a plain scoop. The reason why the duct is narrow, then suddenly widens in a graceful arc is to increase the cross-sectional area slowly so that airflow does separate and cause turbulence (and drag).
NACA ducts are useful when air needs to be drawn into an area which isn't exposed to the direct air flow the scoop has access to. Quite often you will see NACA ducts along the sides of a car. The NACA duct takes advantage of the Boundary layer, a layer of slow moving air that "clings" to the bodywork of the car, especially where the bodywork flattens, or does not accelerate or decelerate the air flow. Areas like the roof and side body panels are good examples. The longer the roof or body panels, the thicker the layer becomes (a source of drag that grows as the layer thickens too).
Anyway, the NACA duct scavenges this slower moving area by means of a specially shaped intake. The intake shape, shown below,drops in toward the inside of the bodywork, and this draws the slow moving air into the opening at the end of the NACA duct. Vortices are also generated by the "walls" of the duct shape, aiding in the scavenging. The shape and depth change of the duct are critical for proper operation.

Spoilers
Spoilers are used primarily on sedan-type race cars. They act like barriers to air flow, in order to build up higher air pressure in front of the spoiler. This is useful, because as mentioned previously, a sedan car tends to become "Light" in the rear end as the low pressure area above the trunk lifts the rear end of the car

Wings
Probably the most popular form of aerodynamic aid is the wing. Wings perform very efficiently, generating lots of down force for a small penalty in drag. Spoiler is not nearly as efficient, but because of their practicality and simplicity, spoilers are used a lot on sedans.
The wing works by differentiating pressure on the top and bottom surface of the wing. As mentioned previously, the higher the speed of a given volume of air, the lower the pressure of that air, and vice-versa. What a wing does is make the air passing under it travel a larger distance than the air passing over it (in race car applications). Because air molecules approaching the leading edge of the wing are forced to separate, some going over the top of the wing, and some going under the bottom, they are forced to travel differing distances in order to "Meet up" again at the trailing edge of the wing. This is part of Bernoulli's theory.
What happens is that the lower pressure area under the wing allows the higher pressure area above the wing to "push" down on the wing, and hence the car it's mounted to

PAST OF AERODYNAMICS
Road vehicles; which are bluff bodies that exhibit substantially separated flows (where the airstream no longer holds onto the body but pulls away) over complex geometries, can only be treated experimentally, since even the most sophisticated analytical means fail to predict the location of flow separation and reattachment. In the design of aircraft, for example, every effort is made to eliminate flow separations over the body, since these separations lead to increased drag. Automobiles, on the other hand, have to be blunt front and rear in order to provide sufficient interior space for seating and still be able to maneuver tight turns and parking. The airflow over an automobile separates in regions of abrupt geometric transitions in front as well as over the large rear area.

Between the time of the earliest automobiles and the late 1920s or early 1930s, automobile design didn't change much. Cars were still a series of boxes, that is, a box for passengers and driver and a box for the engine, with everything else added on - fenders, headlights, spare tire, sunscreen, and so forth. During the late 1920s and early 1930s the better of these cars had a drag coefficient of about 0.7 and a frontal area of about 26 square feet. Ten years later the frontal area had actually increased slightly, due to the blending of the fenders with the body. This blending more than offset the small increase in frontal area, and the aerodynamic drag was on the decrease. By the early 1950sfender and body blending had gone still further, and the front end had grown more rounded. Cars were beginning to get a little lower, the frontal area was beginning to drop a bit, and drag coefficients were still on their way down. By the early 1960s he blending of bodies, fenders, headlights, and other add-ons was complete, although for styling reasons in the majority of the cars of this period the front edges were sharpened up, causing flow separations in these areas. Still the drag coefficients were on their way down. By the early 1970s the best aerodynamic production cars had drag coefficients as low as 0.47. Because the cars were getting lower, the frontal area was still decreasing. Rounding had come back on the front end, windshields were designed better, and the trailing edges (on the back end) tended to be hard lines, forcing flow separation at these lines. Even though the drag coefficient and the frontal areas steadily decreased between the 1920s and the 1970s, these changes came strictly through styling evolution. Since the price of gasoline was between 11 ¢ and 30¢ per gallon during much of this period, there was little incentive for aerodynamic efficiency.

