AERODYNAMICS ASSESSMENT USING CFD FOR A LOW DRAG SHELL ECO-MARATHON CAR

Year 2017, Volume: 3 Issue: 6 - Special Issue 6: Istanbul International Conference on Progress Applied Science (ICPAS2017), 1527 - 1536, 04.10.2017

E. Abo-serie

https://doi.org/10.18186/journal-of-thermal-engineering.353657

Cited By: 4

Abstract

Having a small car running with low power can be achieved by
reducing the aerodynamics drag, rolling resistance and mechanical frictions
between the moving parts. The Shell Eco-Marathon competition held around the
world with events in Europe, USA and Asia shows every year new techniques and
ideas to reduce the power needed to drive the car. The record of over 3400 km
on the equivalent of a single litre of fuel is an indication of how car can run
efficiently. The problem with these low drag cars is the driver perception
about the shape of the car. Although the tear drop shape is known as having the
minimum drag, practically this shape cannot be used due to size and packaging
limitations in addition to the safety issue. In this work, a low drag concept
car is proposed using initial CAD design. The concept car is examined using a
commercial CFD software by simulating the airflow around car. The spatial
distribution of the pressure and velocity vectors are utilized to improve the
car shape and to achieve a low drag force coefficient while keeping the down
force at its minimum value.  By changing
the car front, underneath and rear shapes, it was possible to reduce the drag
coefficient from 0.430 for the baseline to 0.127 for the final design, while
meeting the competition regulations.

Keywords

Vehicle Aerodynamics, Shell Eco-marathon Car, Low Drag Car, Vehicle CFD

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