Title: Study of aerodynamics for a simplified car model with the underbody shaped as a Venturi nozzle

Authors: Angel Huminic; Gabriela Huminic; Adrian Soica

Addresses: Department of Thermodynamics and Fluid Mechanics, Aerodynamics Laboratory, Transilvania University of Brasov, Brasov 500036, Romania. ' Department of Thermodynamics and Fluid Mechanics, Aerodynamics Laboratory, Transilvania University of Brasov, Brasov 500036, Romania. ' Department of Automotive Engineering, Passive Safety and Testing Laboratory, Transilvania University of Brasov, Brasov 500036, Romania

Abstract: This paper presents new results concerning the flow around the Ahmed body fitted with a rear underbody diffuser without endplates, to reveal the influence of the underbody geometry, shaped as a Venturi nozzle, on the main aerodynamic characteristics. The study is performed for different geometrical configurations of the underbody, radius of the front section, length and the angle of the diffuser being the parameters, which are varied. Later, based on a theoretical approach, the coefficients of the equivalent aerodynamic resistances of the front section of underbody and diffuser are computed, which help to evaluate the drag due to underbody geometry.

Keywords: vehicle aerodynamics; Ahmed body; underbody geometry; Venturi effect; CFD; computational fluid dynamics; vehicle modelling; vehicle design; Venturi nozzles; aerodynamic drag.

DOI: 10.1504/IJVD.2012.045927

International Journal of Vehicle Design, 2012 Vol.58 No.1, pp.15 - 32

Received: 18 Aug 2010
Accepted: 11 Apr 2011
Published online: 23 Apr 2013 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article