There is, however, a particular class of ground vehicles in which a premium is placed on low aerodynamic drag - land speed record cars. Automobile racing was a natural activity as soon as two cars appeared on the same road. The first land speed record was set at 39.2 mph by a Belgian car on a road outside Paris in 1898. By 1904 the l00-mph barrier had already been broken. There was considerable activity in land speed record racing around the tum of the century, as the electric cars, the gasoline-powered cars, and the steam-powered cars all vied for supremacy. Since racing sold automobiles, the manufacturers supported this activity.


Designers' Touch
At this point, with the engineers and aerodynamicists having spent quite a number of nights in the wind tunnel, the car was within 10 to 20 percent of its aerodynamic goal, said Kutcher. They had converged on a mainstream shape. Now the designers could contribute to the effort by sculpting from the idealized airfoil shape an auto body that had less in common with an "aerodynamic potato."
By wearing its cooling-air intakes on the rear fenders—a benefit that comes with mounting the engine in back—the new shape borrows from sibling EV1's success with low ram air inlet.
From the start, the designers "wanted the exterior to walk hand in hand with the car's mechanical underpinnings," said Mike Pevovar. He and co-designer Brian Smith saw right away that the roof of the passenger compartment was too low for easy entry and egress. They wanted to bump up roofline height, and increase "tumble home," the slope the side windows follow as they drop away from the roof. (A truck, for instance, has little tumble home.)
No strangers to aerodynamics, Pevovar and Smith knew the changes they were proposing would add to the frontal area, with a resulting rise in the CDA value. Also, they wanted to use planar surfaces that intersected at angles and creases—again, good for style but thought to be bad for efficient airflow.
With these changes in mind, the two designers met with the engineers and aerodynamicists, beginning a series of discussions that would come to be known as the "120 dB conversations." The engineers' heavily researched shape was fairly efficient aerodynamically and close to the target values for drag; to change it as the designers were now proposing was surely blasphemous. After all, hadn't the CFD analysis been validated in the wind tunnel?
Eventually, the designers cajoled the engineers into agreeing to a variant. The designers would form a second clay model in one-third scale while the engineers built and refined their own shape at one-third size. Model development thus diverged onto two parallel paths. The designers' version would differ from the research version in two respects, however: It would include styling cues that had been left off the first model, and, where possible, it would use planar surfaces aligned with streamed surfaces that had sharp, rather than rounded transitions.
By March 1998, the engineers and the designers had committed their ideas and visions to one-third-scale models of clay. A friendly bake-off was about to begin. The two teams were given four hours apiece to tune their respective shapes in the wind tunnel. Both models needed wind tunnel tuning because there were many details that simply could not be evaluated effectively, either mathematically or through one-eighth-scale testing. Four hours in the tunnel would give the teams time to remove or add a little clay here and there.
The research model was the first one in. Starting with a CD of 0.20, the engineers were able to reduce that value to 0.19 within four hours. Then the designers put their variant in the wind tunnel. To everyone's surprise, the stylized model returned a CD of 0.18 on its first run.
Needless to say, the designers greeted their result first with disbelief, then with joy. "We had our credibility on the line," Pevovar recalled. Whether the outcome was a result of technical inspiration, artistic intuition, or just plain happenstance no one is saying, but the shape that would ultimately be modeled full-size would be bringing along with it a lot of styling points. After their initial shock dissipated, the teams regrouped, and by session's end had succeeding in reducing the model's drag coefficient to a slippery 0.146.
The goal of a CD equal to 0.19, set at the beginning of the program, budgeted 30 counts for features drag. Elements such as wipers, wheel covers, mirrors, door handles, and cut lines all could affect how the car would slice through the air. With the basic shape now defined, the group could finish up its work on features, many of which had been undergoing evaluation all along.
Side mirrors were one group of features given early attention. Adding 15 counts of drag by themselves, the mirrors simply could not remain if the car was really going to cheat the wind out of 80 mpg. Small cameras would mount in their place; facing rearward, they would send a screen image to the driver.
While the shape investigation was under way, an EV1 test mule aided the concurrent development of features. Using this full-size test stand, engineers evaluated feature drag independently of the shape tests without having to wait for the full-size four-door model to emerge. In their preliminary assessments of the path through which cooling air would enter and exit the heat-exchanger loop, for example, engineers evaluated square and rectangular inlets and peripheral, side-edge, and core outlets using CFD. They verified their findings on the EV1 test mule.
Ground clearance was also investigated in parallel with body shaping. Ground clearance normally varies according to the number of riders inside a car. But a low-riding automobile is an efficient one. This reasoning was one of several arguments favoring a rear-engine location. An exhaust system running back from the front of the car would need extra space to fit between the underbody and the road. Ground clearance, in fact, would have so great an effect on the car's mileage that the GM engineers decided to use active control. Air springs and a ride-height sensor would compensate for height changes as vehicle loading varied.
Other mechanical features included unvented wheel discs to avoid the rotational drag associated with cooling the brake rotors. Regenerative braking, another feature, would help in slowing the vehicle without converting the energy of motion into heat. And batteries would be stored beneath the seats as a way of reducing frontal area.
Despite a wholesome budget of 0.030 given the team for features drag, it came in well below that mark. Even taking into account a rocker fence along the rear trunk edge, another styling concession added by the designers, the features added a mere 0.007 to the CD.

Scaling Up
A full-size model of the technology demonstration shape was ready for wind-tunnel testing by June 1998. In its initial trial, the model came in with a CD of 0.151. As group members began to add features and refine the shape to suit everyone's tastes, they discovered that the rearview cameras that replaced the mirrors added no drag at all. The same was true of the windshield wipers.
This is a graphical representation of the many details leading to low drag and high style. Tumble home increased as the designers raised the roof. So did the frontal area.
By August, the group had arrived at a final form that pleased the designers, the engineers, and the aerodynamicists. Its last run in the wind tunnel returned a CD of 0.163. In 10 months, the group had set a record-low drag coefficient for a midsize sedan. It had surpassed the aerodynamic drag of the two-person EV1 and had even fashioned an aerodynamic auto that managed to avoid any comparison with potatoes.
But is there a lesson here that somehow contradicts the pilot's adage of "trust your instruments"? How is it that the highly researched vehicle came in having more drag than the stylized version?
Asked this question, designer Pevovar said, "From the beginning, the engineers were seeking the perfect aerodynamic shape." The designers took a slightly less stringent, more intuitive approach. They sought ways to fit the shape to the occupants.
By raising the roof, though that meant increasing frontal area, the designers enlarged passenger space at the same time that they smoothed transitions among the hood, the windshield, the roof, and the tail. The net effect was less drag and more passenger space. Since they were never seeking aerodynamic perfection, the designers could drift away from the tightly constrained shape to which the engineers had been anchored.
Vehicle integration engineer Claypole added another point. The deadline of eight to 10 months, set by York in November, was coming around fast by the time of the bake-off in March. Much work remained, including developing the full-size model and finishing the features. The two clay models actually came in quite close to each other, Claypole said.
If they had the luxury of time, the team members might have been able to refine the research shape below the value that the stylized shape had reached. But they didn't have that luxury. Given a model that did better in its first trial than the other had done after four hours of testing, the group could only invest what time remained into the model promising the greatest return.
Consider, too, that many surface details were added for their aesthetic value; the car, after all, would have to sell. Once computational methods began consistently yielding results within 10 to 20 percent of the target, an almost unlimited number of surface features could be applied to bump up the vehicle's appeal. It so happened that the particular features chosen also managed to reduce drag.
Mike Kucher puts it this way: "For any given set of packaging hard points and basic shapes, there will be an infinite number of final surface solutions to achieve a desired aero performance. Once you have identified the best basic-shape proportions, the final surface details can be optimized to achieve the best end result."

REDUCTION OF DRAG IN MODERN CARS
Nowadays the reduction of drag is becoming a very important challenge for all the car manufacturers. Lower drag provides better performances, higher top speed for instance. And it also often lowers aerodynamic noise and above all decreases fuel consumption. Moreover modern cars, especially family cars, tend to be higher and wider which increases their projected frontal area. Therefore a low grad coefficient is becoming one of the major requirements to fulfill when designing a new car.

Here is the average repartition of drag for a modern car:-

Rear View Mirrors 3 - 6%
Engine Cooling 5 - 9%
Underbody 14 - 20%
Wheels, Rims and Wheel Housings 30 – 35%
Vehicle Body(Shape and Sealing) 39 - 42%


To estimate the contribution of a given element, the only solution is to compare the total drag with and without this element, even if deleting an element like the rear view mirror or the engine cooling air intake modify the global flow around the car and consequently the drag coefficient. The effects of a given device on the total drag can also be compared for different designs.

Finally some other devices can modify the total drag like an air dam or a rear spoiler but no major comment will be made upon them since they are not actually used on most of the road-going cars and since their main goal is to generate down-force. Yet it must be kept in mind that they might have an either good or bad influence on the total drag, mostly depending on the quality of their design.

Vehicle Body

From an aerodynamic point of view the best shape that could have a car is one quite similar to a teardrop. But these kinds of shapes are never used. A family car is above all a mean of transport therefore the occupant compartment is never sacrificed. Trend even goes in the other way. Ergonomics is more and more important in new cars and for instance the height of new models is growing. Thus the accessibility is improved.

But the drag is proportional to the Cd and the frontal area. Consequently to hold or even decrease the drag of a car that has a larger frontal area a very important effort has to be done to decrease the Cd.
Then people have preconceived ideas of what should be the geometry and the architecture of a car. A car with diamond shape geometry (driver in the front, two passengers in the middle and one in the rear) would be really more effective from an aerodynamic point of view but it would run counter to minds in term of vehicle architecture.

Furthermore when a team designs a new vehicle the branch image influences a lot the final result. The aerodynamic team has to consider all this background before trying to improve the shape of the car.

But what is a good design? There is no magic formula to have a good Cd because each modification of a given feature can influence those around. However a list of general laws must be respected:

• The front end should start at a low stagnation line, and curve up in a continuous line.
• The front screen should be raked as much as possible.
• Excrescences should be avoided as far as possible; windscreen wiper should park out of the flow.
• All details such as door handles should be smoothly integrated within the contours.
• There should be no sharp angles.
• All body panel lines should have a minimal gap.
• Glazing should be flush with the surface as much as possible (smooth sealing for instance).
• Strongly unfavorable pressure gradients at the rear should be avoided; some taper and rear rounding should be used.
• In the case of a hatchback configuration, the backlight angle should not be in the region of 30°. In the case of a notchback, the effective slope should not be in this region either.

This list is obviously not exhaustive. Parameters are so numerous that many laws could be added. Going deep into the influence of each of these parameters would need a much more important study.

Wheels, Rims and Wheel Housings

Rotating wheels produce high drag due to the highly turbulent flow they produce. The top of the wheel is moving into the air stream at twice the driving speed, and is trying to drag the air forward against the stream. This has the effect of causing the flow to separate very early. The consequence is therefore a high drag.
Taking typical tyre and frontal area data for a medium sized domestic car gives an estimated contribution to Cd from the wheels themselves of around 0.05. Then when considering the complete wheel compartment, e.g. wheel, rim and wheel housing, the drag contribution is about 35% (wheels and rims 20%, wheel housings 15%) of the total drag.

Effect of wheel size on drag:

The effect on drag from changing the size of the wheels depends to a large extent on the car body in front of the wheel and how the wheel is located relative to the body. The only rule is that there is no rule of thumb. In general, the wider the wheel is, the higher the drag is. Some measurements show a change in Cd of 0.02 by increasing the width of the wheel by 30mm. Other tests might highlight smaller changes in Cd (0.004) when increasing the width by 20mm. So, although this variable has to be considered very carefully because of the difference fin the results obtained, the wheel size has to be minimized to reduce the drag. Yet from that point we must not be forgotten that wider tires increase adhesion and therefore steering capacities.

Wheel spoiler effect on drag:

A solution to reduce wheel drag contribution is to add wheel spoilers in front of the wheels. Indeed, the wheel spoiler is a good way to reduce the exposed wheel area and so, it induces a decrease of drag since the flow tends to avoid the wheels. It can also be a useful tool to reduce the sensitivity of the vehicle to side wind.

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aerodynamics in cars full report

[attachment=17760]

WIND TUNNELS
Research tool to study effect of air moving over a solid object.
Trial and error process.
Special pressure paints for analysis.
Detailed analysis of air flow patterns.
Analyzing for the optimal design.

SOFTWARES

DEVELOPMENTS IN CFD
ANSYS, CATIA,ALIAS STUDIO
ANALYZE CHANGES DURING DESIGN PHASE AND DEVELOPMENT
REDUCES TIME TO DEVELOP OPTIMAL DESIGN
ABLE TO STUDY INDIVIDUAL ELEMENTS, MORE EFFECTIVE

CONCLUSION

Aerodynamics in cars is a factor in the over all performance of the car, it should never be compromised.

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